Toddler Knee Problems

Approximately 25 to 40 percent of healthy children will experience benign growing pains in their knees and legs according BabyCenter.com. Parents whose children complain of repetitive knee pain might wonder when to ascribe it to simple overuse or growing pains or whether they should worry about more serious illnesses or conditions.

Identification

• Before dismissing your child's complains as simply growing pains, a doctor should completely examine your child. While generalized pain not accompanied by any other symptoms is unlikely to be a major medical concern according to Dr. Henry Bernstein of Healthkey.com, it is important to get a thorough picture of the child's activity level and overall health before making a diagnosis.

Sprains and Strains

• With their frenetic activity level, toddlers rarely seem to stay still. Strains occur when muscles, or the tendons that attach them to the bone, tear or stretch excessively. Sprains happen when the stretchy tissue that connects the bones across a joint, a ligament, tears or stretches. While both injuries remain a possibility in toddlers, they tend to be unlikely according to BabyCenter.com's Medical Advisory Board, since during toddlerhood the ligaments are stronger than the surrounding bones making them more prone to bone breakage than sprains. Strains tend to happen in the neck, thigh and calf area as a result of heavy lifting, an activity most toddlers are unlikely to engage in.

Diseases and Conditions

• Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA), an autoimmune disease, causes join inflammation and stiffness. While the disease generally doesn't afflict children under the age of 6, toddlers can develop JRA especially if there is a family history of the illness. Doctors might suspect JRA if your child's knee pain is accompanied by fever, eye inflammation or swollen lymph nodes.

  If you live in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region or the Pacific Northwest and you suspect your child might have been bitten by a tick, Lyme disease is a potential cause of illness. Lyme disease is carried by bacteria that infects ticks and can cause rashes, headaches, fatigue, fever, swelling and knee pain.

Considerations

• In a child who remains playful and active, knee pain is probably temporary and should resolve quickly on its own. Seek a doctor's advice if the pain is accompanied by fever, swollen joints, any type of rash, weakness in the legs or arms, inability to bear weight on the knee or stand, or if you know your child potentially injured himself in the knee area.

Prevention/Solution

• If your child experiences growing pains that last for 10 to 15 minutes at night or if you suspect she overused her knees during the day, a hot bath and rest should help assuage symptoms. You can also offer him a dose of ibuprofen or acetaminophen to help him relax and sleep. Ensuring toddlers stretch before engaging in any types of sports activities such as soccer or T-ball can help prevent muscle strain, as can icing these areas immediately after an injury occurs.