A lot of things get labelled as “growing pains” but merely because there is pain in a developing child does not mean it is a real growing pain. It is easy to dismiss pain in a growing child as this. A genuine growing pain just occurs at night and not in the daytime. The pain is also in the upper calf muscle and behind the knee. If the pain occurs during the day and in another place than the back of the leg and knee, then it's not a true growing pain and it is probably due to something different that ought to be investigated. Commonly, it only happens in younger children and awakens the kid during the night. There is no history of trauma or any sort of damage to the location that the pain happens in.

Growing pains are usually fairly harmless and self-limiting, in that they do come right after a while. Nevertheless, they are often upsetting to the child and parents at the time and, more importantly, there are several serious and uncommon disorders that may have symptoms much like growing pains, therefore each case must be taken seriously and investigated to rule out these other possible reasons. The repercussions of missing these rare causes of similar symptoms is serious.

The normal management of growing pains is simply reassurance of the child. They should be comforted and helped to get back to sleep. Soothing massage or rubbing of the leg in most cases help. In some instances medication can be used to help the pain and relieve the getting back to sleep. Stretching prior to going to bed and if the pain occurs might also be useful. Of most importance is education regarding the nature of growing pains and that it will pass plus an assessment of those possible unusual and serious causes of the discomfort.