can you still move your arm if it is broken?

[PaulaRaty]

My son was playing on a trampoline last night and another child accidentally trod on his elbow pushing his arm down. He can move it and move his fingers but he says it still hurt him this morning before school

sorry should have posted on health

I broke my elbow and could move my fingers a bit, but not the elbow. Elbow breaks are very nasty and very painful (I had codeine tablets but couldn't sleep for about three nights afterwards because of the pain.) So, if your ds has gone to school today, even if his arm is painful, I suspect that it's not broken but just badly bruised. However, if you're at all unsure, take him to A&E and get it x-rayed. Better to be safe than sorry.

When I broke mine I could move it a bit but neither bend nor straighten it fully. It was agony and it was very very swollen.

yes, you can (speaking from personal experience), but normally it will swell at the location of the break and will become stiff to bend at the very least. It will be tender to pressure in that area, too.

Most likely your son has just bruised it, though.

Thanks I have never broken anything so I was unsure what to look for. I'll see how he is after school

I had an elbow fracture, and my arm remained fully mobile! Get it x rayed just in case.

sorry i dont know. but my son the other night fall from the top of an eight foot slide at local park he cried for abit but then seemed fine but it was so high and looked so nasty and the way he landed didnt look good for his neck so i thought i better get him checked out, i felt a bit guilty when got to a and e coz he was playing fine but the docs fully understood and gave him a really thorough check over and fortunely and amazingly all he had was a few bruises. my point if u worried get him checked out the hosp will understand coz u never can tell with kids

The main difference between a broken bone and bruised tissue/torn ligaments/etc is that there is no comfortable position for the former. A broken bone hurts all the time. For anything else, there is generally a position you can find where you have no pain.

Hope that helps xxx

i fractured my wrist and could move it still and it wasn't swollen. It got stiffer and stiffer and hurt a LOT. it was one of the little bones in your wrist and because of the position of the bone and the fracture it meant i ha dfull mobility.

With children it is possible that a greenstick fracture can be missed because their bones are still fairly soft, due to the growth plates. If it still hurts after a couple of days it might be worth getting it x-rayed.