9 year old with bad back

[kags]

My 9 year old son has a bad back. It started about 10 days ago as a slight ache, then after playing football last Wednesday it has worsened. He particulalry struggles getting down stairs, although at other times it is not causing too much distress. I thought it would clear up with rest and TLC, but this morning it is just as bad. I can't get a doctors appointment for 2 weeks unless I declare it as a medical emergency (in which case I'd be off to A & E wouldn't I?). I have never heard of a child with a bad back, and wondered if anybody here has experienced this with their own children.

[claire85]

Hi kags!

From the ages of 9 until about 13 I suffered from a very bad back. It literally started when I woke up one day, and it used to lock whilst I was walking so that I couldn't move.

My mum took me to doctor after doctor and none of them knew what it was. Eventually I was referred to a specialist and was told that it was simply growing pains. Apparently if your body grows at an unusual pace(at around this age); your bones are growing faster than your muscles, etc. causing the pain. I was given physiotherapy on a weekly basis at the hospital which helped a lot.

Your son will probably be offered an X-ray, if it's going to be something difficult to diagnose, which is something I was not offered as it can interfere with the female reproductive organs.

I'm now 21 and 6', but have always been tall for my age.

My brother who is now 13, also started to get pains in his back which his football seemed to make worse. He was told the same thing but by a different doctor. It does semm to be easing as he gets older though.

I hope this helps, kags.

[kags]

Thank you claire85, sorry to hear you suffered so much with your back, but it reassures me to hear that it is not unheard of in a young child. After a bit of jumping up and down I have managed to get a doctors appointment for tomorrow evening.

[noxlumos]

My son injured his back very severly when he was 11 and it turned out to be a spondolythesis?? sp whih is a sort of stress fracture to the spine and was in hospital for a few weeks with it. What was particularly alarming was that he was still up and walking about complaining of having hurt himself doing gymnastics just feeling more and more pain and discomfort.Get him checked out if I were you, at the hospital if necessary as if w'd left our son he could well have ended up permanantly injured.

[kags]

thank you - I just did some research on Spondylolisthesis, and the symptoms all fit, including the leg pain. I will ask the doctor when I seem him tomorrow, as it seems we definitely need to rule this out before we go any further. Thanks for the advice claire85 and noxlumos.

[dotjhawkes]

Is he playing computer games alot? That would definately contribute if he is not sitting back in a supporting chair, kids tend to sit upright with no support for hours playing these games and it is stressful to the back muscles.

[Solarjunkie]

Kids can get back problems just as well as adults!

Find a good cranial osteopath. Ask at your local independant health food store, they are bound to know the best local one!

My son complained he felt one arm was longer than the other, as well as varoius aches. One hand was indeed a whole an inch further forward than the other! Mainly caused by carrying a heavy school bag on one shoulder, but also by falling out of trees, off bicycles,all the usual childhood stuff - and of course by being born, which apparently causes some for of damage to over 80% of babies.

The difference after treatment was amazing, he also grew noticeably having been small for his age previously.