[2][3] Theories of causation include: Some parents are able to associate episodes of pain with physical exercise or mood changes in the child.
[2] When the child has the typical symptoms and appears to be healthy, then laboratory investigations to exclude other diagnoses is not warranted.
[2] It should be excluded if the child is limping, loses the ability to walk, or has physical signs that suggest other medical conditions.
[1][4] Twice-daily stretching of the quadriceps, hamstrings, and gastrosoleus muscles can make the leg pains resolve more quickly when it appears.
[2] Commonly, episodes of growing pains become less severe and less frequent over time, and many children outgrow them after one or two years.
Growing pains were first described as such in 1823 by a French doctor, Marcel Duchamp, and the cause was attributed to the growth process.
[2][5] A century later, mainstream medicine thought that the pains were caused by a mild case of rheumatic fever.