DS has a cast on and fingers are hurting

[ienjoyeatingcake]

Sorry, posting on chat for traffic as I know lots of parents here will have had kids with broken arms.

Basically DS 7 has a fractured arm. He had a temporary cast on for a week, then had it replaced 3 days ago with a proper full cast, which he will wear for two weeks. The full cast he's had on for three days now. When the nurse changed the temporary cast to the proper one, DS cried every time she moved his fingers. She was concerned so mentioned it to the doctor. He said they stiffen up a bit, and this is normal, and just keep an eye out if the fingers swell or change colour (they haven't). I know this is the doctors advice, but I'm still worried about it, as DS had had a couple of mates who broken their arms and mums tell me they had no pain in fingers. DS literally cries out every time they are touched. We have two weeks until cast comes off - do I take doctors advice and let it be (fingers don't hurt unless they are touched, so DS not in pain), or demand to be seen again asap?

Thank you so much if anyone can help a worried mum xx

I would get a second opinion. You know your child and if something seems wrong, I’d trust your instinct.

I'd want to get that looked again.

Get a second opinion asap

Id get a second opinion too.

I think you need to use online 111 who will be able to assess a problem with a plaster cast. At the end of the assessment they should suggest where the best place to help you is for you locally or get someone to call you back who can advise.

I would be getting this checked out tonight.

Just wet the cast and cut it off and go back and get a new one that fits more comfortably and so his arm can get looked at again

I’d be calling 111 and pushing to be seen tonight.

we did this when ds got pins and needles in some of his fingers when he had a full arm cast on for a broken elbow and they adjusted the cast and said we had done the right thing.

Get it reassessed. He might need another X-ray and re casting.
Don’t try and remove it yourself you could make things worse.

Thank you all. He had the pain in his fingers when he had the temporary cast though, as when the nurse was cutting it off, and then replacing it with the full proper cast, he complained that his fingers hurt the whole time. So it can't be the positioning of the new cast, could it, as pain already there? He had 7 x rays when we were at the hospital. Although they weren't of his hands, they were of his elbow where the fracture is x

Has he not had an x ray at all of his hand/ fingers? How did he break his arm? Anyway- go back & get it looked at & ask for an x ray to be done on his painful fingers- I’m not sure why they didn’t x ray them at the same time, especially as they were & are so painful.

I'd definitely take him back

Has he been moving his fingers? I know they hurt now when he does which will be off putting, but in the temporary cast was he using/moving them or was he keeping them still?

They really do stiffen up if you don't use then and that makes them really painful. A few years ago I broke my hand, needed a screw putting in and had a huge cast which meant no mobility in my fingers at all, I was wearing the cast for 4 weeks, I needed 6 months of physio after the cast came off, my fingers were like class and I couldn't fully straighten them. Ended up with a night splint for one of the fingers which has never fully straightened since.

It's definitely worth contacting the fracture clinic and asking them to recheck the X-rays looking specifically at the fingers to make sure nothing was missed, and asking about exercises he may need to do.

One of the most effective i had was a foam ball, palm sized and I just had to squeeze it lightly and very regularly.

Please phone first thing Monday morning, and insist on him being seen immediately. It could be too tight, not tight, anything. It is NOT supposed to be like this.

I wouldnt be waiting till Monday to be honest

Agree. Take him to A&E tomorrow. Be firm, This isn't right.

He needs to be seen.

Pain on touching means that there might be problems with the nerves in his hands and arms not just the bones and this needs to be checked out.

Fracture clinics are not always as aware of this as they should be. He is at risk of developing CRPS. With proper treatment and caught early it can be avoided.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/complex-regional-pain-syndrome/

I’d be taking him to be checked out tonight. Second opinion or even a different hospital if there’s another an and e you can go to. It shouldn’t be hurting like that.

I would be taking him to A&E to be checked out, it could be compartment syndrome which is a medical emergency and could be a complication from the fracture if its been going on since the injury.

What's he like with pain/injuries normally?

Ds has hidden two broken wrists from two separate medics to the point they were totally speechless when I said they were broken (after x-ray). He also was nearly sent home with appendicitis after grading the pain 2/10.
Dd2 has been to A&E on several occasions, sent by concerned medics to find that there's nothing wrong except a minor bump. As soon as she's told it's fine, she doesn't mention it again (and uses it fine).

So if ds told me his fingers were hurting I'd want them checked out. Dd2, I'd monitor it, but not go to A&E unless there was further evidence.

I'd probably watch what they're doing more than anything else. If he's watching something he is enjoying, does he act like it's hurting? If you touch it when he's asleep, does he flinch away? Those are far better signs for my dc than what they say.
Can he move them, and does he find it painful (and where is the pain) when he moves them? If you press a fingernail, does the blood come back in when you release it?

It's something that you can only call knowing your own dc, but in absence of anything else I'd wait until the morning and phone the fracture clinic.

Compartment syndrome is a real risk here
You should go to A&E asap

I'd be very concerned they hurt when temporary cast was on as that allows for swelling. I'd want a second opinion