To not take DS to A&E

[IAmADancer]

asking for your thoughts.

DS has dropped a 2kg dumbbell on his foot. He thought he would ‘try and see if he could lift it’

I have iced it, raised it and tried to get swelling down. He originally said it didn’t hurt but he’s now saying it’s painful to touch and he is walking in a funny way. DH said to take him to A&E, I feel this isn’t best course of action. GP won’t do anything.

I have attached a picture, am I being a bad mother not taking him to A&E? It is swollen but I think they’ll just say to ice it and give painkillers

There's ever chance it's broken, why wouldn't you get that checked?

Minor Injuries? Ours deals with things like that and the wait is a fraction of the time it is at A&E.

Take him. My foot looked like that when it was broken. Why on earth wouldn't you?

Perhaps a walk in or minor injury unit?

GP can refer for an xray also instead of waiting in A&E for one.

You must take him to A&E . That injury doesn't look good at all.

Minor injuries? I wouldn’t leave that.

Local minor injuries? Ours has an x-ray

I'd go to a & e to check if anything broken. If there is and it heals wrong, it could affect him a lot when older.

I would take to minor injuries/urgent care. My local one is also at the hospital but separate to A&E. You can find yours here: www.nhs.uk/service-search/other-services/Urgent-Care/LocationSearch/1824

I suppose because he isn’t screaming in pain I thought it was likely just a nasty lump. I broke my toes when I was a teen and it was exceptionally painful and he isn’t really complaining of pain unless he walks on it

Or minor injuries for an xray as per pp

Student radiographer here, I'd get that checked out. Do you have a walk-in centre nearby? May be quicker to access X-ray that way rather than A&E.

Unless you have X-ray vision I’d take him to A&E (or Minor Injuries if you have one).

I don’t think we have a minor injuries but I’ll check. If not it looks like and A&E trip.

I’m usually in the wait and see camp but I’d go to A&E for that as it could be broken. Or minor injuries if there’s one near you that can x-ray.

@BadgeronaMoped thanks. Will take your advice and head down there.

That really looks like it needs checking out ASAP. The problem is if you don't seek help for it now and then it doesn't heal well, you end up going via your GP and then you get lost in the abyss of referrals which could take months (or over a year in my experience!), rather than getting it xrayed/scanned and diagnosed now.

Thanks all, I am going to go to our local A&E as we don’t have a minor injuries unit.

DH had similar swelling to that and it turned out to be a metatarsal fracture. I’d definitely be getting it checked out if he’s struggling to walk/bear weight on it.

My daughter broke her foot age 3. She could walk on it (with a limp), was happy sitting on the floor and playing etc..... cried at the initial fall but that was it. It was broken and she had a walking boot for 6 weeks. Definitely get it checked.

My son did similar. I took him to minor injuries. Because he could weight bear they said it wasn’t broken so advised just resting it.

Good luck. Also nice to see someone taking good advice onboard so graciously.

Go to a minor injuries unit

I damaged the top of my foot and it actually got worse over the day til I was in unbearable pain, yet I hadn't broken it. You can detach ligament on top of foot and require surgery but still be hobbling about thinking do I really need it seen? Best to get checked

Really annoying you don't have minor injuries as that injury is a perfect candidate for one. I'd be tempted to travel further to find one as they are typically much quieter than A&E. Whenever I've been to our one it's taken less than 2 hours from start to finish. Last time was less than 45 mins.

My brother broke his foot as a teenager. He walked around on it for a week before finding out it was broken. Broken bones are not always agonising pain.