Wee difficult child hurt his ankle...question.

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
Wee difficult child hurt his ankle yesterday. He started to mention it early afternoon, and progressively got worse thru the day. Last night, tho otherwise in good humor, he was unconsciously (sp?) limping a lot on it or avoiding walking on it when he could (hopping, etc). He always sits on his knees and he is avoiding that, again, he's not even realizing. Today, it is swollen from above the ankle bone to the top of his foot. The lateral ankle bone area is red. he complains of pain in the back of his heel and to the touch on the ankle bone.

Just wondering if I should take him in today or wait.

(ps, with his pain tolerance, this is pretty typical of his injuries - we don't know what happens most of the time)
 

klmno

Active Member
It sounds like he needs an x-ray to be on the safe side. Can you get him to an after-hour clinic today?
 

mstang67chic

Going Green
If it were me, I would take him in for x-rays. If there is something broken, waiting could make the treatment worse or do more damage. There isn't always black bruising when a small bone is broken. Also, it could be ligament or tendon damage which of course wouldn't bruise black necessarily. Again though, that's just me. You know him and you know how he reacts physically to injuries so take this with a grain of salt.
 

rejectedmom

New Member
I'd take him in. When I was a kid I broke my wrist. It took me a week to convince my parents that I needed to see a doctor. I was a tough little girl and didn't cry just stated matter of factly that I thought it was broken but my parents didn't think that was so. I just avoided using it thill the pain got so bad I could no longer tolerate it. Then I went crying to my dad who made me try to squeeze his hand and I couldn't even move my fingers. By that time it had started to mend improperly and needed to be rebroken and set. Not fun. I'd say best to err on the side of precaution than wait and deal with the "shoulda done" -RM
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
I think I would take him in too and have an Xray done. Mine practically had their own reserved seats in the ER and we were always told that anything involving a child's joints can be very tricky since their growth plates are at the ends of the long bones. A girl at work had something like that happen. She hobbled around for days thinking that her ankle was sprained and that it would get better on it's own. Turned out that she had broken the bone in her heel and it never would have healed right without treatment. Better to be safe than sorry.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
Donna, ROFL on the reserved seats. We went through that too.

Given that a LOT of our kids do NOT process pain the way "normal" people do, I would get him in for an xray. At the lastest I would let it ride until first thing tomorrow.

with our kids they truly do not experience the same pains the way we do. Having him avoid using it that way (and not for show - you know the difference!) is a big red flag.

Just be prepared to INSIST on the xray and then for pain medications. Untreated pain can turn into what Stella Johnson experienced iwth her hand. It can literally send pain signals that the body freaks out over. I think it is called "RSD)

The doctor may brush you off on pain medications, but they are VERY important esp if a bone is broken or other tissue is injured.

Hugs to the little guy!
 

mstang67chic

Going Green
Mine practically had their own reserved seats in the ER and we were always told that anything involving a child's joints can be very tricky since their growth plates are at the ends of the long bones.

:rofl: I mentioned to my 15 year old sister that husband has to see an ortho guy for his knee. She immediately asked who he was going to see...was it Dr. A, Dr. B, Dr. C, Dr. D....she rattled off about 8 of them. Between her and my brother, all the people at the ortho doctor's office has to hear is the last name and they ask which kid it is. doctor's have even seen them out and about and asked how things were going.
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
I took him.

Nothing broke, just a pulled ligament. Supposed to keep him "quiet" and wrapped for a week. Hahaha. Then we go back.

Grandma stopped by before we left and I showed her...she pointed out that if he went to school with it swollen like that, they'd be calling me to get him, anyway, so...

He's proud of his wrap. Figures.
 
Top