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Definition
- Leg muscle pain from hard work or sports (muscle overuse)
- Pain is not caused by an injury
- Also called muscle overuse syndrome
Health Information
Symptoms
- Pain in the leg muscles
- The quads (muscles in front of the thigh) are the most common site
Pain Scale
- Mild: Your child feels pain and tells you about it. But, the pain does not keep your child from any normal activities. School, play and sleep are not changed.
- Moderate: The pain keeps your child from doing some normal activities. It may wake him or her up from sleep.
- Severe: The pain is very bad. It keeps your child from doing all normal activities.
Causes
- Constant leg pains are often from hard work or sports.
- Examples of triggers are hiking, running, or jumping too much.
- Muscle pain can also be from a forgotten injury that occurred the day before.
Care Advice
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Overview:
- Strained muscles from overuse are common after too much exercise or hard sports.
- Examples are hiking or running.
- Weekend warriors who are out of shape get the most muscle pains.
- Here is some care advice that should help.
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Pain Medicine:
- To help with the pain, give acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) or ibuprofen. Use as needed.
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Cold Pack:
- For pain or swelling, use a cold pack. You can also use ice wrapped in a wet cloth.
- Put it on the sore muscles for 20 minutes.
- Repeat 4 times on the first day, then as needed.
- Caution: Avoid frostbite.
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Heat Pack:
- If pain lasts over 2 days, put heat on the sore muscle.
- Use a heat pack, heating pad or warm wet washcloth.
- Do this for 10 minutes, then as needed.
- Caution: Avoid burns.
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Activity:
- Avoid activities that increase the pain.
- Continue gentle stretching exercises.
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Prevention of Recurrent Leg Pains:
- Research has shown that daily stretching exercises can prevent some leg pains.
- Have someone teach you how to stretch the quads, hamstrings, and calf muscles.
- Stretch each muscle in sets of 10. The best time is before and after playing sports.
- Also, be sure your child gets enough calcium in the diet. Daily Vitamin D3 may also help.
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What to Expect:
- A strained muscle hurts for 3 to 7 days. The pain often peaks on day 2.
- After severe overuse, the pain may last a week.
Call Your Doctor If
- Fever, limp, or a swollen joint occurs
- Pain caused by work or sports lasts more than 7 days
- You think your child needs to be seen
- Your child becomes worse
Author: Barton Schmitt MD, FAAP
Copyright 2000-2020 Schmitt Pediatric Guidelines LLC