Doudou is five years old and usually very well-behaved, but recently he has been giving his parents a bit of a headache. From time to time, Doudou yells about his stomach hurting, sometimes even cries and screams, but in a short while he acts like nothing is wrong and goes on eating and playing as usual. Mom thought Doudou was being “unreasonable”. But she was still not sure, so she took Lele to the hospital for a checkup. The doctor’s explanation was that Doudou’s stomach and intestines were experiencing “growing pains”, not “nonsense”. Gastrointestinal “growing pains” Gastrointestinal “growing pains”? Yes! However, children who are in a period of rapid growth are not only experiencing rapid growth of bones, but also the internal organs of the stomach and intestines are growing at the same time, but due to the relative lack of blood supply (especially for children with rapid height growth) and the unstable plant nerve function of young children, the smooth muscles of the stomach and intestines are spasmodically contracted due to poor blood circulation, followed by paroxysmal Pain. It is not uncommon in daily life, but it is easy to ignore because most of them can be relieved quickly on their own. In general, gastrointestinal growing pains are most common in children aged 4 to 8 years old and are characterized by recurrent episodes of abdominal pain centered on the belly button, followed by the upper abdomen, and may occur in other parts of the abdomen. The abdominal pain usually occurs at night before going to bed or after going to sleep, and can often be triggered by hunger, cold, or over-eating raw and cold food. The number of pain episodes varies from person to person, from several times a day for some children to several times an hour for others. The pain is irregular and varies in severity, from mild abdominal discomfort to severe cramp-like pain, even with nausea and vomiting. Usually, the child’s spirits, eating and playing are not affected after the pain is over. Does gastrointestinal growing pains need treatment Gastrointestinal growing pains in children are a normal physiological phenomenon that can be relieved on its own later as they grow older. In daily life, you should strictly control your child’s diet, especially to eat less cold drinks, and pay attention to keep the stomach from getting cold when sleeping. Put hot water bags on the abdomen to warm up the pain, press and rub the foot three li points, or gently press and rub the abdomen clockwise, which can promote local blood circulation and relieve muscle spasm, thus relieving or alleviating the pain. If the abdominal pain is prolonged and colicky, as a last resort, it can be treated with antispasmodic and analgesic drugs under the guidance of a doctor. The causes of abdominal pain in children are varied, and more than half of them are organic diseases, which can be easily confused with gastrointestinal growing pains. Therefore, all abdominal pains in children should not be mistaken for gastrointestinal growing pains in children, and the diagnosis of gastrointestinal growing pains must be made by a doctor after excluding organic diseases. If the abdominal pain lasts for a long time, the pain increases when pressed by hand, or the child is afraid of touching, the possibility of other diseases such as gastroenteritis, mesenteric lymphadenitis, appendicitis, etc. should be considered, and it is necessary to go to the hospital for examination and consultation in time to avoid delaying the condition.