A parent's guide · 11–16 years · Usually 6–10 weeks with mobility + core program
Growth-Related Back Pain
Also called growth-related back pain, teenage back pain, adolescent lower back pain, back pain in young athletes.
Lower back pain in young athletes linked to rapid growth, tight hips and high training loads.
Recover
What is happening to your child
During a growth spurt the spine and hips get longer and stiffer faster than the muscles that control them, and sports that arch, twist or load the back repeatedly (gymnastics, cricket, rowing, racket sports) ask a lot of that area. Most adolescent back pain is muscular and load-related and responds well to movement work. It is also the one area where we want a clinician to have a look sooner rather than later.
Does this sound like them?
- Aching lower back after training
- Stiffness in the morning
- Pain with extension (arching back)
- Tight hamstrings and hip flexors
Why it has flared up now
- Growth spurts outpacing strength
- Gymnastics, cricket, rowing, racket sports
- Poor pelvic control
- Insufficient recovery between sessions
For parents
What parents worry about most
Is a teenager's back pain a serious sign?
Most of it is load and growth related and settles well. It does deserve proper attention though, because a small number of young athletes develop a bone stress reaction in the spine, and that needs a clinical assessment rather than guesswork.
Could pushing through cause real damage?
Training through back pain that is getting worse week on week is not a good idea. Pain that stays mild and settles quickly after sport is usually fine to work with, and that is one of the things we help you judge.
Do they need a scan?
Not usually as a first step. A clinician assessing them will decide, based on the pattern of pain and their sport, whether imaging would actually change what you do next.
Grow
What you can do this week
- Cut back the repeated arching, twisting and heavy loading for now
- Keep them moving, walking and swimming are usually well tolerated
- Start daily hip flexor and hamstring mobility work
- Add simple trunk and glute control work, quality over quantity
- Protect sleep and recovery, growing athletes need more of both than we assume
When to get them seen in person
Book an in-person assessment with your GP or a physiotherapist if you notice any of these, or if you are simply worried. Our guides and programmes are education and exercise support, not a diagnosis.
- Pain in the middle of the night, or pain constantly present at rest
- Pain that is getting worse week after week
- Pins and needles, numbness or weakness in the legs
- Any change in bladder or bowel control, this needs urgent assessment
- Fever, unexplained weight loss or feeling generally unwell
Where to go from here
Step 1
Free
Read the parent guide
Understand what is happening to your child, what makes it worse, when assessment is appropriate, and how the three-stage framework works. Written by a physio, for parents.
Understand it
Get the free guideStep 2
£59
6-Week Recovery Framework
A condition-specific framework you follow at home: phase-by-phase structure, load and pain guidance, progression criteria, impact and sport-capacity progressions, and exercise demonstrations.
Load & Pain, Impact Tolerance
See plansStep 3
£395
12-week personalised rehab
The same three stages, built around your athlete after a 1:1 video assessment, with bi-weekly physio check-ins, changes as they progress, and return-to-sport screening.
All three stages, with support
See plansEvidence Hub
More on Growth-Related Back Pain
Evidence-informed articles for parents and coaches on this condition, growth-related injury and youth athletic development.
What Is a Growth Spurt (PHV) and Why Does It Matter for My Child's Training?
Peak height velocity is the fastest point of your child's growth spurt, and it is the period when growth-related injuries cluster. Here is how to spot it and what to change in their week.
ReadWhen Bones Finish Growing: Ossification Timing in Adolescent Boys and Girls
Growth plates do not all close at once. Knowing roughly when each one hardens, and that girls run about two years ahead of boys, explains why certain injuries appear at certain ages.
ReadHow Much Sleep Do Children and Teenagers Need for Sports Recovery?
Most teenage athletes get well under the recommended amount, and the association between short sleep and injury in this group is one of the more consistent findings in youth sport research.
ReadHow to Manage Training Load When Children Play Multiple Sports
Multi-sport participation is good for development, but only if someone is adding up the total. Usually nobody is.
ReadHow Much Training Is Too Much for a Young Athlete?
There is no universal number - but there are reliable thresholds, warning signs and a simple way to keep track.
ReadFrom Injury to Performance: A 3-Phase Approach to Youth Athletic Development
The same three-phase structure takes an athlete from painful to playing, and then from playing to performing better than before.
ReadOther conditions