My six-year-old son with SPD has been more and more recently complaining that his back hurts. At first it was only about once a week, but now is several times a day. The "pain" seems to be all over his back, and is a bit relieved by joint compressions and back massage.
At first I felt like he used this as a excuse to not do things asked of him. I would validate how he felt, gave some wait time, and he would still be required to do the task asked of him.
Lately the back "pain" is every morning, and several other times during the day. I am wondering if it might be some type of hyperactive nerves. Any suggestions???

Is he going through a growth spurt? That can hurt if you don't have SPD, but can be very painful with SPD.

Another thought . . . if he is anxious about something, he might be letting the anxiety increase his awareness about his back and that is making it hurt. I do that if I have uncontrollable anxiety. Every little ache and pain gets exagerrated and then for some reason I end up focusing on one pain to the exclusion of others.

I would suggest working on his anxiety and if his back pain doesn't get better, see a physician to make sure nothing biological is going on. Also, see if giving him a few days off from all stressors makes his back better. At least that way you would know what you are dealing with.

For me, my sensory issues cause muscle tension which cause back pain, neck pain, and chronic tension headaches. Are you sure there's not any increased tension? If massage is helping there might be.

(05-08-2012, 11:46 PM)Raven Wrote: Is he going through a growth spurt? That can hurt if you don't have SPD, but can be very painful with SPD.

Another thought . . . if he is anxious about something, he might be letting the anxiety increase his awareness about his back and that is making it hurt. I do that if I have uncontrollable anxiety. Every little ache and pain gets exagerrated and then for some reason I end up focusing on one pain to the exclusion of others.

I would suggest working on his anxiety and if his back pain doesn't get better, see a physician to make sure nothing biological is going on. Also, see if giving him a few days off from all stressors makes his back better. At least that way you would know what you are dealing with.

It has been a hard judgement call on taking him into the doctor. He hardly register pain unless it is intense, so I have really thought about getting him checked out. THe thing holding me back is that the pain is only at specific times during the day. I have also considered it being a growth spurt, so I am keeping my mind open to all possibilities.

(05-08-2012, 10:48 PM)tbclarsen Wrote: My six-year-old son with SPD has been more and more recently complaining that his back hurts. At first it was only about once a week, but now is several times a day. The "pain" seems to be all over his back, and is a bit relieved by joint compressions and back massage.
At first I felt like he used this as a excuse to not do things asked of him. I would validate how he felt, gave some wait time, and he would still be required to do the task asked of him.
Lately the back "pain" is every morning, and several other times during the day. I am wondering if it might be some type of hyperactive nerves. Any suggestions???

Take him to see a doctor NOW. If a child is complaining of progressive and increasing pain, the first thing to do is rule out an organic cause. Not everything is SPD related, and if it is a medical problem, delay can make it worse. If you rule out a medical problem, then you can look at stress or SPD as a possible cause.

And don't allow a doctor to tell you "it's growing pains" because I've had several top orthopedic surgeons tell me there is no such thing as growing pains. When I was a teen, I had horrible knee and leg pain, and my mom and the pedi (whom I hated) insisted it was "growing pains". After my dad had heard me complain of pain for over a year, he got fed up and demanded my mom take me to an orthopedic surgeon. The ortho took one look at my knees and told my mom both my kneecaps were tilted out of alignment and the delay in getting them fixed had caused a lot of additional, and unnecessary, damage and pain.

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(05-09-2012, 12:45 AM)tbclarsen Wrote: It has been a hard judgement call on taking him into the doctor. He hardly register pain unless it is intense, so I have really thought about getting him checked out. THe thing holding me back is that the pain is only at specific times during the day. I have also considered it being a growth spurt, so I am keeping my mind open to all possibilities.

I have fibromyalgia. When it first started, the pain was only in the morning and late afternoon, on a predictable, consistent pattern. That doesn't mean it was imaginary or stress related; fibro is unpredictable, and has been known to start in childhood.

I completely understand your dilemma! I would try to rule out any physical issue as much as possible. If his Ped doesn't help much, I'd even take him to a good chiropractor. My son had some back pain and it was because one leg is just slightly shorter than the other. (I took him to my chiro.) He wears a heel lift in his shoe and after 7-10 days, he stopped saying his back hurt. Sometimes when kids grow, their legs grow at different rates.

I'm in a similar situation with my 2nd grader. He's been complaining of a stomach ache since August. I thought it was just a bug he picked up from the water park we went to, but a month later he was still complaining of stomach pain. I tried everything. Not a food allergy, not a parasite. I tried to talk to him to see if he had anxiety. I can't figure it out. My only guess is that he is very sensitive to gas pain.

(05-09-2012, 12:07 PM)LynnNBoys Wrote: I'm in a similar situation with my 2nd grader. He's been complaining of a stomach ache since August. I thought it was just a bug he picked up from the water park we went to, but a month later he was still complaining of stomach pain. I tried everything. Not a food allergy, not a parasite. I tried to talk to him to see if he had anxiety. I can't figure it out. My only guess is that he is very sensitive to gas pain.

How did you rule out food allergies? Did you look at digestive problems like celiac (gluten), lactose intolerance - which can generate huge amounts of gas in the GI tract, or fructose intolerance - ditto on the gas? Isn't the doctor concerned about a 9 month stomach ache?

Hi,
I don't know if you will see this because it has been so long since you made the original post.
My daughter, who is now 14, started complaining of back pain when she was about 6. Her ped couldn't find anything wrong, and he had her do all kids of things, so he did not refer her to an orthopediic surgeon. Last year she had really mono, and she was having a lot of hip pain. I took her to an ortho, and he did an MRI. Turns out she has spinal stenosis, like one might see in a 40 year old, according to the doc. She was extremely athletic, and the ortho said that he most often sees this type of thing in young athletes who are very intense and advanced for their age, and they impact their bodies in a way that their skeletal maturaty level cannot handle, and they end up with conditions like this. I describe all of this because I wonder, If your kid is extremely active, maybe he is overtaxing his skeletal structure as well. Anyway, he referred to PT, which she hasn't gotten around to doing yet, but I am sure will help based on my ownd experience with back pain. Need to strengthen and stretch.

(05-09-2012, 03:09 PM)Marci Wrote:

(05-09-2012, 12:07 PM)LynnNBoys Wrote: I'm in a similar situation with my 2nd grader. He's been complaining of a stomach ache since August. I thought it was just a bug he picked up from the water park we went to, but a month later he was still complaining of stomach pain. I tried everything. Not a food allergy, not a parasite. I tried to talk to him to see if he had anxiety. I can't figure it out. My only guess is that he is very sensitive to gas pain.

How did you rule out food allergies? Did you look at digestive problems like celiac (gluten), lactose intolerance - which can generate huge amounts of gas in the GI tract, or fructose intolerance - ditto on the gas? Isn't the doctor concerned about a 9 month stomach ache?

Sorry I didn't see this before! I took him to an allergist and they tested for 12 different food types. All were negative, including dairy and wheat. I did an elimination diet for dairy and gluten. His stool was tested for several parasites--negative. I know people can still be gluten sensitive and it won't show up on tests. It's also possible that he was a little constipated even though he had BMs every day. He started to feel better when he was eating apples every day. He's much better now but gets stomachaches about 2-3 times a week (not 2-3 times a day like before). He feels better after he goes to the bathroom.