To refuse to take DS to hospital for a sprained ankle

[Paurie]

He twisted it badly enough that it can’t weight bear. I’m confident it’s not broken. Strapped it up, iced, elevated - & picked up a crutch so he can be mobile without stepping on it while it heals.

School say the crutch can’t come to
school unless it’s signed off as necessary by a doctor and is fitted by a professional.

AIBU to refuse & just keep him home?

It seems really not sensible in this climate to burden doctors with signing off on a self-limiting problem that I’m confident I’ve treated correctly - and batshit crazy to take a healthy child to sit being sneezed on in minor injuries unit for however many hours it takes to be seen.

My brother fractured his arm falling of his bike. My mum thought it was just badly sprained. Wasn’t till he had an x-ray we knew the extent of the damage. Why would you not want to check he was ok!!!!

From a first aider's point of view - we haven't got x-ray eyes so we would treat a suspected fracture, dislocation or sprain as a fracture and would suggest they get it x-rayed. There is a live waiting times NHS site so you can check local hospitals and urgent care places for actual waiting times, whether they have an x-ray department and what time that shuts (might be quicker to drive further away if waiting time much less). I've seen sprains that present like a really bad break and fractures that didn't even look like a sprain. Worth getting it checked

My daughter and my mum both had their ankles put in plaster for "just a sprain". Worth getting it checked. Although I appreciate your reluctance. We have a rule in our house of "in the absence of hard evidence we carry on". This is due to the times I have been made to look stupid by DD complaining for several hours, for example, that she can't walk and after a 4 hour wait in A&E she suddenly has the ability to saunter like a catwalk model in front of the doctor.

I was made to walk in ‘just a sprain’ when I was a teenager. Ankle had two fractures and a break. My ankle didn’t even swell much and I could still move it, it just hurt like hell.

Not only are you being unreasonable, *YOU'RE A BLOODY IDIOT"

I didn't realise god blessed you with x-ray vision.

Me n the fiancée have both had breaks in our ankles, and both had bad sprains.... Sprains n twisted tendons take longer to heal, especially if not strapped up properly.

Accident and emergency, is the only place to take him. The other.places don't have x-ray machines, and that's the only, only way to find out.

I still have a dodgy ankle (so does the fiancée) from just coping with a sprain, that was actually a break.

This is no.different to any other winter with flu about, just get him there in the morning now, or.youll be there all night.

Even if it's "just" a sprain, and your smugness comes up, DONT. you did what is expected of a decent mother and got him checked properly.

A+E was really quiet when we went this week - all the usual timewasters are at home it seems

Haven't rtft but it appears you still haven't had it xrayed? Very poor parenting

FFS, it was xrayed yesterday.

Enough berating.

Apologies, I missed the last page. Glad it was xrayed. I'd expect a call in a few days if it's still bad. We are usually called back and then the cast comes out - fractures are often missed by the frontline staff.

I would take him, years ago I went to our local walk in centre with a badly sprained ankle, told to rest up no x-ray was offered, I then fell & hurt the same ankle a few yrs later & this time it was x-rayed, the nurse found an old fracture! I had been hobbling around on a ‘badly sprained ankle’ not knowing it was actually fractured! I have trouble with my ankle now especially in the cold weather it aches terribly.

I twisted my ankle last weekend. 111 doctor told me to go to minor injuries at A&E as it would need to be xrayed. Xray did show a break but the break is actually irrelevant to my injury as it is the sprain that is making my ankle unstable. The xray showed that when I bear weight on that foot the bigger unbroken bone is moving because the ligaments cant support the bones and I was borderline for surgery. So yes, the hospital would be doing stuff differently and possibly things that you cant do at home. I had a back slab cast for a week and now in a full cast for another 2 weeks. Then I'll find out whether I'll need surgery.

Glad he's on the mend. Fwiw I would have extremely reluctantly just in case ended up taking him for an x-ray and would have felt just the same as you about it.

I would, if I were you, speak to your GP on the phone and get their advice x

A&E nurse here - qualified in paediatric minor injuries...
Take him to A&E/MIU that takes children...
Children are extremely good at ‘hiding injuries’. Their bodies are remarkably resilient.
Delayed presentation will arouse suspicion if you do end up taking him.
Using a crutch without clinical need is also harmful.
Docs/Emergency Nurse Practitioners will not bat an eyelid you taking him along. It’s a genuine injury!

Personally I would take them as I'm not a doctor and it could be broken.

Glad you took him. My son dropped a metal toy box on his foot when he was small, he yelped in shock but didn't cry, just carried on playing. He even went out later that day and played football with his friends for a few hours. The rest of the day was uneventful, he went to bed as normal, didn't mention any pain at all. The next morning the entire foot was purple and the size of a watermelon, I kid you not! I felt awful when the xrays at a & e showed a hairline fracture... he couldn't walk properly for 6 weeks.

Hope your DS is more sympathetic than you in years to come, would be awful if he posted on here in 30 years time... "Dm had a fall yesterday says her hip hurts, can't weight bare. Would I be wasting the hospitals time taking her in? She's on the sofa with a bag of peas on it! AIBU?"

Take him to a&e.

I think that not seeking immediate medical attention and checking this out is a real safeguarding issue.

Poor kid! I’d want it X-rayed if he was mine.

I thought I had sprained my ankle, it wasn't very swollen but I couldnt weight bare, 111 told me to ice, rest and elevate it. I ended up going to hospital for x ray and then having emergency surgery and having metal put in. He needs to have an x ray for peace of mind if nothing else

I think you should take him to be checked out, my husband went over and messed his ankle up pretty bad 1 year. He left if for a whole saying he'll be fine. Hour later his ankle had tripled in size, so work took him to hospital (yes he say around for hours waiting to be seen) he hadn't broken anything but had damage his ligaments and was on crutches for 2 months and had to have therapy for 6 months to strengthen it back up...
This happened years ago and even now he will have days where his ankle will go on him

Sorry about mistakes in last post 🤦‍♀️

Well this thread is a good example of why the NHS is struggling!

And for all you people saying it could be a fracture, I fractured my ankle in 3 places when I was 15, I was taken to A&E put in a plaster cast (without an expansion break) which lead to nerve damage in my foot due to my ankle swelling in the first 48 hours.

I recently saw a doctor privately about the constant issues with my ankle (because I can finally afford it... And the NHS have only ever prescribed painkillers... I’m now 42) who told me I would have been better off/no worse off (and with out the nerve damage) icing it and using a bandage for support when I was 15.

So going to A&E over something that could have been treated at home has left me with life long mobility issues!

Just a different point of view for you all...

Hope he's feeling better today