A.B.
My daughter is also 13, takes dance and gymnastics, is a straight A student in the Gifted and Talented program, and constantly has a complaint about some kind of pain, or "Feel my knees! Feel my knees! They move! Something's wrong!", or "Oh my gosh! Look at how this bone sticks out!", or "My back hurts", "My big toe hurts", etcetera, etcetera. I remember being her age and my mother constantly taking me to the doctor every time I complained about an ache. I was diagnosed with arthritis, a slipped disc, an unusal bone disorder, blah, blah: I don't have any of these problems. So unless my daughter won't wake up or she has a tumor on her face the size of a grapefruit, I just look at her when she complains and I say sarcastically, "Oh man! I bet it's something fatal, like Psychosomatic Pain Disorder! We've gotta get you to the ER immediately before you fall into a coma!" Of course, my daughter has my sense of humor so your daughter might actually panic if you say something like that. :) I don't know, but it works for me. My daughter always laughs and says something sarcastic back and then forgets about whatever it was that was bothering her in the first place. I hope this was helpful somehow. I just wanted to let you know that your daughter's not the only one that exhibits this type of behavior. I don't think it's attention-seeking or any of those things. I just think girls are more observant of their bodies and that girls hold stress in their bodies moreso than boys. Heck, I still hold tension in my body, and I'm 37 years old. Comes with the territory of being female!