4yo suddenly walking oddly and GP says wait and see

OP how is your son now?

I can’t roll my eyes hard enough at some of the batshit comments people have written. I little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!
It’s tricky to get the right level of concern across though. Yes this needs further investigation. However, it also isn’t a clinical emergency. Remember that the GP not referring your son, means there were no red flags identified which is a very good sign! He also doesn’t seem to in pain- also a huge positive.

Growth spurts make certain muscles tighter for a while. Muscle fatigue sets in when children are busy and active, which makes little discrepancies more obvious for a phase. Little muscles need time to grow and strengthen with the body. If the limp is more obvious at certain time, then fatigue is likely a factor, rather than a deformity. These are everyday dealings in msk and don’t have long term impact. Please try not to worry. 💐

Hi op just wanted to say good luck. Eldest has several things wrong when little.
Constantly referred for various things. I actually felt like a hypochondriac mother at times. (I wasn’t!). Now a strapping 26 year old.

There's nothing worse than when your child isn't at their best - whether it's a virus or something unusual like this. I think you're doing an amazing job OP and the scaremongering here is unnecessary. You know what you need to do and you are following up. Be reassured that he's well otherwise and you're on your way to getting it addressed! Sending you a hug xx

I’m sorry OP, I completely agree the way some people on this thread have phrased things is completely unnecessary when you’re taking all the steps you need to. It’s scaremongering. It’s reassuring your son has been well otherwise and you need to focus on that. I wish you and your son all the best, please come back and update us ☺️

I’m a Paeds physio and I would go back to the GP and ask for a physio referral and x ray as this could be Perthes. Limping is painless for Perthes and intermittent. It happens mostly in boys 3-10.

My son has always had a limp when he gets tired and sometimes, if we've had a particularly busy day, it carries over into the next days and he needs a good few days of rest for it to be better. In his case, he was born with clubfoot, although his foot always looks great. He's had xrays and mris and the only thing that has ever flagged is spina bifida occulta. He didn't complain of any pain until he was about 6ish.
He was under specialist physios from birth, so we would make appointments with them, but by the time he had gotten to the hospital over an hour away and sat waiting, he was no longer tired and therefore didn't limp. One day I got fed up with basically looking like a crazy parent, as by the time we took him to these appointments he was fine, so I took him to the local hospital minor injuries, just so a professional could see what we were talking about. He'd had no trips or falls or anything that would lead me to believe he had been injured and wasn't complaining of pain, just limping as usual - still happy and playing/running. They x-rayed it and turned out he had fractured his foot, but we still have absolutely no idea how or when. The nurses were surprised as he was happily limping around the waiting room and didn't say he was in pain, even when asked.
If I were you, I'd take him to minor injuries if you have one near you and ask for an x-ray, just to be sure that there's nothing fractured.

My DD is 15 now, but when she was 2 she started walking a bit funny, I thought it was just her 'toddling', took her to the g.p, x-ray done, diagnosed with hip dysplasia. She was in no pain at all, kind of walked a bit like a penguin

Hi @YoungOnyx

I was reading your thread this morning and I couldn’t help but see the similarities between my daughters diagnosis and your sons symptoms.

My daughter was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis at 2.5 years old. (JIA) she had a limp for ages. It turns out one leg was growing at a slightly different rate to the other. I wonder if you could get a tape measure to see if your child’s legs are the same length. This is one way (of many ways) that they diagnose this condition.

Also, have you noticed any inflammation, extra fluid around the kneecap? The ankle?
It might not be JIA but I just wanted to bring your attention to the condition.
Definitely keep advocating for your son. You don’t need to go privately to get those answers.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

My son when he was 4 developed a limp. We thought it was a sprained muscle. When it didnt get better in a few days my husband took him to the GP who told him to drive straight to the hospital. There was hardly any wait and my son was admitted that night and put on a drip with antibiotics with an orthapedic surgeon and a team of doctors examining him. The pediatricians turned up and they practically had a scrap over who would be in charge - it was a teaching hospital and they both seemed to think it was an interesting case for their students.

My son had a suspected bone infection in his ankle with the subsequent bone scan lighting up like a Christmas tree. He had a lot of antibiotics and made a complete recovery. They told us it was important to hit it hard and fast. My son was quite chirpy - not obviously sick. He got in this toy car in the hospital children's ward with a partial plaster cast on his leg and a drip in his arm and was pushing himself along down a corridor with his good leg with me running after him pushing the drip stand.

He made a full recovery with no lasting side effects. Your GP sounds very dismissive.

Not true. I has osteomyelitis but asymptomatic. Had an urgent biopsy and preventative antibiotics while they took several weeks to decalcify the bone and get the results. I know it can result in sepsis and some extreme surgery but not always. My case was weird and a real head scratcher for my medical team.

I had osteomyelitis as a child and was completely pain free no symptoms apart from a weird lump in my clavicle.

You can always ask your health visitor on community nurse to refer to paeds physio.
You want a referral for ASSESSMENT by an appropriately qualified professional. If imaging is indicated, they will arrange this and any further action needed, depending on the results.
Asking a GP for imaging, just means an x-ray will be done. The GP just gets a report back and if there’s nothing obvious, often they will say everything’s fine and take no further action.
Also, not everything shows on an x-ray or MRI. Even if it does, an assessment is still required to establish what’s happening….

I would film and send Dad to the appointment or mention that a random man thought it looked serious. I find that helps. Otherwise the gp just goes onto the reel of information about health anxiety with a head tilt.

I suspect you had Osteochondritis.

Osteomyelitis is an infection in the bone and requires immediate acute intervention to avoid amputation or death!

A limp in a young child is unusually due to pain, weakness or deformity. There are many underlying causes for these and require proper assessment to establish, not an opinion. You need to contact the GP and say you want a referral to paediatric physiotherapy. He needs a proper assessment to rule out conditions such as Perthes disease or hip dysplasia. If they have any concerns, they will refer for x-rays and/or to paediatric orthopaedics.

There are many changes in the lower limb structure and alignment as children grow. A sudden limp in a young child ALWAYS needs full assessment by paediatric physio or similar. There is a reasonable chance it’s not serious so don’t panic. However, this is NOT a wait and see situation. You can say you have been given this advice directly from an MSK (musculoskeletal) specialist.
Please keep up updated! I hope everything turns out ok.

I would pay to see a private physio or chiro that way they can see if its anything muscular, get xrays done if needed etc google ones in your area and you can be seen quickly, I have taken my child to both before with great results

Yes, one of mine walked on tip toes for a short time. It was just a stage.
Get it checked out and trust your instincts, but be assured most of these problems heal themselves or are a solvable physical issue so don't panic.

I’m so glad where I live anything I raise re my child is taken seriously, referrals are done immediately as well as detailed investigation. Is done.
take a video and go back to the gp.

A sudden change in gait, particularly 1 sided is cause for concern as a neurological symptom. Honestly after this timeframe I'd be at a and e. I work in healthcare and I've seen this sort of gait change turn out to be things like brain tumours. I've also seen it then out to be an irritable hip from viral infections. I wouldn't be assuming it's nothing while there is a serious and time sensitive differential

Trust your mum gut, if it feels like something is wrong then push for a referal. Its better to be wrong than miss something. I would also say to film him when he is walking, that way you can show the doctor if he doesn't do it in front of them.

@YoungOnyx

You should NOT wait it out. If something is wrong, better to find out now and get treatment started.

An MNer posted last year about her child having motor skills problems. If I remember correctly, the GP put her off, even after asking more than once to refer him. She took him to A&E because he was getting worse. It turned out he had a very large brain tumor. He was having very dangerous surgery and she'd checked in a couple of times throughout that day. Then she was supposed to see him in recovery, and that was the last post she made. It seemed likely there was a bad outcome.

I felt so bad for her- well, we all did. She tried so hard to get the GP to refer him for tests or to have him seen by pediatrics, couldn't get help, and there was something really wrong with him. If he'd been referred then instead of months of waiting, his chances would have been so much better.

I sincerely hope your little one wiil be okay.
Please, follow your gut instincts!

ED physician. Used to work in paediatrics. Kids do weird stuff like this all the time. Ask him every couple of hours is he in pain. Ask him why he's doing it. If no changes in a couple of weeks see a paediatrician.