Growing children often complain of leg pain, especially at night or after sports. While it's tempting to dismiss it as growing pains, it's important to take reports of leg pain seriously. Your GP is the best person to see if your child does have leg pain, as they're able to quickly determine if it's just growing pains or something more serious. Here are three other things that may cause leg pain.
Slipped Upper Femoral Epiphyses
Also known as SUFE, this is a condition that mostly occurs in teen boys. It is uncommon, with only 1 in 100,000 people developing it, however, it is very important to treat it as it can lead to permanent damage to the hip joint. In SUFE, the ball at the top of the femur or upper leg bone is moved out of position due to damage to the growth plate just beneath it. This leads to misalignment of the joint with the ball looking like it has slipped off the rest of the bone on an X-ray. Teens with SUFE will develop leg pain spontaneously, without any history of injury. The pain is usually worst in the groin or hip and may be accompanied by a limp. They may feel like one leg is shorter than the other or like it's uncomfortable to have their legs straight. If your child has SUFE, they will eventually need surgery though most children heal very well afterwards.
Osgood-Schlatter Disease
This is a condition that usually arises during or just after a growth spurt, so it most often occurs around puberty. In Osgood-Schlatter disease, the patellar tendon becomes very tight, leading to bone pain. The patellar tendon runs from the quadriceps to the shin bone via the knee bone or patella, usually allowing free movement. As the quadricep muscles become stronger, they put more force on the tight tendon, which eventually leads to damage and pain. Children will complain of pain and swelling around their knee, especially when they've been very active. If your GP believes the pain is from Osgood-Schlatter they will reassure you that generally improves with rest, mild painkillers and physiotherapy before disappearing completely once the child has finished growing.
Septic arthritis
Septic arthritis is unlike Osgood-Schlatter or SUFE in that is develops quickly. It occurs when a bacterial infection develops in the space around a joint. Sometimes this occurs after a child has had a minor injury which broke the skin and allowed bacteria to enter the body, but sometimes there is no history of such an injury. It can occur in any joint but often occurs in the hip, knee or ankle. The joint itself will be very painful, swollen and red and less able to move than usual. A child will usually be unwell with a fever and sometimes flu-like symptoms. They'll also refuse to walk or bear weight on the affected lower limb. It's important to seek an urgent review if your child has these symptoms. If your GP suspects septic arthritis, they will refer your child to your local emergency department as it is a very serious condition that requires urgent antibiotics and sometimes a clean out in the operating theatre.
These three conditions are just some of the things your GP will consider if your child has leg pain. As tempting as it may be to put any leg pain down to growing pains, it's important to see your GP to make sure your child doesn't have something more serious.
