3 yr old complaining of a "dizzy leg"

[Plonkargghhh]

My 3yo dd has been complaining about having a "dizzy leg".

My first thought was that maybe she's got 'pins and needles' in her leg, but it didn't go away and she was still complaining that her leg was "dizzy" some 3 hours later.

She's limping and can't run - in fact, when she runs, her leg gives out and she falls.
She has showed me where it's "dizzy" and it's just behind her left knee.

It isn't sore. It doesn't hurt to touch or when she walks, but she's definitely limping.

She isn't distressed by it, if fact, she's amused by it. When she falls she laughs

I'm really confused. Any ideas?

Obviously it goes without saying that I'll take her to get it checked out if it doesn't improve

Trapped nerve?

could it be a dead leg? did she sleep at a funny angle? has it just come on her during the day? what was she doing before she mentioned it?

You need to get this checked to be honest. Little children can get what's called a slipped ephyseal plate, the top of their femurs are not fully stuck together and the head of the femur can move from where it should be. I'd take her to A&E as she'll probably need an x-ray.

It could be a trapped nerve - would that carry on for a couple of hours?

No, I'm fairly sure it's not a dead leg - she wasn't asleep, or lay/sat down and yes, it has just come on her during the day.

She had just been playing normally and she insists that she hasn't banged it or hurt it

well, do as planned and get her checked tomorrow.

Ouch belle - that doesn't sound good!

Would that hurt her? The slipped plate I mean, not the xray.

I'm going to see how she is in the morning, and if she's no better, then yes, I'm going to take her to get it looked at.

Do you think I should take her to the Walk in centre or straight to A & E?

Not necessarily, at 3 children are not normally too good at identifying pain. I'd take her to A&E to be honest, if they decide that she needs an x-ray then they can do it there.
www.patscotland.org.uk/medical_appendices/S/SLIPPED%20FEMORAL%20EPIPHYSIS.pdf it does say that it normally affects older children but if she's pulled it then this does need ruling out.

There are other things that could be going on aswell, she needs checking over if she's limping and her legs giving way. It could be coming from the femur or any other part of her leg so it does need a medically qualified person to check her over.

I really do hope all is OK.

Thanks belle - I'll take her there first thing ...

I'm hoping it's all OK and that you have wasted your time.

Well, it's a little better this morning, but she's still definitely limping.

I'm just waiting for dh to get home from work to look after older dd's and then I'm going to take her.

I'll report back. Thanks for your help.

I hope all is well. There's a lot of hip/leg problems that children can get, it's always best to get things like this checked out.

Well, we're back.

After lots of waiting and waiting and then prodding, poking and leg twisting, the doctor couldn't find anything wrong

To be fair, she's barely limping now and was jumping and running to command when asked.

We've just got to keep an eye on her and take her back if it happens again, which hopefully it won't

Thanks for the support

Ahh, that's really good news