Musculoskeletal Pain in Children
Subjectively they can complain of sore feet, heels, Achilles tendons, knees shins, shoulders, hips, neck or back.
Childhood musculoskeletal pain is quiet area specific. It often can occur after a period of rapid growth.
Pain may be aggravated by sporting activities or poor posture and there are usually bio-mechanical factors involved.
STRUCTURAL
- Hypermobility
- Congenital hip dysplasia
- Benign hypermobility associated with Marfan’s, Sticklers Syndrome, Ehler’s Danlos, Downs Syndrome or family history. Benign hypermobility is more common in girls, people of Chinese and West African origin. Symptoms are intermittent
TRAUMA
- Injuries sustained from sports or falls.
OVERUSE
- Patello-femoral syndrome symptoms can include anterior knee pain, weakness vastus medialis, lateral tracking, and pain with stairs
- Plica syndrome
- Stress fracture athletes
- Apophyseal injuries (Pelvic, Os Good Schlatters, jumper's knee, severs disease)
GROWING PAINS
- Recurrent, self- limiting pain, often in lower extremities
- Pain occurs at night
- No morning limp or stiffness
- Worse on more active days
- Often family history, most prominent ages 3-5 and 8-11