Parents often bring their children to the clinic to see leg pain and abdominal pain, but after physical examination and blood tests, no abnormalities are found. Definition of growing pains: Growing pains are an unexplained pain in the lower limbs and abdominal pains that occur during the development of children and are closely related to growth. It is most common in children between the ages of 3 and 11, and is more common in boys than girls. Causes of growing pains: It is caused by the rapid growth and development in childhood, which causes a temporary shortage of blood supply to the organism. When the bones grow rapidly, the nerves and tendons around them cannot grow accordingly and produce pulling pain in the lower limbs; when the intestines are temporarily ischemic, spasmodic contractions of the intestines can occur and cause abdominal pain; in addition, abdominal pain can be caused by uncoordinated gastrointestinal nerve inhibition due to plant nerve dysfunction. Characteristics of lower limb pain: The pain site is not fixed It can occur in any part of the limbs and joints, but it is most common in both knee joints and surrounding soft tissues, muscles and tendons, more on the right side than on the left side, and more in unilateral limbs than in bilateral limbs; in addition to this, it can be seen in the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, ankle and other joints. It can be pain in one leg, or both legs can hurt at the same time or alternate episodes. The pain usually occurs at rest or before going to bed at night. The painful area is neither red nor swollen, and there is no pain during normal activities or play. The pain can last from a few minutes to tens of minutes, but rarely exceeds two hours. The interval between pain attacks is irregular, ranging from a few attacks a month to one attack a year or six months. The degree of pain varies greatly, or the pain is unbearable and even wakes up when sleeping, or it is a mild dull pain; there are no systemic symptoms during the pain attack, the painful area is not red or swollen, the joints can be freely flexed and extended, sometimes the pain makes them reluctant to walk, and the pain can disappear on its own without any treatment; the lower limb activities are completely normal after the pain disappears, and the function and growth of the lower limbs will not be affected. The onset of growing pains has a certain relationship with the amount of activity of the child during the day. When there is a lot of activity during the day, leg pain is likely to occur in the evening. During childhood, bones and joints grow and develop faster, plus children are active, running and jumping constantly, which often overloads both legs and causes discomfort or pain easily. In addition, local cold and moisture may also induce pain. Abdominal pain (pediatric gastrointestinal growing pains) Characteristics: Abdominal pain recurs within a certain period of time, each pain is short, usually not more than 10 minutes, and occurs 1 to 5 times a week in most children. The site of abdominal pain is mainly around the umbilicus, followed by the upper abdomen. The pain has no certain regularity and the degree of pain is not uniform. The light ones are only uncomfortable abdominal sensation, even when the abdominal pain does not affect the child’s eating, playing and sleeping. If the pain is severe, the child will have unbearable pain, turn blue or pale, even nausea and vomiting, and can also hear the sound of gurgling intestines. However, the pain will be relieved naturally soon, and the child’s mental state, diet and activities will return to normal. Growing pains: Growing pains are physiological and temporary, and do not require special treatment, but some measures can be taken to reduce the child’s pain. Take a hot bath at night before going to sleep; apply hot compresses and massage to the painful area; take vitamin D, vitamin C and calcium supplements as appropriate. Be careful not to let your child’s abdomen get cold in life and eat less cold food, which are all triggers of abdominal pain. Growing pains will disappear naturally within 1 to 3 years and will have no effect on their normal growth and development. Note: There are many cases of abdominal pain and pathological abdominal pain must be excluded before considering gastrointestinal growing pains.