Growing Pains or a Foot Problem? What Parents Should Track
Children may describe several different problems with the same sentence: “My foot hurts.” A useful history often comes from patterns rather than perfect vocabulary. The side, exact location, activity, footwear, timing, and change in behavior can help a podiatrist distinguish a temporary ache from an injury, alignment issue, or overuse condition.
Notice what the child stops doing
A child may not report pain directly but may ask to be carried, leave practice early, avoid running, or choose quieter play. A new limp, toe walking, or favoring one side can be more informative than a pain score.
Ask whether symptoms affect school, sports, sleep, or the willingness to wear a certain shoe.
Track location and timing
Have the child point with one finger to the most painful spot. Note whether symptoms affect one side or both and whether they appear during activity, afterward, at night, or with the first steps in the morning.
Heel pain in a growing athlete, pain directly over a bone, arch fatigue, toe pain, and diffuse aching can require different evaluations. Repeated pain in the same focal area should not automatically be labeled growing pain.
Look for visible changes
- Swelling, redness, warmth, or bruising
- A blister, callus, wart, or ingrown nail
- Uneven shoe wear
- Flat or high arches with symptoms
- Toes that turn inward or overlap
- A bump, deformity, or change in foot shape
Take a photo when swelling or color changes come and go. A short video of walking or running can also help when the pattern is not present in the office.
Footwear can provide clues
Record which shoes trigger symptoms and check whether the child has outgrown the length or width. Cleats and narrow dress shoes can create different pressure than everyday athletic shoes. An evaluation may also find that pain comes from alignment or mechanics rather than the shoe itself.
When to seek prompt care
Inability to bear weight, visible deformity, major swelling, an open wound, fever with a red or swollen joint, sudden severe pain, or worsening symptoms after injury need prompt assessment. Persistent limping, nighttime pain, repeated one-sided pain, or symptoms that change activity should also be evaluated.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons notes that several developmental patterns can cause intoeing and that the location of the rotation determines the condition and expected course.
What a pediatric foot exam may include
Your podiatrist may assess gait, alignment, joint motion, muscle flexibility, tenderness, skin, nails, shoe wear, and developmental history. X-rays or other imaging are used when the findings or injury call for them, not automatically for every complaint.
Foot & Ankle Centers provides pediatric foot care for heel pain, flat feet, warts, ingrown nails, alignment concerns, sports injuries, and other conditions.
Bring a pattern the clinician can use
Kristen Treleven, DPM, AACFAS, provides compassionate podiatric care to patients of all ages. Schedule a pediatric foot pain evaluation with Foot & Ankle Centers of Frisco, Little Elm, & McKinney or call (972) 712-7773.