66 | AUGUST 31 • 2023
C
hildren experience
pain just like adults,
but they might not
exhibit the same signs.
While adults are often able
to pinpoint causes of pain and
verbalize those sensations,
children, especially younger
kids, may not know how to
express what’s wrong. Instead,
they could act withdrawn,
cradle an aching body part or
cry out unexpectedly.
Sometimes, they may be so
used to pain that they don’t say
or show any signs at all.
Studies show that anywhere
from 20-35% of children and
adolescents experience chronic
pain, although this estimate
is conservative because pain
can often go undetected or
unshared.
Chronic pain is pain
that lasts three months or
more, and it can have a
serious impact on school-
aged children — affecting
everything from their school
experience to their learning
habits. That’s why taking
charge of chronic pain is so
important.
NOT JUST
‘GROWING PAINS’
Farmington Hills-based
psychologist Dr. Emily Foxen-
Craft, founder of Pediatric Pain
and Behavioral Health
PLLC, specializes
in pediatric chronic
pain conditions.
Through her private
practice and previous
work at CS Mott
Children’s Hospital and
University of Michigan
as a psychologist for
children with chronic
pain, Foxen-Craft
says an alarming number of
children experience pain on a
weekly basis — as high as 42%,
she says.
“What we’re starting to
understand and appreciate is
that children experience pain a
lot more than people thought,”
Foxen-Craft, an active member
of the Ann Arbor
Jewish community and
former Farber Hebrew
Day School student,
explains. “From
bumping our leg or
getting a headache, or
sometimes a bigger
injury, most humans
have pain.”
The same rings
true for children and
teens. Historically, Foxen-Craft
says pain in youth was often
attributed to “growing pains”
and dismissed from being true,
chronic pain.
While the amount of
children who experience
disability from pain might be
smaller than that of adults,
pain — and chronic pain — is
still a common experience in
childhood.
Common sources of
pain in youth are frequent
headaches or migraine
attacks, stomachaches and
musculoskeletal pain, or pain
throughout the body in bones,
ligaments and more. One of
the most common experiences
in adults, meanwhile, is low
back pain.
SIGNS OF PAIN
In preteens and teens, Foxen-
Craft says chronic pain rates
increase tremendously. Luckily,
older children can better
express their symptoms, but
young children and toddlers
may not have the same ability.
Instead, Foxen-Craft says
these signs may point to a child
being in pain:
• Crying
• Protecting or holding a
painful body part
• Avoiding certain activities
• Increased irritability
• More withdrawn
• Grimacing on the face
The problem, she says, is
that children can get used to
pain, even talking or grinning
Tips For A Pain-Free
School Year
HEALTH
Up to 35% of children experience chronic pain,
according to studies.
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Dr. Emily
Foxen-Craft