Children wake up in the night crying and complaining about foot pain.
Are pronated feet related to growing pain?

Children wake up from their dream crying at the mid-night, sometimes even holding and complaining about their legs.  Parents may think that their children are having nightmares, but finally it is diagnosed by pediatric as growing pains.  Does growing pains need to be treated? Does growing pains stop when the children grow up?

Causes

  • Foot alignment problems, such as pronated feet or flat feet ( pes-plaunes).
  • Overuse symptoms.
  • Low bone density.
  • Vitamin D deficiency.
  • Lack of healthy fats (e.g. Omega-3)
  • Excessive carbohydrate intake
growth pain

Symptoms

Growing pain is a common recurrent condition that mainly affects the children between the ages of 3 – 12.

  • Pains are usually in the feet, calves and thighs.
  • Pain usually occurs in the evening or at night.
  • Pain that occurs occasionally and lasts for an indefinite period of time.

Solutions

  1. Custom-made foot orthoses: To stabilize the growing feet, eventually reducing the frequency of growing pains.
  2. Vitamin D supplementation: Studies found that growth pains is a related to vitamin D deficiency.
  3. Healthy diet: Low-carb/low-sugar diet with adequate Omega-3 intake.
  4. Message, hot therapy and stretching exercises.

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