Stretching Kids’ Joint Pains Away

Step-by-Step Illustrated Guide

Stretching is – besides the application of warmth, and massage – one of the three natural and easy remedies for relieving children’s growing pains. The major difference from the other two methods is that it can be done anywhere and anytime, literally taking only half a minute. It’s therefore perfect as a very quick and effective form of pain relief.

The downside of stretching is that it requires a certain amount of balance and coordination from your little one (if there is no assistance from a grown up). It may therefore not be suitable for very young children/toddlers who are not yet able to get into and hold the correct positions themselves.

That does not mean that those little legs can’t be stretched! It simply means that it may be necessary for you hold and assist your child or that you have to stretch their thighs, for example as shown in the first picture at the top of the post. Just have them sit or lie down and you bend their toes into the correct positions.

That’s easy to do and usually the greater challenge lies in keeping those wiggly little cuties still for about 30-60 seconds to fully stretch the muscles.

In this post I’ll give you a general overview on correct and effective stretching and walk you through 6 different stretching positions – step-by-step with illustrations and a detailed description.

In order to be able to do so I’ve read several books (listed at the end of this post), consulted with my physiotherapist and osteopath, thoroughly searched the world wide web, used my own years of experience as a competitive swimmer, and distilled all of this information and hours of work into four articles on how to relieve toddlers’ joint pains. They are available for you on my website, and can be found here:

Part 1: Relieving Toddlers’ Joint Pains – What No One Told Me Here I explain which not-so-obvious lessons I’ve learned as a result of this research and what I had to find out the hard way. It also contains a summary of the most common questions regarding joint pains like:

• What are growing pains? Where do they come from?
• How can joint pains be treated naturally? 
• What causes growing pains? 
• Is it necessary to see a doctor when my child has growing pains?
• Can babies under the age of three have growing pains too?

Part 2: How to Relieve Toddlers’ Joint Pains With Warmth. This post deals with when to apply warmth and when not to in order to relieve joint pains, as well as easy hacks and tips on how to get the most out of such a simple thing as a bath or a hot water bottle.

Part 3: How to Relieve Toddlers’ Joint Pains by Means of Massaging. The third post is an in-depth, illustrated step-by-step guide on how to make sure each and every muscle from the knee down is fully relaxed and pain free. I describe different massaging techniques and positions, and I’ve packed the article full of useful tips and ideas.

This post here is part four of the four-post series on how to relieve growing pains in children. Let’s get right into it.

Effective Stretching

Correct and effective stretching is not difficult and often an overlooked way of treating growing pains. The principle of “nice, but not working” applies here: done in an incorrect way it won’t do much good.

Let’s take a quick look at some general dos and don’ts that apply to stretching, before we look into the different muscles and stretching positions.

Three very common mistakes when stretching are:

1. to stretch the muscle too hard,
2. to not stretch it long enough and  
3. to seesaw while stretching.

These short and intense pulls on a muscle, called seesawing, cause more harm than anything else. Correct stretching gradually and slowly eases into the stretch, continually increasing the tension on a muscle until a slight discomfort is felt. Hold the intensity at that level before either completely releasing the tension or going another little step further, then holding again.

A muscle should always be stretched for at least 30 seconds; repeat 2-3 times.

Make sure that your child breathes evenly and normally while stretching. Also, it is better to have them do the stretch correctly and well, than make them go through the whole 30 seconds and 2-3 repetitions.

Before we can look at the different stretching positions, we first must know which muscles we have that may cause the troubles your little one is going through.

In the lower thigh we have five muscles; one is located at the front of the lower thigh, three are located at the back, and one is an “allrounder”, which is found at the front as well as in the back:

1. M. peroneus longus: Responsible for stretching and lifting the foot (pointing the toes up and down) and lifting the outer part of the foot. The muscle is located at the front of the lower leg.
2. M. tibialis: Responsible for lifting the leg (pointing the toes upwards) and lifting the outer and inner part of your foot. These muscles are found on the front (M. tibialis anterior) and the back side of the lower leg.
3. M. gastrocnemius: Responsible for bending the knee, stretching the foot (pointing the toes downwards) and for balancing (stabilizing). It’s one of the main muscles in the calves and located at the back of the lower thigh.
4. M. soleus: Responsible for stretching the foot; it’s also a big muscle and is located behind the gastrocnemius.
5. M. plantaris: A small muscle in the back of the lower leg, has similar responsibilities to the gastrocnemius and soleus.

(M. stands for musculus, Latin for muscle)

Stretching the back lower thigh muscles

Now we know how to correctly stretch and we also know that we have to stretch four different muscles (the tibialis, gastrocnemius, soleus and plantaris) when stretching the back lower thigh. Therefore, we need different positions in order to stretch all of them equally:

Position 1:

Have your child face a wall (or tree, car – whatever is available) and put both hands on it, shoulder height, arms outstretched.

One leg moves backwards as far as possible, without the heel leaving the ground. The toes have to point directly towards the wall and the body should be upright (parallel to the wall).

Now the upright torso can move towards the wall (bend arms) until the pressure starts to feel slightly uncomfortable.

Hold for 30 seconds, relax the muscle for a few seconds (stand upright again) and repeat 2-3 times, then change feet.

Why is it not working properly? Common mistakes when stretching in this position:

• Standing too far from the wall and/or taking too big a step backwards
• Not having the feet and toes of both legs pointing directly at the wall (90° angle) 
• Not having the upper body straight when getting into the position (already leaning against the wall)

Position 2:

The same position as before, but now the torso does not move towards the wall and stays upright. Slightly bend both knees, as if trying to sit down.

This moves the stretch from just under the knee towards the heel of the foot. Make sure the heel stays on the ground.

Hold for 30 seconds, relax the muscle for a few seconds (stand upright again) and repeat 2-3 times, then change feet.

Position 3:

Move close to a wall or anything that is firmly on the ground. Slightly bend the foot, which should not be stretched.

Move the other foot close to the wall and place the toes as high as possible. Now stand up (stretch the knee of the foot you’re standing on).

Make sure the foot that needs to be stretched is not bent at the knee (completely stretched). To intensify the stretch, the upright upper body can lean forward a little.

Hold for 30 seconds, relax the muscle for a few seconds (move torso backwards or put toes back onto the ground) and repeat 2-3 times, then change  feet.

Why is it not working properly? Common mistakes when stretching in this position:

• The upper body is not straight (shoulders, hips and knees in an almost straight line)
• Toes are not placed high enough
• Foot is not facing the wall at a 90° angle (toes in a line with the ankle and knee)

Position 4:

A variation of position 3 is to stand in the stretching position and then slightly bend the knee of the stretched foot.

This will move the stretch towards the deeper muscles in the thigh. To intensify the stretch, the upper body can move forward a bit.

Hold for 30 seconds, relax the muscle for a few seconds (move torso backwards or put toes back onto the ground) and repeat 2-3 times, then change feet.

Stretching the front lower thigh muscles

When stretching the front of the lower thigh muscles we need to stretch the “allrounder” tibialis and the peroneus.

Position 5:

This exercise is best done without shoes.

Stand straight, then take a small step forward. Now point the toes of the foot that is at the back towards the floor (make the upper side of the toes touch the floor).

Try to stand as straight as possible (don’t bend knees). Hold for 30 seconds, then relax the muscle for a few seconds by placing the foot normally on the ground again. Repeat 2-3 times, then change feet.

Why is it not working properly? Common mistakes when stretching in this position:

• The step backwards was too big
• The toes, ankle and knee are not in a straight line 
• The toenails are not facing the ground (the bottom side of the foot or toes is not facing upwards)

Position 6:

Start in the same position as described before.

Now try to “roll” your ankle towards the floor by bending both knees. Find a position where you can feel the pull around the shin, approx. halfway up the thigh towards the knee.

Hold for 30 seconds before you relax the muscle again, then repeat 2-3 times before you change feet.

What shall I do if my child can’t get the feet or legs into the correct stretching position?

If your child is not used to stretching and has never done it before, it can be quite a challenge to get the whole body into the right position.

It’s hard to have the toes point a certain way, the knee and hip straight, the upper body in the correct position, standing the right distance from the wall and having the feet the right length apart, keeping the balance and stretching is a lot to keep track of at once.

Give your little one some time and practice it. Repetition is the mother of skill.

If you have the impression that, after some practicing, it still doesn’t quite look right, I recommend to go see either a physiotherapist or a sports-teacher. They’ll be able to walk you through the steps and point out incorrect positions.

When should your child not stretch?

Stretching is usually not harmful, but there are exceptions to every rule. Don’t have your child stretch when one of the following applies:

Never stretch into a painful position or when in pain in general (like pains in the Achilles tendon or the knee).

Stretch very carefully when you have a muscle ache, and try to avoid stretching after an extreme amount of exercise like a sports competition (apply warmth and help the muscle relax with a massage instead).

When Should You See A Doctor?

If the pains are persistent and the tenderness does not dissolve with warmth, a massage or stretching, something more serious than growing pains can be the cause.

In this case it is important to see your pediatrician. Some of these symptoms are:

• Persistent pains in the mornings or extreme tenderness.
• Swelling, stiffness or redness in the joints.
• Joint pains associated with injuries.
• Limping and weakness or unusual tenderness.

For an extended list of symptoms and a list of questions that you can prepare answers to before seeing your doctor, take a look at the first post of this series: Relieving Toddlers’ Joint Pains – What No One Told Me.

One more thought

Although the literature states that growing pains usually occur after the age of 3, my personal experience differs from this. Babies and young toddlers in particular also make enormous leaps in terms of mental and physical development, which also include bouncing and hundreds of repetitions of the same movement and steps.

Therefore, I would not be surprised if a lot of crying and fussing (also during the night) can be directly linked to discomfort and pains in the muscles and joints.

Unfortunately our beloved little ones may still be too little to communicate what and where exactly it hurts; they may simply not be themselves, and instead unhappy and whiny. The lack of ability to properly tell us what they want and need can be frustrating for both sides.

I therefore highly recommend massaging little ones daily. This has many health benefits and is a great bonding time. It may alleviate the discomfort in the thighs and feet and treat it before it grows into real joint pains.

If you would like more information, please feel free to check out this article I wrote: How To Do Ayurvedic Massage On A Newborn Illustrated Guide

References

As mentioned before, I’ve put many many hours of research and work into this article.

However, nobody is perfect : ) Please feel free to share your ideas and experiences, additional information or critique in the comments below, after the Related Posts. Thank you!

I wish you a fantastic time with your beloved little ones and hope that this article provides a useful resource for you to treat those nasty growing pains.

• Massage – Mind and Body; Larry Costa; Dorling Kindersley Limited, London; 2003
• Das große Laufbuch; Herbert Steffny; Südwest Verlag, Munich; 2009
• Krafttraining mit dem Thera-Band®; Hans-Dieter Kempf, Andreas Strack; Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag; Hamburg; 2013