Is your kid’s shoulder, wrist, or foot “just growing pains” — or is something actually going on?
It’s the question we hear most from parents every August. School’s back, which means club sports, marching band, and recital season are all ramping up at once. And when a kid says something hurts, it’s genuinely hard to know if that’s a normal ache from a body that’s still growing, or the start of an overuse injury that’s about to get a lot worse.
One Family’s Story
Meet one of our clients, a middle-schooler who plays travel soccer and cello. Her parents chalked up her wrist pain to “just practicing too much” for months. By the time she came in, she’d changed her bow grip to avoid the pain. Which was starting to affect her form on both cello and on the field. A quick assessment found the real issue: a repetitive strain pattern from the combination of both activities. With a few targeted self-treatment techniques and hands-on bodywork, she was back to full form within weeks, no missed recitals or games.
That’s the tricky part about growing pains. They’re real, and most soreness after a hard practice is completely normal. But there are a few signs that tell you it’s worth a closer look instead of waiting it out.
5 Signs It’s More Than Growing Pains
- It shows up at the same point, every time. Random soreness is normal. Pain that predictably kicks in 20 minutes into practice, or always in the second half of a game, is a pattern. Patterns usually mean something specific is going on.
- It doesn’t clock out. Normal soreness fades within a day. If it’s still there the next morning, or hangs around for several days after activity, that’s your body asking for attention.
- They’re compensating. Watch how they move, not just what they say. A new limp, a changed grip, favoring one side. Kids will quietly adjust their form to avoid pain long before they’ll tell you about it.
- Something physically changed. Swelling, warmth to the touch, or a new clicking or catching sensation in a joint are signs worth paying attention to, not waiting on.
- They’re avoiding it. This is the clearest sign of all. When a kid who loves their sport or instrument suddenly starts “forgetting” their gear or seems less into something they used to love, that’s often pain talking louder than words.
What To Do Next
If any of that sounds familiar, the good news is early attention goes a long way. A quick bodywork assessment can spot an overuse pattern before it turns into weeks on or off the bench. It often comes with simple self-treatment techniques you can use at home between visits, the same way we did for our young cellist above.
WholeFrog® has a team of R.N.’s, medical rehabilitative specialists, trained Full Range coaches, and certified massage therapists who all share the same goal: getting your family back to doing what you love, Pain-Free. We see this every back-to-school season, and catching it early always beats catching it late.
That’s the power of becoming a WholeFrog®: mastering your body through our FullRange program.
Don’t just take our word for it, we have 100’s of reviews on Yelp and Google!
If your child doesn’t have time to be sidelined, book a consultation or one of our services with the Navy Seals of Wellness.
New to WholeFrog®? Please complete our New Client Intake Form at least 24 hours before your visit, whether you’re booking a complimentary consultation or a service. If you have X-ray, MRI, or lab reports you’d like us to review before your visit, please scan and upload them using our Document Upload Form.