Every summer vacation, the number of people coming to the hospital to consult their children's lower limb pain will increase significantly. Some children cried in pain in their legs at home, but the pain stopped when they got to the hospital, which made the parents at a loss. Doctor Mikkelsson of the United Kingdom found that 32% of children in grades 3 to 4 had musculoskeletal pain.
What causes children's leg pain? The summer vacation is approaching. Cheng Fuli, the chief physician of pediatric orthopaedics in Zhengzhou Orthopaedic Hospital, came to Longxi Primary School to talk about the common causes of children's lower limb pain.
● Growth pain is the most common
"The most common cause of lower limb pain is growth pain. When children go to bed at night, they often call leg pain or lower limb joint pain. When they rub, the pain will be reduced. The next morning, after getting up, the pain will disappear, and all activities will be free. This joint pain is a common phenomenon in children's growth, and we call it growth pain." Cheng Fuli said, especially for children aged 3 to 8, It can grow 7~8cm high every year. Because the bone grows rapidly, but the growth of the nerves, tendons and muscles around it is relatively slow, it will produce traction pain.
This kind of pain may be related to rapid growth, excessive fatigue, weather changes or insufficient trace elements. The characteristics of pain: pain mostly occurs above and below the knee joint, with soreness or tingling, mostly in the evening or before sleep, and the pain lasts for several minutes, rarely more than an hour. The pain does not have obvious fixed parts, nor is it accompanied by redness, swelling or heat. If you apply hot compress or gently massage, the pain will disappear soon.
Calcium supplementation alone cannot alleviate growth pain. "Children with growth pain usually like to run and jump, but their diet is poor or picky, such as eating few vegetables. It is undeniable that some children will lack calcium during this period of time, but calcium supplementation will not help to alleviate growth pain." Cheng Fuli introduced that the cause of growth pain is not bone, but soft tissue fatigue. Excessive calcium preparations can not be well absorbed by children.
The most important treatment for children's growth pain is to have a rest in time. Every night before going to bed, soak the baby's feet and legs with hot water. But when children are not tired, they should encourage more activities and exercise muscle strength. When the pain is severe, you can massage locally, take pain killers, or take vitamin C in an appropriate amount. After proper rest, exercise, massage and symptomatic medication, the growth pain of children will be cured quickly.
● There are many causes of joint pain
Not all arthralgia is growth pain. Cheng Fuli reminds parents that when a child has arthralgia, parents can ask the child first, which arthralgia is it? Have you suffered any trauma? First, the pain caused by trauma was excluded, and then the judgment was made according to the physical signs. In addition, parents can also check whether the skin at the painful joint is red, hot, swollen, and whether the joint can move, and whether the pain is aggravated after the activity. In addition, parents should also take their children's temperature, because most acute arthritis requires fever.
Cheng Fuli listed the common diseases that cause joint pain for parents' reference and identification.
Transient synovitis of hip joint: the cause is unknown, there may be a slight injury history, upper respiratory tract infection, etc. Most of them are 3 to 10 years old, and most of them are unilateral, with acute hip pain or radiating to the inner thigh and knee, more men than women. The child refused to walk down or limped when walking. There was no joint swelling, but there was limited tenderness. There was a small amount of joint effusion on MRI. The pain can disappear in hours or days.
Synovial incarceration: mostly caused by minor trauma, limping, pain of affected limb, and obvious limitation of joint activity.
Aseptic necrosis of femoral head: claudication and squatting difficulty of unknown causes; Pain in the medial knee, but no local tenderness; Pain may be induced by the central tenderness of the affected hip, or the internal and external rotation of the hip, or the movement may be partially limited; Late pain relief or no symptoms, limb muscle atrophy or lower limb shortening, slightly limited or normal hip joint activity.
Osteochondritis of tibial tubercle: It is common at the age of 8-15 years old, more men than women, most of them unilateral. After exercise, there is pain at the tibial tubercle, local swelling, tenderness or percussion pain. Pain can be induced when squatting or going upstairs or downstairs. The pain is relieved or disappears after a few days of rest.
Rheumatic fever: it is easy to cause pain in ankle, knee, hip, wrist, elbow, shoulder and other large joints, namely rheumatic arthritis, which can be accompanied by joint swelling and tenderness to varying degrees. The pain is short, and some of them subside after only 1-2 days. If not controlled, it may cause rheumatic heart disease.
Henoch Schonlein purpura arthritis: One or more joints are swollen and painful, and skin purpura occurs at the same time. A few do not appear purpura. If not treated in time, kidney damage may result.
Rheumatoid arthritis: common at the age of 4~10 years, accompanied by fever, arthralgia and other symptoms.
Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis: local persistent pain, refused to touch or touch.
Acute suppurative arthritis: It is common in children aged 1 to 3 years old, with acute onset, obvious joint pain, refusal to touch and press, and slight movement of joints, causing severe pain.
Traumatic fracture and dislocation: severe pain, which is aggravated by touching the local area or tapping the distal end.
Cheng Fuli, Chief Physician of Pediatric Orthopaedic Department of Zhengzhou Orthopaedic Hospital
Learn about parenting knowledge, watch parenting blogs and forums, and go to the parent-child channel baby.sina.cn
