Missed broken bones?

Just wanted to ask those who have had a child (or themselves) break a bone & it go un noticed, what did it look like?

Isla & Iain were playing next door on the *da da da daaaaaaaaaaaaaa* trampoline & lesson learnt the zipper wasn't done up on the net & the pair of them fell out together (running around being silly & Isla ran into Iain which resulted in the pair falling through the open zip :/.. Anyway Iain is fine, sore but ok. Isla on the other hand has a sore arm. She landed on her shoulder/upper arm. She can move it, was tossing a ball about an hour or 2 later & even pulled the bean bag across the lounge room.
Im sure there are no breaks, everything feels in place BUT it is sore in her sleep & she winces & says it hurts if I apply gentle pressure (using fingers) to her upper arm. Im paranoid that its possible there is something there.. Would you take her to the Dr? Its the weekend & doubt here in cairns they would send me off for an xray but I don't know.. would it be wrong to just keep an eye on it or is it possible that there is more damage then it appears?

What was your child like when they had an injury that turned out to be a break?

Not from a parent's perspective, but my own. When I was 6/7 I fell forward roller skating. Mum said "you'll be right' and on we went. I continued to complain but she gave me some panadol and we went on with life. 5 days later I couldn't undo the toothpaste lid.....I had fractured both bone in my forearm. One was displaced.
It didn't look any different. Hardly swelled. But it hurt.
It makes me paranoid as a parent....and I worked as a nurse in ED and the Kids Hospital.

So basically yes I would.

I know of a bloke who had his foot driven over - docs said it was fine but in the end it turned out there was a fracture. He was walking on it and everything for a few days.

I'd take her jic. Working in childcare I cared for a child who broke her upper arm and we didn't know. She came to day care the next week in a cast. Better to be safe than sorry.

My brother fell off bunk beds - mum took him up to hospital - he had it X-rayed they said it was fine and to go home and let him rest (he was 6-7yo)... The next week (4-5 days later) mum got a phone call from the hospital saying that she needs to bring him in they reviewed his X-ray and it was broken... Poor kid had been walking in it since the break. 6weeks in cast later!

hmmmm thanks everyone.
I think I will take her JIC

For a big fall that is still very sore a day later, I would err on the side of caution. FWIW a broken bone is not the only possible issue - soft tissue trauma can be a problem sometimes too & may need to be monitored.

I hope she's feeling better soon. If nothing else, the dr may be able to tell you which type of painkiller is most effective in this situation.

DD2 was 16 months old when DD1 (2 and a half at the time) jumped off the couch and landed on her arm! I wanted to take her to the local Dr because I thought it was broken or badly hurt. DP was convinced she was fine cos she was playing and stuff as usual. It took me 4 days of asking him to take us to the dr before he gave in saying he thinks it's fine just bruised. Dr looked said there might be a slight fracture it was broken the dr and DP were shocked cos she had been playing and not complaining. I may have said I told you so lol. Definitely take her, just to be sure :)

DD just broke her fibula. She didn't seem to have too much pain, but wouldn't walk. Local hospital said Sprain. 4 days later, after realising she winced when pressing on her leg, we got it xrayed and it was broken.
I'd get it looked at.

:/ DH doesn't think its a problem. Mostly based on Rohan jumping into her arms & she didn't complain... I will monitor her over today. No one is going to xray today anyway...

Take she straight to the hospital as they have everything onsite. Ask them to x-ray the area.

DH is a teacher and has had students with broken ankles & arms and only found out when the parents rang the next day. Most kids say they are fine and keep doing things normally.
Had a niece who had broken a bone in her foot while staying with us and it was found many years later when she broke another bone if that foot.

I fell off the top bunk when I was 5 and broke my arm, didn't look or feel different. wasn't until the next day when I couldn't put my hand in the jar to get a lolly did my parents realise it was really hurt and got me checked out.

like Kim said, broken bone isn't the only possible thing

If its was something else wouldn't rest & pain management be the course of action?

I fell over putting my hand out to stop me, my mum who is a nurse looked at it and said I was fine, it was still sore the following day so had a X-ray just to make sure and turns out my wrist was broken.

It really wasn't that painful,but it was broken!

I don't know what to do with her. Don't draw attention to it and she is fine, she is currently sitting beside me clapping her hands and hold a toy freely with that arm. But then earlier she came up and said it was sore again. I'll feel terrible if it is something but I think she is fine...

DD was bouncing on the couch, which is a reason we thought she was fine. But, the xray showed a broken bone.

This is the part having five kids can be sucky. Sitting in emergency for who knows how long is also a factor in thinking she is fine...

Most hospitals have a preference for kids. We were seen first and out within an hour. That included consult, xray and putting the cast on.

I might call them ask the likely waiting times. This is cairns not likely to even have a doc on duty so I think not would be a push for the radiologist to be in on a day afternoon :/

Saturday afternoon ... Sorry on my phone

This has just happened to DD2. The thursday before easter she was running backwards, tripped and fell and put her left hand out behind her to break her fall. She did cry at the time, but it didn't swell or bruise so I iced it for a while when we got home and thought it was OK - she didn't complain much unless someone hit her wrist and even then not she didn't really say it hurt. But the week after she did it she was at netball training and she came over to me before they finished and said her arm REALLY hurt and it was just aching all the time. So we get home, discuss it with DH and think we'll probably take her in the next day (Friday, so 8 days since she did it). That night, I went in to her while she was asleep and lightly picked up her wrist and she flinched in her sleep, so I knew then it wasn't good - it should have been much better by then if it was just a sprain. Turns out she had a Buckle Fracture. She has a backslab cast on for 2 weeks. She has it checked next friday to see how it's healed and the cast should be able to come off.

BUT, what is your feeling about it? In my DD's case it didn't present like a fracture at all, so it was easy to miss and just think that it was a minor sprain. Plus she never complained that it hurt much unless it was directly hit - she carried on a normal life like any other 8yo and went to school and played etc and had a normal range of movement with it. I did feel bad about it for a bit, but then I thought I wasn't to know. I'm not one to run off to the Dr for every sniff and sneeze and I didn't think it warranted a trip to the ED the night before easter kwim? If you think you can get access to a dr/x-ray etc then take her, but if you can't then you achieve nothing by taking her and you'd be just as better off supporting her at home and putting a sling on her etc to get her through to when you can get her the x-ray. We're the same out here - for me to get her help for it at the time she did it, it would mean a 2 hour drive to the hospital that had an ED and an overnight stay in that town. So she would have gained nothing anyway. I did what I could for her at home and when I thought that it wasn't better I took her to the dr.

I haven't taken it any further. We went swimming earlier & she was fine & she also fell over & she said nothing at all. I would think if there was anything more then sore muscles & bruising that that fall would have sparked something in her. But nope. I think we are safe for now.

My dd jumped in the air to catch a netball, landed funny and sprained her ankle. 2 days later it was still sore so I took her for an X-ray and they said it was fine.
2 WEEKS later the hospital called me to say they had reviewed it and it was actually fractured!
I was not impressed at all!

Dee, I would be so ****ed at that!

My DD fell when she was 2. No tears etc. she was also swinging off bars. Still no pain. Was looked at by her dad (paramedic) he said it was fine. But I just had this feeling. DH thought I was overreacting to take her to ED. doc took one look a her and said it looked fine. He xrayed for caution. Broken in two places and needed setting under GA.

Pretty much insert my name as the exact thing happened to me as a child. Both her and I have an amazing pain threshold.

Trillian...I was furious! I questioned why it had taken 2 weeks to be reviewed after they'd missed it anyway! I questioned if she would have long term problems if it hadn't been rested and supported correctly for the recovery. The doctor was a moron!

yea thst sucks Dee. off topic, but thst is exactly what happened to my grandma... who as a result of walking on a broken foot for 2weeks does have permanent damage (which they wont do anything about because she is 92

I broke my tibia and didn't even realise until nearly a week later when I snapped the ligament in my ankle from lack of support, the doc told me I had a bit of ligament inflammation, took 7 weeks, 2 xrays and a bone scan to find the break and then 3 years later they finally found the ligament. Now 6 years after the original injury I am waiting for my second lot of surgery and I am in pain daily.

So please if you have any doubt get it checked, for me knocking my foot (not even hard) on a bit of wood has caused me endless issues