As a parent, you want to ensure that your children are as happy, healthy, and pain-free as possible. However, sometimes you cannot prevent every pain they experience. For example, when your child experiences growing pains, there is nothing that you can do to prevent them. This does not mean that you cannot try to help you child feel better as they experience growing pains. There are a variety of ways that you can help your child cope with the aches and pains associated with a growth spurt. So, get to know some of  these methods and give your child the love and support they need. 

Stretches and Yoga

Many of the aches and pains that your child experiences while growing originate from their muscles. Muscles aches and cramping, particularly in the legs can cause a great deal of discomfort for your child, especially when they try to lay down and sleep.

One way to help with these muscular issues is to encourage your child to perform a daily stretching routine. Yoga is a great way to stretch out the muscles in the body, including all of the muscle groups in the legs.

Stretches like downward dog, warrior pose, and triangle pose help to stretch the quads, hamstring muscles, calf muscles, and the hips as well as other muscles. You can take your child to yoga classes or you and your child can do a yoga routine together at home to help make their muscles looser and more flexible. 

Chiropractic Care and Massage

Sometimes just stretching out the muscles is not enough to get rid of the pain that growing pains cause. When this is the case, you may want to take your child to a pediatric chiropractor at a clinic like Exelbert Chiropractic.

A pediatric chiropractor is highly skilled at helping a child deal with the natural aches and pains that occur as they grow. When a child is growing, their skeletal system is not only growing but shifting in its alignment. This can result in temporary spinal misalignment. 

A misaligned spine can pinch or block the nerves that run along your child's spine and can contribute to the growing pains that your child is experiencing. The pediatric chiropractor will perform spinal adjustments through controlled pressure and spinal manipulations (stretches and movements) to help get their spine back in alignment to free those nerves and reduce discomfort and pain.

Massaging the legs can also help to relieve muscle pain. If your child wakes up in the middle of the night due to their growing pains, you can gently massage their legs to relieve muscle tension. You can also take them to a massage therapist once a month or so to further relieve pain and get rid of muscle knots. 

Now that you know a few ways that you can help your child with their growing pains, you can be sure that you are doing everything you can to keep your child happy and pain-free. If, however, your child develops more serious symptoms like limping, swelling, or fever, you should call the pediatrician immediately as they may not have growing pains, but another condition altogether.