At any age, does one ever wonder if they have arthritis or are their aches and pains just imagined? This is a question many ask themselves yet they continue to either ignore it or they feel they have imagined their pain.

The pain is real whether it is a sprain, strain or even arthritis. Individuals can have arthritis as early as five years old which in the past has been misdiagnosed as "growing pains."

At age five Lisa would tell her mother that her knees hurt her when she walked or tried to run around in the back yard. Barbara assessed her daughters’ knees and found no bruising, swelling or even tenderness around Lisa’s knees or anywhere along here leg. Barb hugged her daughter and told her that "Mommy" would make things all better. After having Lisa rest on the sofa she called the pediatrician to make an appointment. Barb had a suspicion that Lisa had arthritis which she probably had inherited from her.

Barb remembered when she started to have severe knee pain that came on suddenly when she was fourteen years old. She remembered clearly how painful it had been to climb all those stairs at the junior high school and how embarrassed she was to ask her friends to carry her books while she clung onto their arms for support while climbing the stairs. Her friends saw her cry and moan with each step that she took. Barb was grateful for their support both physically and mentally. She remembered telling her mother a few days later when the excruciating pain had not subsided and her mother called the pediatrician. In 1967 not much was known about juvenile arthritis let alone much about arthritis it’s self. The pediatrician told Barb’s mother that her daughter was having "growing pains", and to give Barb two regular strength aspirin and she would be fine. Barbara remembered that the aspirin didn’t help much then and that she had intermittent pain for about nine months. She noticed that during the summer of the up-coming school year she had not been in as much pain, so maybe the pediatrician was correct in his diagnosis. Of course she did remember that during the summer that being out in the warm weather did decrease her knee pain. And swimming every day had eliminated the pain altogether. Barb did remember that as the weather began to get cooler her pain began to get worse at times, but this time it was not as bad as it had been.

Snapping back to reality of the here and now, Barb decided to make that appointment for Lisa as soon as she could. They were scheduled to go that afternoon. She explained to Lisa that the pediatrician would take some blood from her arm and he would ask her where her pain was, then he would look at her knees as well as other areas for pain or discomfort.

Lisa felt safe while holding her mother’s hand as the doctor took some blood samples. He then ordered some x-rays of Lisa’s knees to be done right after the office visit. Barbara explained to Lisa that there would be no pain with this test and all she had to do was lay on a long table while a technician took some pictures of her knee.

Barbara was given instructions to give Lisa Tylenol for her pain and to apply some warm compresses to her knees. Rest was important, so running around or climbing trees would have to be limited. Lisa said she didn’t mind because she could play on the computer more.

The pediatrician called a few days after the initial office visit to report the results of the test. Lisa was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis. Besides the Tylenol and warm compresses, Lisa would need to watch what she ate, exercise regularly and continue to watch her activities so she would experience more pain free days.

Barbara hugged Lisa and told her that she was glad there was a treatment plan for juvenile arthritis because her little girl wasn’t going to go through what she had to endure. Lisa smiled at her mother and stated, "It doesn’t hurt now Mommy. Thanks for helping take away the pain."