How Physical Therapy Can Help Kids with Growing Pains

If your child has ever complained of achy legs or sore knees without a clear injury, you might have chalked it up to growing pains. But what exactly causes these mysterious aches?

My name is Kenzie. I'm a pediatric physical therapist here at Metro Therapy in Fridley, MN. Today, we're going to talk about what causes growing pains.

What Are Growing Pains?

Your child may be complaining about pain without an incident where they were injured, that is typically worse with increased activities like running or jumping. This can be a common growing pain syndrome.

During a child's growth spurt, the muscles are unable to keep up with the rapid bone growth, and that causes the muscles to become increasingly tight. This tightness of the muscles puts stress at the attachment site where there's the least resistance, which in children is their growth plates. This repetitive tugging stress from the muscle at the attachment site to the bone leads to inflammation and pain.

Can Growing Pains Be a Sign of Something Else?

The most common types of these growing pain diagnoses are Sever’s disease, which is pain in the heel, and Osgood-Schlatter disease, which is pain right below the knee.

If your child complains of either heel pain or knee pain, it’s important to prioritize rest. Decreasing your child's current physical activity level and load will help to reduce this inflammation overall.

Reach Out to Metro Therapy Today

Physical therapy is also able to provide the necessary stretches, exercises, as well as physical activity recommendations in order to increase recovery time so your child can return to activities and sports.

If your child is experiencing growing pains, feel free to give us a call to schedule an evaluation at (763) 343-6751.