Do you think my son's wrist is broken?

[WilkinsonL]

My son is 11 and is in Year 6. He plays football at lunch.

He fell over and was rolling around on the floor telling his friend to get a teacher. She came over - not a teacher, but the lunch assistant. Told him to get up, he got up and she asked if he was okay now and he said that his wrist was hurting. She said he should go to medical. He goes off to medical with his friend. The lady in medical is the receptionist, but she has done a first aid course. She was touching it and was asking if he could feel her and he said yes, but it was hurting. She said "I think you'll be fine" and he said no but it hurts and can't move it properly, she said that's why happens after an injury and that if he broke it he would be in absolute tears, so she knows it isn't

He was sent to his classroom, his teacher even said it looked a little odd and my son said that he had already been to medical and she said it was fine, so his teacher just left it. I got him at the end of the day and he was okay, gave him some pain relief and seemed alright, he said it was still a bit sore. I suggested to the medical lady (as I went to the office when I got him as his teacher gave me a medical slip, which means there is a recorded accident) that maybe I should get it X-Rayed... She told me to definitely not worry about that and it will just be wasting A and E time and resources as he clearly isn't in distress. I'm not medically trained at all. So I did take her word for it... He has woken up today, with it looking a little bit bruised and not able to properly move it. I was going to take him, but his dad said that I shouldn't worry because school said it was fine. He has been okay today, he has just been watching films, not moving it, but now I'm not sure if I should just go against everyone and take him???

What do you think...? Sorry if I'm coming across a bit stupid, I have never dealt with a broken bone before! He has never even needed to go to a and e.

Broken wrists can be hard to detect without an x-ray. DD3 once fell off the Monkey bars and we didn't realise it was actually broken until 2 days later. Just thought she had sprained it. we were away for the weekend at the time. I took her to A and E when we got back as she said it was beginning to hurt a lot.
I felt awful bit the Doctor said a lot of parents miss broken wrists.
So I would take him to A and E and get it x-rayed

Well done OP :) You have done absolutely the right things for your rather handsome youngling.

I'm sure you know that anyway but I feel I should just emphasise that given a few posts that were a little, err, excitable.

Definitely complain / make the school aware of the inept first aider.

Perhaps mention that she should NEVER tell people they shouldn't get medical help!
What an over reaching person, who, in their efforts to be seen as an expert, showed themselves up to be silly-stupid instead.

Fully agree with Trilateral, I think the OP has followed an entirely reasonable course of action considering the advice she was given.

My sister broke her wrist when she was around 12, it took about 2 days for mum to take her to A&E because it didn't seem that bad, just a bit sore. From what I've read, broken bones are often not diagnosed immediately.

I've been in the OP's situation frequently, not with broken bones but with concerns about a child's health and not knowing whether to seek medical help or wait and see if it improves. I find that MN is a valuable source of advice in those circumstances.

If it was possible to always tell if somethings broken by having a prod and a look... We wouldn't need X-ray machines!

Take him in and get it looked at properly.

Absolutely, Trilateral - I completely agree with you! Hoping the OP's son makes a swift recovery.

I've been where OP is, ds's wrist was clearly broken so we took him to A+E immediately.

I see little point in posters typing 'why would you be on here, why didn't you take him there straight away' posts, she had her reasons.

Stop digging at her, he's been seen and sorted!

Thank you to all the people who have been helpful.

I got a call today and I think it was a consultant? He wanted to see ds in clinic and wanted more X rays and are now considered pins. Ds isn't happy but they are trying him in a long arm cast for 2 weeks first, to see how it goes. he is not a happy boy :(

Blimey, you were called on a Sunday by a Consultant to discuss further action on your boy's wrist?

Oh no, my son hated the long arm cast, they were worried that he might need to do the same when he broke his arm in two places but the long arm cast worked for the first two weeks. We h as d to go to our local hospital as soon as we got home, there was a message waiting for us when we got home. He h a d several appointments to determine if the cast was working, they were then happy to swap to a half cast. We bought the cast covers from our local chemist but our boy was still too sore to take part in any activities. He had to rest on regular carpool and ibuprofen for several days before he felt well enough to do anything. It was a long summer....(happened at the start of summer holidays)

How is your boy today? My boy was in a lot of pain even with meds and we had to bolster pillows to hold his arm in place. I hope that your boy doesn't need pins, have you been advised whether he is ok for school? The consultant said he should be at home resting to let his body recover. Usually my son is so active that it is tiring to watch, we didn't even have to tell him to rest.

Classy, in a lot of hospitals, very early every morning (even on weekends!) the orthopaedic/trauma consultants sit down with their juniors and briefly discuss every patient they've seen in the preceding 24hrs with a quick look at any images taken. Usually no further action is required but it helps to reduce the number of things that get missed, it's good practice. Consultants work weekends.

Snuffle , it's great news, OP is a lucky spud.

In my neck of the woods an Orthaepedic Surgeon available for a chat on the phone on a Sunday would be worthy of a 'what the fuck was that' moment.

Yea, them making the actual call themselves would raise an eyebrow. I'm sure the failing of the number at least was delegated

Dialling, stupid autocorrect

Your poor son. I would absolutely ask that the school make sure the receptionist updates her first aid course. How could she possibly have sent the boy off with a wrist looking like that? It's also worrying that she told you that you would be wasting A&E resources. When it comes to children, it's always better safe than sorry. First aiders are always told that they should recommend any injuries should be checked out if there's any concern at all.

Hope it's not too sore.

What did the school have to say this morning?

Definitely get an x-ray. My 10 year old daughter broke her wrist last summer doing playground gymnastics - I happened to be there at the time and could tell straight away that it wasn't just a sprain - the wrist was at a strange angle as your photo suggests and the level of crying was very out of character. I also broke my wrist as a teenager and had no idea at the time (possibly as I was enjoying myself at a party at the time!) - woke up in agony the next day.

Hopefully you've contacted school today and told them the outcome.

Kids at your sons age can be hard to figure out when it comes to their level of pain. I have 2 boys and if you ask them on a scale of 1 to 10 how sore it is, they'd pick 11, even for a scratch. And then they also love the drama of a visit to A&E, x-rays, hospital stays etc so can milk it sometimes making me question every time they say something really hurts. I would probably have questioned whether to take your son to A&E aswell but the picture did look like something wasn't quite right. Glad he has been sorted now though and hopefully no need for pins :(