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Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
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Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffBecause appointments can be brief, it's a good idea to prepare for your child's appointment. Take a few minutes to write a list of your child's signs and symptoms so that you can better answer the doctor's questions.
What to expect from your doctor
To confirm that your child is experiencing growing pains and not a more serious condition, your doctor is likely to ask you a number of questions. They may include:
- Where does the pain occur?
- Is there a certain time of day when the pain usually occurs?
- How long does the pain last?
- What, if anything, relieves the pain?
- Does the pain wake you up at night or make it difficult to fall asleep?
- Have you experienced any other signs or symptoms, such as swelling, redness, abdominal pain or headaches?
- Have you had a recent injury?
- Have you recently increased your activity level?
- Have you recently started a new physical activity?
- Lehman TJA, et al. Growing pains. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 15, 2008.
- Restless legs syndrome fact sheet. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/restless_legs/detail_restless_legs.htm?css=print. Accessed Aug. 15, 2008.
- Stewart ST. Orthopedic injuries and growing pains. In: Berkowtiz CD. Berkowitz's Pediatrics: A Primary Care Approach. 3rd ed. Washington, D.C.: American Academy of Pediatrics; 2008:547-553.
