Rheum to Grow TX

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Rheum to Grow TX

Naturally-minded & scientifically-grounded using Eastern & Western Medicine. We use the best of BOTH worlds to put you on your healing journey.

If you are looking for answers or relief from an autoimmune or chronic condition, we can help.

09/09/2026

Learning a new diagnosis is hard.
Unlearning yourself is harder.
When you get diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, you learn fast. Medications. Labs. Side effects. The vocabulary of a new body.
But the harder work isn't the learning.
It's the unlearning.
The version of yourself who pushed through. Said yes to everything. Did what your body could do five years ago. Quietly planned a future that doesn't quite fit anymore.
You can't will any of that gone. Identity hangs on, even after it stops fitting.
Swipe through.

09/08/2026

Not all vasculitis in children looks the same.

Some rarer forms can affect large, medium, or small blood vessels and involve different parts of the body, including the skin, kidneys, lungs, sinuses, muscles, and other organs.

So when should parents pay closer attention?

An unexplained rash that doesn’t fade when pressed, persistent fever, joint pain with skin changes, abdominal pain with a rash, blood in the urine, weak pulses, or differences in blood pressure can all warrant further evaluation.

These symptoms do not automatically mean your child has vasculitis, but they shouldn’t be ignored. With vasculitis, identifying the problem and beginning appropriate treatment early can be critical for protecting organ function.

09/07/2026

What does vasculitis actually mean, and what does it look like in children?

Vasculitis is inflammation of the blood vessel walls, and the symptoms can vary depending on the size of the blood vessels involved.

Two important types parents may hear about are IgA vasculitis and Kawasaki disease.

IgA vasculitis can cause a purple or red rash, joint pain, abdominal pain, and sometimes kidney involvement. Kawasaki disease typically affects younger children and can cause a persistent high fever, red eyes, cracked lips, strawberry tongue, rash, and swelling of the hands and feet.

Kawasaki disease can affect the coronary arteries, which is why recognizing the symptoms and getting prompt medical care is so important.

09/04/2026

Your child has growing pains. Now what can you actually do about them?

Start with the basics. Sleep, hydration, enough calories, balanced meals, and regular snacks can make a bigger difference than many parents realize, especially for very active kids.

Gentle massage, heat before bed, stretching, and even a weighted blanket may also help with comfort and relaxation. Some children may benefit from supplements such as vitamin D or magnesium, but these should be discussed with your child’s doctor first.

Most importantly, know the red flags. Pain in only one limb, joint swelling, morning stiffness, limping, worsening pain, fever, weight loss, or night sweats deserve a closer look.

Growing pains are common, but not every childhood ache should automatically be called a growing pain.

09/03/2026

Are growing pains actually caused by growing? 🤔

Surprisingly, probably not. Growing pains are common in kids, but research hasn’t found a clear connection between these aches and actual growth spurts.

True growing pains tend to follow a specific pattern. They usually happen in the evening or at night, affect both legs, come and go, and don’t typically cause swelling, limping, or activity limitations.

So what could be behind the pain? Activity level, pain sensitivity, nervous system sensitivity, and possibly vitamin D may all play a role.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where I’m sharing what parents can actually do to help.

09/02/2026

If your child has autoimmune disease and is exhausted, there's a good chance something nutritional is contributing.

🧬 1. Vitamin D
The most common deficiency in pediatric autoimmune disease. One study of children with JIA found 67% were vitamin D deficient. Higher methotrexate doses correlated with lower vitamin D levels.

🧬 2. Iron and ferritin
Iron deficiency is common in pediatric autoimmune disease. In pediatric IBD, up to 88% of kids are iron-deficient at diagnosis. Similar patterns show up across other pediatric autoimmune conditions due to chronic inflammation.
What makes iron tricky in autoimmune disease: inflammation causes the body to sequester iron through a process called anemia of chronic inflammation. Ferritin can also be falsely elevated by inflammation, making deficiency easier to miss. That's why full iron studies (iron, ferritin, transferrin saturation, and sometimes a reticulocyte hemoglobin) are more useful than ferritin alone.
Low iron contributes to fatigue, brain fog, headaches, dizziness, hair loss, and restless legs.
🧬 3. Folate (B9)
If your child is on methotrexate, this is essential. Methotrexate works in part by blocking folate, which is also why folate deficiency is a common side effect.
Folate supplementation is standard of care for most kids on methotrexate. Untreated folate deficiency can cause mouth ulcers, GI upset, hair thinning, fatigue, and elevated liver enzymes.
For kids who don't tolerate folic acid well, folinic acid (a different form, sometimes called leucovorin) is an evidence-based alternative.
🧬 4. Vitamin B12
Less commonly deficient than iron or vitamin D, but worth checking in kids who are vegetarian, vegan, or on long-term acid-suppressing medications.
B12 deficiency can cause fatigue, brain fog, tingling, and mood symptoms. Routine bloodwork doesn't always include it.
🧬 5. Zinc
Often overlooked. In pediatric IBD, zinc deficiency runs 10-53%. It can also be low in other autoimmune conditions where gut absorption is affected.

✨ Comment "STACK" for my free guide, The Pyramid Stack 📐

09/01/2026

When Bone Pain Doesn't Add Up: A 12-year-old girl had 6 months of recurrent, nighttime bone pain in multiple sites. Labs were normal, but whole-body MRI revealed inflammation in 8 bones, including some that didn’t hurt—showing both areas of bone breakdown and thickening. A biopsy ruled out infection and cancer, confirming Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis (CRMO).

Medical Treatment:
💊 NSAIDs
💉 Methotrexate
🧬 TNF-α inhibitors

Result: Pain and inflammation in remission ✅

Takeaway: Normal labs don’t always mean nothing is wrong. Early imaging and the right treatment can make all the difference.

08/31/2026

A child wakes up unable to put weight on their leg. Or their skin hurts when their shirt brushes against it. Or every joint aches with no swelling, no fever, no clear reason.
The labs are normal. The imaging is normal. The clinic visit ends without answers.
This is one of the most missed diagnoses in pediatric medicine, and it has a name: Amplified Musculoskeletal Pain Syndrome (AMPS).
🧬 What AMPS actually is
AMPS is an umbrella term for chronic, non-inflammatory pain that comes from a malfunction in how the nervous system processes pain signals.
The brain and spinal cord essentially turn up the volume on pain. Light touch can feel like burning. Normal movement can feel like injury. The pain is one hundred percent real, even though there's no tissue damage to explain it.
About 2 to 6% of children have a form of AMPS. Average age of onset is between 11 and 15. It's most common in pre-teen and teen girls.
🔍 The different names you may have heard
Parents often get given different labels for the same condition. AMPS is the umbrella. Underneath it are:
👉 Juvenile fibromyalgia
👉 Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
👉 Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD)
👉 Reflex neurovascular dystrophy (RND)
👉 Chronic widespread pain
If your child has received any of these diagnoses, they're in the AMPS family.
⚡ The signs that point toward AMPS
👉 Pain in multiple areas or shifting locations
👉 Allodynia (pain from light touch, like a hug or bed sheet feeling painful)
👉 Skin color or temperature changes in affected areas
👉 Swelling without inflammation on labs
👉 Severe fatigue
👉 Sleep disruption
👉 Headaches, abdominal pain, dizziness, racing heart
👉 Pain that's far out of proportion to any apparent cause

🔗 Link in bio.
✨ Comment "STACK" for my free guide, The Pyramid Stack 📐

08/28/2026

Why Does My Child’s Bone Pain Move Around the Body?

Shin pain for one month. Collarbone pain the next. Hip pain a few weeks later.
Parents are relieved when one area improves. Then confused when pain shows up somewhere completely new.
If this sounds familiar, listen up.
In CRMO (Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis), this "moving" pain pattern is actually one of the biggest diagnostic clues.
Unlike an injury, which heals in a predictable location, CRMO involves episodic bone inflammation in different sites over time.

🦴 What this can look like
👉 Shin pain one month, collarbone pain the next
👉 Spine, pelvis, or hip pain later
👉 Limping that shifts from one side to the other
👉 Pain that flares, settles, then comes back somewhere new
It's also often symmetric. About 60% of CRMO patients have lesions in mirrored locations.

🧬 Why this happens
The immune system activates bone inflammation in unpredictable cycles. Your child isn't injuring themselves over and over. This is internal immune activity.
In about 90% of CRMO patients, the disease involves multiple bones at the same time, even when only one or two are causing symptoms. Some lesions are completely silent until imaging picks them up.

🔎 What to watch for
✔️ Recurrent pain in different bones
✔️ Periods of improvement followed by new flare-ups
✔️ Limping that shifts sides or locations
✔️ Skin conditions like psoriasis or pustular rashes
✔️ GI symptoms or new joint involvement
Up to half of CRMO patients have something else going on outside the bone (psoriasis, IBD, arthritis). That's why we look at the whole child, not just the painful spot.

In pediatric rheumatology, one of our most powerful diagnostic tools isn't a lab. It's pattern recognition over time.

If your child's pain keeps moving, that pattern matters. Don't dismiss it. Don't let anyone else dismiss it.

🔗 Click the link in bio to book a call with Dr. Singla
👉 Comment “STACK” to receive our free guide: The Pyramid Stack

08/27/2026

POV: You own a private practice.
Monday ☕
Booked solid for weeks. I'm a genius. Empire is rising.
Tuesday 📧
"We had to reschedule." "Something came up." "Can we move to next month?"
…why does everyone hate me?
Wednesday 📉
We need more new patients. Should I dance more on TikTok? Do I need a billboard? Is anyone still alive out there?
Thursday 🚽
Haven't peed since 8am. Ate lunch standing up. Charted between patients. Called insurance during a "break." Refilled meds in the parking lot.
Friday 💛
Got a beautiful message from a patient saying I changed their life.
This is the best decision I ever made.
Saturday 😩
Maybe I'll just sell it. Go work somewhere with a 401k and free coffee.
Sunday 😌
Pulled it together. Made a new content calendar. Wrote three thank-you notes. Cried in the shower.
We're back, baby.
…and we do it all over again Monday. 🔄
💬 If you own a practice, which day are you on right now? Tell me below. We're all in this together.

Address

2500 Fondren Road, Ste 235
Houston, TX
77063

Website

https://www.rheumtogrowtx.com/

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