Growing pains: How often do children have arm and leg pains for which their parents cannot find an exact cause? A child may suddenly appear to cry out during sleep or upon awakening, saying that his thighs hurt, his knees hurt, or his calves hurt. This most often occurs in children between the ages of four and ten. The pain in the limb may occur in the evening while resting, or it may occur every night for several weeks. Overall, if the pain moves from one area to another and there is no swelling and swelling, redness, pain when one area is touched, or unsteadiness in walking, and the child is all right, this condition is unlikely to be a serious illness. If the pain is always in the same area, or there are other symptoms, it should be a cause for concern for parents. Because children are growing, it is common to blame this unexplained pain on “growing pains”. However, “growing pains” do not necessarily have much to do with “growth” because they do not occur as frequently during other periods of rapid growth, such as between the ages of 12 and 18. The incidence of “growing pains” is not as high during other rapid growth stages, such as between the ages of 12 and 18. 1.What are the characteristics of “growing pains”? Sometimes children may cry out for pain in their arms, sometimes in the muscles of their thighs, calves, or knees, and most often in the lower extremities, but sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right. This is very different from joint injuries, arthritis, fractures, bone tumors, etc., where the pain usually occurs only in a specific area. Onset: Usually occurs at night or when the child is sleeping and resting. Although the pain is severe at night causing the child to cry out, during the day the child behaves without any problems and can walk, move around and jump around normally. Duration: Some children may have “growing pains” only once or twice in a while, but a few children may have recurrent, persistent episodes that last for months or even years before they naturally resolve. 2. What causes “growing pains”? The exact cause of “growing pains” is still not known in medicine. It is believed that the pain is caused by muscle spasms, or the bones grow too fast while the muscles grow relatively slowly, causing the muscles in the joints to be tugged at an inconsistent rate, causing pain. 3.How to treat “growing pains”? If you can exclude the pain of bones or muscles caused by diseases, simply consider “growing pains”, medication or other forms of treatment are not medically necessary. Whenever growing pains occur, they usually resolve spontaneously after 10 to 20 minutes. However, parents can give local massage or warm compresses to children during painful episodes, which can make children feel psychologically cared for and secure. 4, need to be alert to the disease caused by bone and joint pain? The pain that occurs in the back and waist should not be treated as “growing pains” until a clear cause is found. In clinical practice, we have encountered pain in the lower back caused by lymphoma, neuroblastoma, spinal tuberculosis, etc. In the early stage, the child only showed localized pain and no other abnormalities, so it was easily misdiagnosed as “growing pains”. Pain caused by muscle, bone, or joint disease is usually worse with activity, such as walking or running, and is significantly relieved at rest. The painful area may be accompanied by redness, swelling, and limited movement of the joint. Therefore, parents need to carefully observe whether the pain is fixed in a certain area. Is the painful area red, swollen, and hot? Can the lump be palpated? Is there any abnormal walking posture? If any of these signs are present, parents should take their child to the pediatrician for help.