Book Review: It’s Not Just Growing Pains – A guide to childhood muscle, bone, and joint pain, rheumatic diseases, and the latest treatment

 

May is Lupus Awareness Month! How Will You Spread Awareness?
By Dr. Thomas J.A. Lehman
Does your child suffer from joint pain, arthritis, lupus, or some other form of a rheumatic disease?

Are you a teenager who would like some more 
information about why your body seems to be going nuts?

If so, I’d recommend Dr. Lehman’s book – Its Not 
Just Growing Pains. Its a fairly long book (416 pages, including a glossary of
medical terms and an index to find specific things quickly and easily) but it is
also an interesting and informative read that won’t go over the reader’s head.

Dr. Lehman starts almost every chapter with an 
example pertaining to that chapter, from a patient he has seen and treated,
which is helpful in itself, to know that "hey someone else has this too and
someone helped them!"

The Chapter I found particularly interesting was the
chapter on spondyloarthopathies, which the chronic illness I have falls under.
It was immensely helpful to find out more information and realize even
those  symptoms I didn’t think were related to my illness really are. It
made me realize I’m not nuts, I  really do have something and there are
ways to control it.

Besides having chapters on different medical conditions
he also has a chapter on the different medications used to treat those
conditions, their common use, and most common side effects. There’s also a
chapter on the tests that may be done, why they’re done and exactly what they
mean, as well as dealing with family issues, alternative  treatments, and
other things that can be done.

The diseases covered in this book are: Lupus, Juvenile
Rheumatoid Arthritis, spondyloarthopathies,  Uveitis and other eye
complications, Lyme Disease, Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, Sjogren’s
Syndrome, Raynauds Phenomenon, Scleroderma, Dermatomyositis, Kawasaki Disease,
Benign Hypermobility Syndrome,  Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome,  Osteoporosis and Osteopenia.

All in all, it’s a very helpful book, and if you or
a  teen/child you know suffers from one of the diseases  covered in
this book- you should definitely read it! 

Title: Its Not Just Growing Pains 
Author: Thomas J.A Lehman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN:0-19-515728-1
Reviewed Written By: Elisabeth Adkins

 

  • Tefen McGuinty

    Very interesting because I have been diagnosed with 18/18 points Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain. Long story short, I had extremely bad “growing pains” as a child that lasted for many long months of my childhood off and on. I do tend to wonder if it is a genetic disorder that is caused by a DNA mutation.

  • Myndi Ftizgerald

    I also read this book and found it very informative. I too highly recommend it. Another book that I recently read is Autoimmune Disease: What Your Doctors Won’t Tell You. Also a very good read with lots of information for those dealing with autoimmune issues.