Should You Be Concerned About Your Kids’ Joint Pain?

It’s understandable for any parent to be concerned if a child complains about joint pains. However, just the complaint isn’t enough to warrant a doctor’s visit. There are times when pain in the joints is perfectly normal for a growing child. What’s important is knowing the signs of when things are wrong and how to handle them.

Typical Causes Of Joint Pain In Children

The most likely cause of a child’s joint pain is known as growing pains. This type of pain is common in the preschool and preteen years but should resolve by the time your child becomes a teenager. In this case, your child might complain about pain in the calves, thighs, knees, and arms.

While growing pains aren’t a reason for concern, they can be severe enough to wake a child from sleep or stop them from doing certain activities. One notable characteristic of these pains is that they occur mostly in the late evening or night. They may also be accompanied by headaches or abdominal pain.

If your child is very active, then the other possible cause of joint pain is overuse that had led to an injury. In that case, you might notice some swelling in the affected joint and the pain will be persistent.

With rest, however, the pain from overusing a specific joint will ease and your child shouldn’t have any further complaints.

Finally, joint pain can be caused by acute or chronic illnesses. These are not as likely but it’s a good idea to keep track of your child’s symptoms so you’ll know what to tell a doctor.

A few of the illnesses that you should look out for include Lyme disease, lupus, leukemia, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis. In the event that your child is diagnosed with any of these diseases, pain management will be an integral part of treatment.

How To Handle Their Joint Pain

It’s fairly easy to treat growing pains at home. Gentle stretching exercises and targeted massages can ease the pain well. Warmth can also make a huge difference so let them take a warm bath and use heating pads on the affected joints. If these options aren’t as effective as you’d like, over-the-counter painkillers can help.

The treatments for growing pains can also work for an overused joint. If the symptoms persist, though, a doctor’s visit may be in order. In that way, you’ll receive any medications or accessories that you need such as braces or cloth wraps.

For more serious illnesses, you’ll have to handle them with guidance from a doctor.

When It’s Time To See A Doctor

As mentioned previously, growing pains and overused joints don’t often warrant a doctor’s attention. However, other illnesses will show symptoms that you can’t handle on your own.

Some of the symptoms that are cause for concern are persistent pain that’s present at all times of the day, swelling that doesn’t go away, a rash at the site of the pain, a joint that presents tenderness, redness, or stiffness, chronic fatigue, fever, hair loss, as well as an overall body rash.

To diagnose your child with an illness, the doctor will conduct a thorough physical examination as well as blood tests. While you’re waiting for a diagnosis, make sure to ask your doctor how to handle the symptoms.

Once the source of your child’s pain has been identified, it will be important to stick to the medical regimen and inform the doctor if anything changes with your child’s health.

No parent wants to know that their child is in pain. Fortunately, it’s not often that the discomfort is a sign of something worse. In any case, you should always take the complaints seriously and do what you can to ease the pain at home. If at-home treatments aren’t effective, it’s time to talk to your doctor about what might be going on.