Children often complain of leg pain. There are many reasons for this phenomenon. At the first complaints, parents need to show the child to a doctor. The doctor will conduct an examination, identify the causes and prescribe the appropriate treatment.
Many children, waking up at night, complain that their legs hurt. Between the ages of three and ten, it is natural that the child experiences what doctors call growth-related pain. This happens because the child grows before puberty, increases the length of his body to a greater extent due to the growth of the legs, the legs and feet grow most rapidly. It is in places where rapid tissue growth occurs that the body needs to provide good blood flow. The wide vessels that nourish the bone and muscle can intensively supply blood to the growing tissue, but they have few elastic fibers. The amount of these fibers will increase only by the age of 7-10 years. It follows that blood flow in the vessels increases with physical activity. At night, during the rest period, the vascular tone decreases, blood circulation in rapidly growing parts of the body slows down, which is why pain syndrome appears. Orthopedic pathology, such as scoliosis, poor posture, flat feet, can also cause pain in the legs. If it is present, the center of gravity shifts, and the greatest body pressure falls on any part of the leg (lower leg, foot, joint or thigh). Congenital abnormalities of the hip joints can also cause pain in the legs. Pain in a child's legs can be a manifestation of congenital abnormalities of blood vessels and heart. With congenital malformations of the aortic valve, coartation of the aorta, blood circulation in the legs decreases. With these diseases, the legs hurt and do not obey; while walking, the child can constantly stumble and fall. In these children, the pulse on the lower extremities is poorly felt or completely absent. If the child complains of pain in the heel, the cause may be a sprain of the Achilles tendon. Pain in the midfoot is often a symptom of arch disease. Acute joint pain most often indicates injury or contusion. The reason can be tight shoes, ingrown nails, inflammation of the toe. Sometimes pain can appear due to strong emotions or stress.
