Growing Pains Physical Therapy Through the Lens of Performance — The Southeast PT Approach

At Southeast Physical Therapy, we believe that true physical freedom comes not just from treating pain—but from understanding the why behind it. That’s especially true when it comes to kids and adolescents experiencing “growing pains”. While the name suggests one thing, digging deeper reveals an opportunity: to align growth, movement, and adaptation so young athletes aren’t just avoiding pain, but getting stronger for the future.

What Are “Growing Pains”?

• The term typically refers to intermittent aching or cramping feelings in a child’s legs (often calves, shins, front thighs or behind the knees).

• These usually occur in the late afternoon or evenings after activity and usually occur in both legs rather than isolated to one side.

• Importantly: despite the name, these pains are not reliably caused by the bones simply “growing”.

• For many children, continuation of regular activity is fine; the pain doesn’t always require stopping sport or play.

While benign in most cases, persistent or pain in one leg, pain with swelling or night-limping or pain that doesn’t fit the typical pattern should be evaluated further.

Enter Wolff’s Law — How Bone, Growth & Load Interact

As we gear our performance-oriented PT approach toward youth, one of the key physiological frameworks we invoke is Wolff’s Law. In simple terms:

“Bone adapts to the loads placed upon it.”

That means:

• When bone (via its attachments: muscle, tendon, ligament) is subjected to consistent mechanical stress, it remodels (gets stronger, changes geometry) to better resist those stresses. This is how we reverse degenerative changes associated with osteoporosis.

• Conversely, when mechanical loading is absent or irregular, bone adaptations regress - a bony "atrophy" of sorts.

• Especially during growth (childhood and adolescence), these adaptive processes are active and meaningful.

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Why Linking Growing Pains, Physical Therapy + Wolff’s Law Matters for Young Athletes in Roswell

1. Rapid growth + muscle/soft‐tissue lag = increased “stress mismatch”.

During growth spurts, long bones lengthen, muscle attachments shift, and soft tissues (muscles, tendons) may lag behind in their ability to adapt. That mismatch in length-tension, coordination, and load distribution can lead to increased mechanical stress at key zones — and that stress can manifest as pain (even if the bone itself is structurally healthy). Physical therapy seeing kids with “growing pains” often identifies tight calves, quadriceps, hamstrings, and less optimal movement control because the skeleton is changing fast.

2. Bone doesn’t just “passively grow” — it adapts to demands.

If a young athlete in Roswell is playing multiple sports, jumping off curbs, sprinting, squatting, etc., their skeleton (bone + attachments) is being asked to adapt. Under Wolff’s Law that’s good — it drives adaptation. But if the load is erratic, excessive, or the soft tissue/motor control system isn’t keeping up, the adaptation may lag, leading to pain, micro-stress, or inefficient movement patterns. From our viewpoint: we don’t just say “your child is growing” and wait. We proactively guide adaptation (strength, mobility, motor control, load management) so the skeleton responds favorably.

3. Opportunity for performance foundation

When we view “growing pains” through this lens, we see not just a nuisance but a window of opportunity:

• Encourage strength and load-bearing in age-appropriate ways → driving healthy bone adaptation.

• Ensure mobility and control keep pace with skeletal changes.

• Teach body awareness, movement competence, and appropriate load progression early.

• Prevent future inefficiencies, injuries, and set up the athlete for long-term physical freedom.

  
  

What We Do at Southeast PT to Support Young Athletes with “Growing Pains”

Our program blends our performance-oriented brand (“Strength • Freedom • Movement”) with pediatric-aware practice:

1. Comprehensive assessment: Rather than simply saying “it’s typical growing pains,” we evaluate muscle-balance, flexibility, alignment, gait/landing mechanics, sport-specific demands, and any red flags.

2. Education for family + athlete:

   • Explain how bone adapts (Wolff’s Law) so parents understand why load and movement matter, even in childhood.

   • Clarify that pain doesn’t necessarily mean “stop everything,” but does mean “let’s guide adaptation.”

3. Load-appropriate strength & movement training:

   • Introduce age-appropriate bodyweight variations, progressive plyometrics, hopping, landing drills — all with control. These provide the mechanical stimuli that bone adapts to.

   • Emphasize proper movement patterns (squat, hinge, lunge, single-leg control) so the stresses are distributed beneficially.

4. Mobility and soft tissue preparation:

   • Stretching/tissue work for tight calves, hamstrings, quads, and hip-flexors (common in growing kids) to reduce excess pull on bone attachments.

   • Teach nightly or pre-sport routines: gentle warm-ups, dynamic mobility, and good sleep hygiene.

5. Load management & progression planning:

   • Monitor sport volume, jump counts, multi-sport demands, early specialization risks, and schedule rest/active recovery.

   • Gradually escalate activity intensity, complexity, and volume so the skeleton has time to adapt (per Wolff’s principle) rather than being overloaded in one big jump.

6. Pain coping + recovery tools:

   • Use heat, warm baths, massage in the evenings if kids get leg-aches. This aligns with standard “growing pain” management advice.

   • Provide “reset” programs in acute pain days: light activity, foam rolling, maintain normal activity if pain allows, but reduce high-load sessions until adaptation is back on track.

7. Long-term monitoring:

   • Reassess regularly so that as the child grows, their movement patterns, strength, and loading strategies evolve.

   • Look for signs of overuse, asymmetry, or emergence of other pediatric conditions (e.g., Osgood‑Schlatter disease, Sever’s disease) which may mimic or coincide with growing pains.

     
     

Local Considerations for Roswell / East Cobb Families

• With our humid Georgia summers and year-round sports seasons, children often shift from one sport to another without true off-season. That means their skeleton and movement system may never get a true “reset.” Planning rest phases is key.

• Multi-sport kids: Since many of our athletes (or kids of our adult athlete clients) play multiple sports (soccer, lacrosse, baseball, golf) — the cumulative loads matter. For example: frequent jumps/sprints one day + golf-swings the next = multi-planar stress through the skeleton.

• School + training + auto-posture: With long days of sitting in school + early morning practices, kids may come into training with postural fatigue or muscle-imbalance already loaded. That, combined with growing bones, is a recipe for non-ideal loading.

• Community wellness: Families in Roswell/East Cobb who invest in high-quality training (private coaches, club sports) should consider coupling that with movement-screening and PT support so the skeleton keeps up with the activity demands.

  
  

When to Raise the Alarm

At Southeast PT we always say: most growing-pain-type discomfort is benign—but any of the following should trigger further evaluation:

• Pain that’s constant, one-sided, in the same spot, or gets worse with time (rather than better)

• Pain with swelling, redness, limping, or difficulty bearing weight

• Pain that restricts activity participation or sleep beyond the “typical pattern”

• Change in gait or movement mechanics (new limping, “holding back”)

As per standard pediatric guidance: if it doesn’t fit the usual pattern of growing pains, it’s wise to assess more deeply.

Final Thoughts

At Southeast PT we see growing pains not simply as a “just wait-it-out” phase, but as an invitation: an invitation to guide the young athlete’s body through growth, load, adaptation, and performance. By integrating principles like Wolff’s Law into our pediatric-performance model, we help families in Roswell and East Cobb navigate growth with less pain, better movement, and a foundation for long-term athletic freedom.

If your child is complaining of leg aches at the end of the day, getting less restful sleep, or you sense movement patterns aren’t keeping up with activity demands, we’d be glad to help assess movement, load, and alignment — and build a plan aligned with their growth, sport, and future.

Strength. Freedom. Movement.