Bruising on child legs with no explanation

[worriedMum1123]

I’m really worried about my daughters legs they have bruising on them. I am of course going to call my GP in the morning but right now I’m going crazy googling and finding all sorts of diseases it could be a sign of. Please tell me if you’ve experienced similar with your kids please. She has been with me all week so no chance of anyone doing this to her. She’s doesn’t remember how it happened and it doesn’t hurt when I touch it. What could be the cause?

OP I share this image intermittently. It's my son's legs when he had immune thrombocytopenic purpura. The alternative diagnosis was leukaemia which, thank heavens, it wasn't. The bruising pooled around his ankles from gravity. This image was taken a few days later when it was fading.

Bruising on the shins in an active child is not normally a safeguarding concern so I wouldn't worry about that.

Is it from falling up THR stairs? That's usually where the bruises on my shins come from.

*the

Should say - the image is intended to reassure. As you see, it's very different from your daughter's bruising which looks like a typical childhood bump.

Press a rash under a glass. It should fade. If it does not, then it can be critical (think meningitis or sepsis). https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/meningitis/symptoms/

I'm not saying it's likely that DC has these, but it's a good test for parents to know and they should practice it on new rashes to rule out serious illnesses

@PollyPut

Press a rash under a glass.

There is no rash. The child has a couple of bog standard bruises.

You’re in the process of moving. She’s cracked her shins on something. In all likelihood there has been stuff all over with the move and she ran into something, or tripped over it, or whatever. She probably doesn’t even remember doing it with all the excitement going on.

Take a breath, your stress over the move is probably making you more anxious than you’d usually be.

It says bruising in the OP, and the picture is of bruising. Why are you going on about the glass test for a rash?

I have 5 children, and every one of them got loads of bruises at that age.

Multiple unexplained bruises in a short period of time is worth seeing a GP for, it’s often a sign of vitamin deficiencies. I had it all the time as a kid and it was actually due to a disability that I didn’t know I had until much later. They obviously couldn’t diagnose based on the bruising so it wouldn’t have made a difference seeing a GP as a kid. honestly, majority of bruises (even if NOT caused by hitting something hard) aren’t caused by anything that’s a big concern to your health.

Also, as a teacher, we would be very unlikely to “report” a singular bruise. We would only report if the child said an adult did it, if it was a horrendous bruise (talking big, black and blue), looked like it was caused by something suspicious (fist etc), it’s on the facial area or it was happening a lot with no explanations. Even then, some of these would be logged on our system but not necessarily passed on to outside agencies.

I really wouldn’t worry. Just keep on eye on it and ask her to tell you if she gets anymore bruises.

@splilt - OP can do as she wishes. Someone above mentioned the glass test; I think it can be done whilst child is asleep.

I agree that they look like standard bruises but I also currently know a child who has some kind of bleeding condition that causes marks that look like bruises (and is under medical care for it) so I would never tell her that they are definitely bogstandard bruises.

Get an emergency appointment at doctors tomorrow. Even if just to reassure yourself.
chikdren are such a worry x hope she’s ok x

OP suggested the glass test in this thread first. She was already thinking about it.

I was merely saying that it could be done once whilst child is asleep without waking them. and then hopefully OP can sleep.

So giving an overly worried and anxious parent another condition she can spend the night fretting over and google the life out of (once she's stopped rolling a glass up and down DC's leg while she's trying to sleep of course) is supposed to be reassuring?
The child bumped their legs in the last few days, has not remembered on what (as most kids bang themselves without serious incident numerous times a day), mum has only just noticed the (identical) bruising on both shins. Kid is now sleeping soundly, knackered, no other symptoms, perfectly safe and well. But no, I'll just pop up some pictures of that time my kid was diagnosed with some immune disorder and that'll reassure OP because its absolutely, totally 💯 nothing like what the OP is worried about.

I used to get bruises like that from messing about on my bike, whacking my legs on the pedals etc. She doesn't have a bike does she?

@PollyPut

OP can do as she wishes.

Quite, but you explaining what the glass test is wasn't really needed, was it?

The glass test is for rashes as you said.

Don’t worry OP. They look like totally normal kid bruises; all my 3 have looked like that most of their lives! I personally wouldn’t bother with the GP as I think you might just get told it’s normal, but take her if it will put your mind at ease.
It won’t be a safeguarding issue; I’m safeguarding trained and it’s a ‘safe’ spot - teachers look out for, as someone said above, bruises that are in unusual places (ie where kids don’t normally bruise - inner arms, inner thighs, faces, necks etc), or big/consistent bruises, or bruises that the child discloses are caused by an adult, that sort of thing. The vast majority of kids have shin bruises the majority of the time, it’s a non-issue.
My youngest also has leukaemia and that very very much does not look like leukaemia bruising to me. When she was diagnosed she was absolutely covered and new bruises were popping up constantly, including in places that don’t normally bruise. Trust me there’s a very very big difference. My DD is doing really well and consistently has excellent blood counts, the leukaemia is very much under control and her legs still look like your photo! - it’s just a sign of an active, busy child.

Do not get an emergency appointmentZ. These are for people who really need them. People who have health problems that need to be seen asap. There is fuck all emergency about a couple of bruises.

My ruined don't usually hurt as bruises. The area would hurt before the bruise showed up though.

Has she had a growth spurt? That used to be my first clue that my DSs had had growth spurts. They were as clumsy as anything because their brain didn't have a clue where their bodies started and ended after a growth spurt. Eventually the brain caught up and the bruises would reduce in number until the next growth spurt.

My son’s legs were covered in bruises like that when he was younger. He wasn’t even very sporty. I was worried at one point because he had so many. He could never remember doing them and they never really hurt. They stopped when he got past the age he was raking about in the playground and flinging himself all over the place with his friends.

@splilt OP mentioned "the glass test" earlier in the thread before I joined; she's clearly been considering it.

You wrote "the glass test?" with no other words to explain your question.

I assumed that you didn't know what it was so linked to an explanation. Can't see what is wrong with that.

No wonder there's a shortage of appointments if people are making emergency appointments for bruises!

Well yes - because as she can clearly see, when she looks at her child's (normally bruised) legs compared to my child's (bruising you need to worry about) she can now see that her child's bog standard bruises look nothing like the actual non blanching rash and bruising of the legs of a child who was actually thought to have leukaemia by medics...and turned out to have a different condition that causes the sort of "leg bruises" that you do need to worry about.

OP mentioned "the glass test" earlier in the thread before I joined; she's clearly been considering it.

And you jumped on and told her to do it now.

You wrote "the glass test?" with no other words to explain your question.

Yes. I probably should have added context...

'The glass test, what for?'

I assumed that you didn't know what it was so linked to an explanation. Can't see what is wrong with that.

Going on about the glass test for rashes. The worst part is instead of saying 'oh yeah, it's not for this' you are going and going to try and defend and suggest like you advising OP to do it now wasn't a mistake.

Not a GP but medically trained- however please take this with the limitations of being a thread on the internet

They look like entirely normal childhood bruising and extremely common
Often it’s not remembered how they happened but unless she has been bedbound then there is no concern as to how she managed to get them
Bruises in places you wouldn’t expect- arms etc, and profuse bleeding, nosebleeds etc are more concerning signs warranting further investigation, or appearing pale and tired all the time

I’m not usually one of those people who gets particularly protective of the NHS and it’s resources, but please, watch and wait and unless there are other signs you’ve not mentioned don’t take her to the GP!

@Callimanco but if you hadn't mentioned your DC's particular condition, shown the photos, she wouldn't have needed reassuring that her DC's bruising didn't look anything like them. Do you see what I mean? 'Oh look, this is what my child looked like when his bruises had faded but its OK, it wasn't meningitis, it was something called immune thrombo...neither of which look anything like your child's bruises so you have absolutely nothing to worry about'.
Wouldn't a simple 'I wouldn't worry OP, looks perfectly normal for an active growing child' Have sufficed?