4 year old with leg pain and limp

[hannah555]

My 4 year old son is in constant pain with his left leg.  It began about 1 1/2 years ago when he started limping.  We took him to the doctor and they dismissed it as growing pains and put him on Naproxen for the pain.  Since then, we have been to an orthopaedic specialist and a rheumatologist because the pain kept getting worse.  He has been tested for everything under the sun, but his diagnosis is still a medical mystery.  As long as he takes his Naproxen, he can walk normal and is not in pain.  If he does not take it, he cries with pain and will limp or not even put his foot on the ground.  Has anyone else experienced this?  I really don't know where to turn.  We have ruled out Juvenile Arthritis, which seems to be the most obvious answer, as well as several other diseases.  Any suggestions?

[Em8503]

I am now 25 years old and when i was between the ages of 3 and 4 i had the same condition and testing.  I can remember being in pain and not being able to walk.  It seemed to get worse in the winter time.. the doctors did testing for everything under the sun and it all came back negative.  I grew out of it after time and had no problems as a teenager.  Now that I am older once in a while my legs and joints will hurt when it is very cold.  I hope every thing goes well your child.  My 4 yr son is now going through the same thing and he is having a bone scan to look for infection or what ever else shows up.  He had blood work done and his ESR levels came back elevated.  Best of luck to the both of us.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Thanks for writing to the forum!
I am sorry to hear about your son. I am not sure what has been looked into apart from a few things you mentioned. The things that should also be ruled out are osteomyelitis of hip bone or femur head, necrosis of femur head, transient synovitis, congenital hip dysplasia, compression of sciatic nerve. This needs an evaluation by either an orthopedics specialist, neurologist  or by a sports injury specialist.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!