Children and adolescents who experience leg pain commonly attributed to rapid development, the so-called growing pains, may be at greater risk of migraine, reports the journal Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain.
Children usually complain about growing pains during the period of intensive growth (3-12 years of age). Recurrent leg pain, which usually appears in the evening or at night, is harmless but bothersome. They are favored by exertion during the day and are easily relieved by the administration of painkillers. Doctors warn that leg pain in children may also be the first symptom of serious diseases, such as leukemia.
The study, conducted by Brazilian specialists, included 100 children and adolescents born to mothers suffering from migraines (confirmed by reporting to a headache clinic), and half of the young people experienced growing pains.
“In families of children with growing pains, an increased incidence of other pain syndromes, especially migraine, is observed among parents,” the authors wrote. “Therefore, we hypothesized that growing pains in children are a comorbid condition with migraine or its precursor.”
After 5 years of follow-up, 78 patients completed the study, including 42 from the group experiencing growing pains and 36 from the control group. Headaches were reported in 76%. participants who experienced growing pains and 22 percent in the control group. Growing pains persisted in 14 percent. participants who had them at the beginning of the study and appeared in 39%. subjects in whom they had not previously occurred.
“Lower limb pain in children and adolescents may indicate the presence or co-occurrence of migraine,” the authors concluded.
More information in the source article ((PAP)
Author: Pawel Wernicki
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