Significant association among growing pains, vitamin D supplementation, and bone mineral status: results from a pilot cohort study.
J Bone Miner Metab. 2014 Mar 15. [Epub ahead of print]
Morandi G1 grazia.morandi@gmail.com, Maines E, Piona C, Monti E, Sandri M, Gaudino R, Boner A, Antoniazzi F.
Initial growing pain level 7.5
Vitamin D supplementation for 3 months
Vitamin D levels increased to 34 ng (an OK level)
Growing pain level dropped to 2.7
From PDF
"Growing pains are the most common form of episodic childhood musculoskeletal pain, concerning both males and females"
Vitamin D Council read the PDF behind a $5/month paywall
Children who were deficient (10-20ng) were given 100,000 IU orally monthly for 3 months
Children who were deficient (20-30ng) were given 25,000 IU orally once a month for 3 months
Personal note
I often had growing pains in my legs as a child living in cloudy Seattle.
Most likely I was vitamin D deficient.
Also, my mom smoked - and smoke is known to decrease vitamin D
A hint that I was vitamin D deficient - I got a sunburn virtually every year.
I also had two other conditions associated with Growing Pains: (comorbid)
restless legs and charlie horse leg cramps
I still had sore tibia and sternum untill a few years ago when I increased by vitamin D levels
Henry Lahore, founder of VitaminDWiki
Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki.
The aim of our study was to analyze the possible relationship between growing pains, vitamin D levels, and bone mineral status. We enrolled 33 children affected by growing pains. Their pain intensity was evaluated through a questionnaire using the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale for pain assessment. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D), parathyroid hormone (PTH), and alkaline phosphatase levels were measured as well. A quantitative ultrasound assessment (QUS) was also done, measuring both the amplitude-dependent speed of sound (AD-SOS) and the bone transmission time (BTT), correlating, respectively, with bone density and with cortical thickness. After 3 and 24 months of vitamin D supplementation, we re-evaluated pain intensity and laboratory results. After 24 months we re-assessed QUS parameters. At the beginning of the study the children reported a mean growing pain intensity of 7.5 ± 1.6 SD. The mean values of 25-OH-D and PTH levels were 15.7 ± 6.9 ng/ml and 57.3 ± 27.3 pg/ml, respectively. The AD-SOS Z score was -0.53 ± 1.19 SD, and the mean value of the BTT Z score was -0.72 ± 0.96 SD. After the first 3 months of vitamin D supplementation we observed an increase in 25-OH-D levels (34.1 ± 17.8, p < 0.001) and a reduction in both PTH levels (47.3 ± 30.6, p = 0.135) and pain intensity (2.7 ± 2.2, p < 0.001). After 24 months we observed a further significant reduction in the pain intensity (3.9 ± 3.4, p < 0.001) and in PTH levels (43.7 ± 28.5, p = 0.004) and an improvement in the QUS parameters, in particular in BTT Z scores (p = 0.014). Our study suggests an interesting relationship between growing pains, vitamin D levels and bone mineral status.
Pain Scale from web
PMID: 24633492
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See also VitaminDWiki
- Overview Pain and Vitamin D
- Growing pains associated with low vitamin D - Sept 2015
- Leg cramps in pregnant women not changed by 1,000 IU of vitamin D for 6 weeks (no surprise) – RCT Jan 2017
- Growing pains reduced 57 percent by vitamin D therapy – May 2015 has very similar result
- Search VitaminDWiki for "GROWING PAINS" 69 items as of Feb 2015
- Restless Legs Syndrome dramatically reduced by vitamin D, etc
- Restless legs and growing pains may be both due to low vitamin D – Sept 2013
which notices that every feature of Restless Legs is common with Growing Pains
There have actually been
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