To go to a&e if shes still limping in an hour?

[OneDayIllStopNamechanging]

DD, almost 2 year old, started limping quite badly about an hour ago. No fall, no bumps, no tears, just stood up and starting limping. She cant weightbare on that leg and it's so bad she keeps wobbling over with it. I've rung the Drs who said they would get a dr to call me back but as yet I've not had a call.
DD seems generally ok in her self if I bit miffed she cant run around and confused she keeps falling.
I'm not usually one to worry too much, more of a 'ah shell be fine in an hour' but something is making me feel a bit worried about this..

[Ireolu]

I would take her in. A new limp shd be investigated. Children fracture very easily and sometimes even without fuss. A septic joint is a medical emergency. Does she have a fever? Perthes disease tends to affect prepubescent overweight boys but can also damage the hip joint. Most likely cause is transient synovitis but she needs an examination bloods and an xray. Hope she is ok.

[custardbear]

Hopefully it's nothing, considering she hadn't 'done' anything

My DD started limping after going down a slide in the park - no bruises etc. Took her home and she was still hobbling. My GP FIL said over the phone that it's probably nothing but to see how she was in the morning as she may just be limping due to a niggle she may forget about over night.
Nope still limping in the morning so took her to GP
He said he couldn't feel anything wrong, was sure it was fine, but If she was still like it the next morning then take her to A&E for an x ray. We did this as still as just as bad the next day
It was a break! 3 weeks in hip to toe plaster cast - she was fine.
Even the A&E doctor said as the two GP said 'I doubt it's broken but we'll do an x ray to check' ... yep - definitely broken

[scatteredglitter]

Kids can get septic arthritis in their hip,
I would like it checked out if she s limping today it js an A And E worthy visit.
My niece had this and required MRI / and a surgical wash out of the hip joint to treat the infection plus a long hospital stay. .

[PurpleFlower1983]

@NoKnit

Yes totally UR

She doesn't seem in a lot of pain and you don't think anything is broken? I really don't see how this warrants emergency medical dare.

I would take her to doctors or clinic if it persists next week but not A & E

She’s 2 years old. Of course suddenly not being able to walk requires medical care!

[Nannewnannew]

Another vote for taking DD to hospital if no better this morning. Children of that age don’t fake limps, well, not for more than a few minutes anyway, so it definitely needs investigating.
Hope all goes well.

[MahMahMahMahCorona]

How is she this morning @OneDayIllStopNamechanging? Hope you had some sleep

[FoolsAssassin]

DS had this. Went to see GP who said nothing to worry about and rest. Didn’t improve so went back saw another GP who hit the roof that other GP hadn’t referred him to be evaluated at hospital as said all Non weight bearing children need to be.

He rang Hospital we went to A and E where we were met by Orthopaedics and he had bloods , X-ray etc and was evaluated by consultant. He was actually admitted but we were allowed to sleep at home and be back early for ward round.

His took some time to clear up and he was evaluated for Perthes but it was just persistent irritable hip .

[Mmn654123]

@NoKnit

Yes totally UR

She doesn't seem in a lot of pain and you don't think anything is broken? I really don't see how this warrants emergency medical dare.

I would take her to doctors or clinic if it persists next week but not A & E

Developing acute leg weakness in the absence of any explanation may well be a medical emergency and certainly should not be left for a week.

There are all sorts of weird (and extremely rare) things that can begin as acute leg weakness that require intensive care admission for goodness sake. And of course it’s unlikely in this case - but you should never ever ignore leg weakness for a week.

Please don’t venture an opinion on what could be very serious medical matters if you have no expertise.

[MinnieJackson]

How is she today @OneDayIllStopNamechanging?

[ibblebibbledibble]

How is she this morning?

[dressinggownorno]

Is there an update OP?

[OneDayIllStopNamechanging]

Still her usual happy self, not sure if shes running round less than usual or if I'm just being paranoid. So far her leg looks to be supporting her fine though do hopefully it was nothing. Scary reading how common this is and how serious it can be though

Think I'm going to watch her like a hawk today, but its not looking like were going need to be going to a&e

[Mmn654123]

@OneDayIllStopNamechanging

Still her usual happy self, not sure if shes running round less than usual or if I'm just being paranoid. So far her leg looks to be supporting her fine though do hopefully it was nothing. Scary reading how common this is and how serious it can be though

Think I'm going to watch her like a hawk today, but its not looking like were going need to be going to a&e

The fact you are seeing improvement is an excellent sign - serious things would generally stay the same or get worse.

[Mumto3thatsme]

Hi Op,
I’ve been going through this for about 10 days now with dd 3.
On the weds she started limping, tbh I didn’t notice until the Thursday but next door neighbour had but didn’t tell me until the Friday. There was never any pain.
Anyway, I took her to paed a&e on the Friday where they x-rayed her and said to bring her back on the Monday if there was no change. By Monday there was no improvement, I’d say she was dragging her foot slightly more and walking on the outside of her foot.
You know what it’s like, always questioning ourselves, are we over reacting, are we wasting peoples time etc.
Anyway, the paed consultant never once questioned of I was doing the right thing, confirmed that yes she should have been seen and she was re x-rayed. This time, he’s picked up something on the foot that he believes might be Kohlers disease.
Anyway, she’s still limping (to be expected if it is Kohlers), not in any pain, thankfully (although strange if it isn’t Kohlers) and the consultant phoned me yesterday asking to take her back to him in 2 weeks if no change....
So I just want to say, if you’re worried, get her seen. You’re not wasting anyone’s time xx

[spiderbabymum]

Needs seen by paediatric today . Earlier better IMO

[WorksTheDinerAllDay]

DS has had irritable hip a few times. One way you can tell if it's the hip (this was now the GP checked) is to lie them on their back, legs flat. Then get them to raise the suspect leg at the knee and then bring the knee up towards the chest, so they are bending at the hip joint. If it hurts then you know it's the hip.

My GP explained the first time that if it didn't get better after a few days he would need a x-ray or if he suddenly got a fever he would need to go to A&E.

[randomsabreuse]

My not quite 2 year old lost his balance (always lurching one way, standing weirdly on that foot) after a virus. GP sent us to our local paeds A&E after a phone consult where we were seen by one of the consultants for a full non invasive exam. DS was too scared of drs (recent Covid swab) to do anything except cling frantically onto me but they wanted him fully better in less than a week and said I was definitely right to bring him in to rule interesting things out.

[MummaGiles]

@ParisianLady

My son did this...he had a cold, and then once recovered he lost the use of his legs. I got a panicked call from nursery to come collect her. Completely random. And it came back within a few days.

My GP said it wasn't uncommon.

I was going to say the same. My DS woke up on Christmas Day and couldn’t weight bear. He was crawling around all day. It was very strange. It happened on and off for a a year or so (more limping than complete non-weight bearing) and it was after colds. They can get fluid in the joints after a virus. We called it his wobbly leg. He had all sorts of investigations at the hospital which didn’t show up and problems and he’s grown out of it now.

[ALLIS0N]

I had this with my 8 year old, so much older than your DD. She has fallen the day before and twisted her ankle a little but she said it wasn’t sore. She refused caplpol.

I took her to the GP who said it was probably nothing but sent her to minor injuries for an x ray just in case. Triage there said it was probably nothing - in fact the nurse said “ I bet you a tenner it’s nothing “.

X rays showed a green stick fracture of her tibia and She was in plaster for 10 weeks.

[Hmmph]

My son had the weird unable to walk thing a couple of times. I had forgotten about it until I read this thread.

I think it was after a cold. He wasn’t in paid and was able to walk just about, but it was a very odd walk like his legs had gone stiff and obviously he preferred not to walk. Only lasted a day or so. GP wasn’t worried in our case, but he was older and able to describe the feeling and had and obvious weird walk.

[NichyNoo]

My son did this when he was about 3. On the second day we took him to A&E. I explained to the doctor that he hadn’t put weight on his leg for almost two days, no visible injury. The doctor asked him to stand up and walk across the room and the little bugger walked perfectly fine. The doctor gave me a leaflet about phantom leg injury (or something like that) in kids. Turns out it’s very common.

[FlamingoQueen]

My niece chipped a bone in her heel which caused great pain for her, but took a little while to diagnose. Be worth getting it checked out if she’s still limping today.

[ivykaty44]

Is it an accident? Is it an emergency?

call 111 for out of hours doctor would be first point of call and take their advice

[Hmmph]

I have just looked it up and this is what my son had: www.whittington.nhs.uk/document.ashx?id=4697

It doesn’t sound like what the OPs child has though. But might be interesting/help for others.

[ScarMatty]

Limping is a very common sign that a child is responding to a virus that might not have any other symptoms.

If it doesn't get any better soon I would seek further medical care.