I Want My Flexibility BACK

[Leopard claw]

Like everyone else said, it's growing pains. It's normal and will pass in time. Start off slow till you warm up and gain more flexibility, again this will take some time, but don't push yourself to hard or to fast. And I'd be careful of ibuprofin, your body can build up an immunity to it if taken to much.

[P.A.L]

i think you should go to a specialist, one of my close reletives had the same problem and they keep telling her it's a growing pain, but it was not in the bones it was in the joints and some years later they admited that it was juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

if you also have inflammation in the joints then this is a possibility,

http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/juvenile_arthritis/juvarthr.htm

[lordtariel]

Have you told your doctor that the research you did said the growing pains generally stop around 12? He might have some insight on to how long it can go on. I know I had issues up through 15-16. Also, if you're really worried, try getting a second opinion from another doctor.

[srv]

It probably is growing pains but I agree with a previous post that said if you're getting pains in joints then juvenile rheumatiod arthritis may be a possibility. The reason you get growing pains is that your bones - especially the ends of the bones called growth plates are not fully formed until you are older. The growth plates basically allow the bones to grow as a child grows into adult size. Different bones growth plates fully form at different times. So while some will form at an earlier stage some will form later. Also at your age, hormones can play a part as well.

However lots of pain in joints may point to something else like JRA but I can't get a good feel over the forum where exactly the pain is and what it is like so if you have further concerns - see another doctor.

If it is just growing pains there isn't anything you can do to make them go away. Repeated use of pain killers is a bad idea - especially ibuprofen and other anti - inflammatories - they can cause stomach ulcers and bleeding in \side your gastrointestinal tract.

To improve your flexibilty - as people have mentioned - get into a regular stretching regime. This will help with flexibilty and help ease the pains a little.

[Umerte]

well why doesnt every kid get those pains?

[Andrew_Patton]

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but if it's not growing pains you do have the posibility of having something called 'Osgood Schloters' I don't know if that's the exact spelling, but it has to deal with the ligiments in your knee joing growing at different rates, I've had that for a while, and have had pains in the knees when sitting still into my twenties.

[dragons_wrath99]

You definitely should check with your doctor to see if it could be arthritis. I'm thirteen, and I have some similar problems- knee, hip, and ankle pain- and I've had Xrays taken and several misdiagnoses. The thing was, even after I had been told that 'oh, it's just growing pains' or 'actually, you have a hip pointer', the pain kept coming back, worse each time. My doctor was seriously worried that I might have arthritis, but thankfully for now it has been decided that my feet were the problem. Turns out that I have virtually no arch in my foot and that this caused my feet to roll inwards, putting the rest of my body in wack. Now I have special shoes that support my feet well, and the pain has nearly disappeared.

I suggest that you ask your doctor to check your feet. You probably should ask about the arthritis too, but if it's only in your legs it's more likely to be a foot problem.

Hope I helped!

[Ti]

Try some glucosamine