To NOT go to a&e with 10 year old

[LunaLoveLess]

First off there is no minor injuries unit where I live. Just an a&e department.

Ds was playing football last night and got whacked with the ball to his hand when he was in goal. Bent his hand back and hurt but as he could move it we thought nothing of it and it would be fine.

Now he's complaining of a lot of pain when he put pressure on it. I think he may have just sprained it and will be fine with painkillers and rest. He says he's broken it (he loves a drama) and want to get it xrayed, plus miss the mor big of school.

I am I being unreasonable??? I really don't believe it's broken,

I broke my wrist and used it twice... I also broke a toe and walked on it and broke my finger and used it.

I will never trust the move it rule!!!

Aren't minor injury clinics a relatively new thing? There was a time when going to A & E with suspected broken bones was a perfectly acceptable thing to do
I wouldn't class a possible fracture as minor, anyway

How come when someone says should they go to A&E they usually get told they shouldn't (unless they are already dead) and when someone asks if they are unreasonable for not going they get told they should. .

Because people generally post when they're doubting themselves. If they're trying to convince themselves they don't need to go, they probably do and vice versa.

She's taking him!

I broke my wrist in identical circumstances when I was at school. The triage nurse practically rolled her eyes but it was broken and needed a cast.

i've broken the same wrist 6 times and could always move it and never had any swelling or bruising.

Glad you're taking him, even if he is a big old drama llama, it is better to have it checked if he's really in pain. Hope you aren't waiting too long to be seen

DS1 fell off some play equipment when he was at school and hurt his wrist. The teacher mentioned it in passing when I picked him up but thought he was fine afterwards. He cried out when he put weight on it when trying to climb in to the bath that night, but like you, we thought it might just be a sprain so gave him some calpol and said we would see how he felt in the morning. It was still hurting then, so I did the NHS symptom checker thing that used to be on their website & that also said it was most likely to be a sprain. I then called their helpline and spoke to the most lovely nurse who ran through the questions that I had just done on the computer, but at the end said that she was a mum too & knows what it's like to worry and advised me that since there was a children's department at my local a & e, at that time of the morning I would be seen very quickly, to reassure me. Cut to doctor showing me X-ray with no sign of actual fracture and me saying sorry for wasting their time, doctor said oh no, it's actually broken. It was a green stick fracture; young children's bones are flexible and the only sign is a slight bulge in the bone. Three weeks in a cast & it healed fine, so fingers crossed for you & your son that it is quite this simple too.

Yes, take him this morning.

I broke my finger. Was bent at a right angle so very clearly broken but it was 10 weeks of not driving and almost three months of hand therapy before it was back to semi-normal. It's still not quite right.

People laughed at me at the time but I couldn't use my hand AT ALL for weeks. It's just not worth taking the risk. Hands and fingers are very important. My one broken finger affected the whole of my hand.

My dd jumped off some steps at soft play and complained that her foot hurt. There was no bruising and no swelling so I thought she was just being over dramatic and told her to go run it off. She was still complaining 5 hours later and I still wasn't sure about taking her to A&E as there was still no bruising but I did take her in the end and the poor thing had fractured 2 bones in her foot
She spent the entire summer holiday in a cast. I think you're doing the right thing getting it checked.

Hope your son is alright and was just being a drama lama

I did take my dn to minor injuries a couple of weeks ago and the nurse asked why she hadn't been brought sooner(dn is definitely a drama lama)

Hope your son is ok. I have a child who loves getting x rays and totally understand the concern about skiving....

Hope your son is ok. I have a child who loves getting x rays and totally understand the concern about skiving....

The mechanism of injury your son experienced is actually a really common way to fracture a bone in the hand.

Yes YABU.

Take him and get him checked!

DD was still walking and moving on her her foot for five days - she'd still broken it! It was missed by two first aiders, a locum GP and Me! Quick trip down A&E, in, x-rayed and out within 45minutes for an appointment with the fracture clinic. She'd broken her metatarsal bone.

Hope your DS is feeling better soon.

Just seen you're taking him.

Good call OP.

this is outing, but I walked on a broken foot for three weeks before I finally got in x rayed. Always better to get these things checked out.

I'm glad you are getting him checked OP.

Within the last two years I have had seven breaks, 6 from one incident (I slipped on a wet floor, fell backwards and put my hands out behind me). I have never had any swelling or bruising (only bruised after confirmation of break) and have been able to use everything.

I will say I am on heavy duty medications but each time it has hurt like hell!

Glad your taking him. We are made to feel so guilty aboyt the struggling NHS that we doubt ourselves even when we need to use it xx

Oh and before he met me my DH got hit by a car and broke both of his legs, he was able to walk on both and even played a game of darts - he was on his way to the pub to play darts when it happened! He went to hospital the following day and ended up with both legs in casts.

I once waited 3 days to take DD2 to the hospital for pain in her foot as there was nothing to see - no swelling and no bruising. She had broken it, and has a slightly wonky bit on her foot now.

When I was a kid, I was constantly spraining my ankles. Last year I learned that at least 2 and potentially 3 or 4 of those sprains had been breaks, and I had walked on them, and am now suffering a good deal of pain, as my ankle has fused! At the time, the only A&E in the area was a half hour bus journey away, then a walk from the bus stop to the hopsital of over a mile, as the shuttle bus only ran during visiting hours. We didn't drive, so going was not an option.

I hope it isn't broken, but better safe than sorry.

I think I would have gone for a same-day GP appointment and seen whether they were keen to refer to x-ray. We have this system [not sure if it's everywhere] and it totally bypasses Accident and Emergency until the point you know there is a break.

Hope your DS is OK.

Great decision op. Hopefully not broken but you never know until youve had an xray. I walked on a broken ankle for three days thinking only sprain. Stupid as had 2 years of pain afterwards. Ok now unless its very cold.

DD1 hurt her wrist at school but the staff didn't believe that there was anything wrong and didn't call us - even complained at pick up that she was "naughty" for not joining in enough during PE that afternoon but broken it was

I broke my finger playing netball. No one would take me to A&E - they didn't believe me. So I had to drive myself (I was 18). Yep it was broken and very painful. I could move it though..

You should take him, quite often kids break bones especially in the hand and don't present as 'broken' until X ray- parents go in apologising for wasting time thinking this is ridiculous and are then told, no, there is a problem. Hope he's better soon