The term “Growing Pains” refers to pain in the lower legs. There isn’t a single pin-point area where the pain is the worst; it is usually generalized. Growing pains also rarely, if ever, occur during the day, but will typically occur at night.
A child’s body is continuously growing, yet we never hear about “growing pains” in the arms, thighs, back, and so on; so why is the pain specific to the lower legs? Why would a child almost exclusively experience these pains at night?
Growing pains don’t actually occur when our bones grow because bones don’t hurt when they grow. If they did, we would all experience this pain in our entire body until we reached our growth peak. The leg pain that we commonly refer to as “growing pains” is actually an early symptom of misaligned feet.
Most children have a seemingly endless supply of energy and will take at least 7,000 steps a day. If their feet are misaligned, normal activities such as running, jumping, and playing will cause their muscles to pull on the specialized lining of their leg bones. If the strain is more than they can handle, the nerve endings are triggered, resulting in “growing pains”. Muscles in a misaligned foot have to work up to 4 or 5 times harder because they are attempting to realign the foot, as well as do their regular job.
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