Signs and symptoms of rickets include:
- Bone pain or tenderness
- dental problems
- muscle weakness (rickety myopathy or "floppy baby syndrome" or "slinky baby" (where the baby is floppy or slinky-like))
- increased tendency for fractures (easily broken bones), especially greenstick fractures
- Skeletal deformity
- Toddlers: Bowed legs (genu varum)
- Older children: Knock-knees (genu valgum) or "windswept knees"
- Cranial, spinal, and pelvic deformities
- Growth disturbance
- Hypocalcemia (low level of calcium in the blood), and
- Tetany (uncontrolled muscle spasms all over the body).
- Craniotabes (soft skull)
- Costochondral swelling (aka "rickety rosary" or "rachitic rosary")
- Harrison's groove
- Double malleoli sign due to metaphyseal hyperplasia
- Widening of wrist raises early suspicion, it is due to metaphysial cartilage hyperplasia.X-ray or radiograph of an advanced sufferer from rickets tends to present in a classic way: bow legs (outward curve of long bone of the legs) and a deformed chest. Changes in the skull also occur causing a distinctive "square headed" appearance. These deformities persist into adult life if not treated.
Long-term consequences include permanent bends or disfiguration of the long bones, and a curved back.
Further Reading
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"Rickets"
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