cant straighten legs when sitting on the foor

[ra29]

Hi all,
Just wanted to pool your collective experience.
Ds is 11 and has suffered with leg pains for years. Yesterday when he had them I realised he was keeping them bent. I asked him about this and he said that he cant straighten them. When he's in pain he cant straighten them much at all but when he's not he still can't sot on tye floor with his legs staight in front of him. He can lie down with them straght and stand up. Ds has had several major health problems over the years so I do sometimes worry over things- I have been to the drs about his leg pains and have always been told it's nothing but am debating whether to go again about this straightening thing or is this normal? I also don't want to make an issue for him if it's nothing because he's been through quite a bit medically already.
What are your thoughts?

[ra29]

sorry about horrible typing!

[Saggarmakersbottomknocker]

Can he touch his toes? Or are they tight then? He sounds like he has very tight hamstrings. Perhaps see if it improves with some daily stretches/yoga before a trip back to the GP.

[ra29]

He cant touch his toes no- but I have also been told he's hypermobile!

[Bink]

Definitely worth having it checked out - though, if it's at all reassuring, my legs wouldn't straighten properly (or bend properly - I couldn't kneel) between about age 10 and 16. It must have been just a bone growth thing, as I grew out of it and kneeling hasn't been a problem for decades. 11 sounds likely to be the start of fast bone growth for boys. Anyway, I would have it looked at.

(I also had a horrible clicky disjointing jaw, which must have had a similar cause as I grew out of that too.)

[Saggarmakersbottomknocker]

Have I read before that your ds has a heart defect? Is that right? My dd does too and has had trouble with leg pains. One of her legs has poor/absent pulses due to a clot but she gets pain in both. I'm not convinced that it's unrelated to her heart.

[ra29]

Thank you so much for your messages.
Saggar, yes that's right- I'm very impressed by your memory!
It's funny because it seems that many heart kids do have leg pains and I've heard of a few where it has turned out to mean something nasty. I'm also unconvinced that it's not heart related.
But one of the reasons i posted on here was to see if this is common among other children.
How is your dd- do they really not think the pains have anything to do with the clot?

[scrooged]

Sounds like his tendons are too tight. Definetly a trip to the GP and take it from there.

[Saggarmakersbottomknocker]

I have a good heart-related memory lol.

They agree that she will have pain in the leg which had the clot but don't seem able to explain why she had an equal amount of pain in the other. Although she's now had some metalwork in that one and seems to have less pain than before

You hear alot about 'growing pains', I had them myself but I think I was maybe around 8. Does your ds do enough exercise?

[ra29]

Hi Saggars,#I've just seen from another post that you also go on heartline!

Ds does take quite a bit of exercise- so I don't think it would be because of not taking enough... In fact he pushes himself to a point that I find hard! (like a long cross country run- continuing even after he was sick)

He is realy doing well and I try not to relate everything to chd but I can't help wondering...

[Jas]

I am 39, and have never been able to sit with my legs straight out in front of me. I am also hypermobile, but don't get pain.

Not sure if that is helpful, but wanted to let you know it isn't unusual.

[ra29]

Thanks Jas, that's interesting that you're also hypermobile. I wonder how common this is?
And thanks bink and scrooged too- my instinct is to take him to the gp but I can't imagine much light will be shed!

[cory]

It is possibly to be hypermobile but have tight calf muscles at the same time. Dd did for a while. Get him seen.

[Wallace]

ds (9) is hypermobile and has tight hamstrings. I think the doc said something about the hamstrings making up for the loose joints..or something like that...

[pushki]

Just to add - that yes, he can be hypermobile in the joints but also have tight muscles. Sounds as if he has tight hamstrings and this would contribute to leg pains. Ask your GP to refer you to a paeds physio who would then assess him and probably just need to be shown some stretching exercises which (if he does them regularly ) will definitely improve his flexibility and leg pains. Good luck!