'Pulled' elbow

[Northernlurker]

DD3 was climbing at nursery today and her feet slipped on the frame. Her arms were hooked around the bar of the frame and so she sort of pulled back on her arms and hurt her right arm. She isn't bending it very much or using it at all really. I went to collect her and we popped to A&E where it was x-rayed. No swelling, no visible bruising and thank goodness no breaks. They diagnosed a 'pulled' elbow and the advice is that she will probably just start to use it again over the next few days. We have a cushiony sling to try but as that as actually caused her more agitation and discomfort I've taken it off.

Has anybody's dc done something like this? How long did it take to get back to normal?She is 4.

Sorry to hear this - it is something my DD1 has done several times now. The first time it sorted itself out within a few minutes but on the next two occasions we took her to A&E where they performed a move which gets the ligament to pop back into place. TBH I'm surprised A & E didn't do this. Take her back tomorrow if it has not resolved itself and don't leave until it is sorted!
We have now been taught the move ourselves and DH fixed the problem with episode no4!

Good luck and hope your DD is better soon.

My DD did this and it hurts like hell. I am also surprised A&E didnt just pop it back in again, it takes a second to do and the relief is instant!

According to A&E only children under 6 can do this as after that age it 'cant' happen. I am not so sure...

Please take your DC back to get it fixed.

Your poor dd.

Is it popped out of place or do they mean she has pulled the muscles round the elbow?

I have pulled the muscles round my elbow and my upper arm. I was advised to wear a support, take ibuprofen and to rest it. The doc told me it could take up to 6 weeks to go back to normal.

If I do rest it for a couple of days it is not painful but if I do heavy labour then it is really sore.

I would imagine it would heal quicker in a child though and children are less likely to do heavy labour too!

I hope she feels better very soon.

Sorry I should have been clearer. The nurse tried to pop it back in but nothing went in and nothing was obviously 'out' by the time we got there either. So it's a bit of a puzzle but maybe more like the muscle pull that carrots describes. I will wait and see what she's like in the morning. She can move it and move her hand and fingers - she just doesn't do so.

When I first did mine my nursey friend thought it was broken so it is probably pretty sore. Poor wee mite. That stage passed very quickly though. I found a tubigrip the most helpful thing - if you can find one small enough.

If your DD can move her hand and fingers the nurse might have been successful at getting it back in. DH said that when he fixed DD1s arm it wasn't immediately obvious that he had been successful. It did take DD a little while to forget about the incident / the pain to wear off and start using it again. It was no more than an hour though, so perhaps it is more muscular as has already been suggested. Maybe some ibuprofen would help with any swelling / pain in the night?

@ Coffee A pulled elbow can't happen once the radial head has developed to the stage it is in most 6 yo DCs. OK there is a range, but mostly under 4s, and I'd question the diagnosis above 6, tbh.

@ Northern Is she using the arm again now? I'd usually keep them in A&E until started moving the arm again, usually about 20-30 mins, just to make sure things are settling well. If she's moving it and not complaining about pins&needles etc sure it'll be fine. Often go back in themselves and might well have been back in by the time she was seen in the first place.

Hope she feels better soon!
DOI - work in orthopaedics, of course have to be generic online as can't see her etc.

Make sure she has plenty of pain relief and she should start gradually moving it again. Don't draw attention to it but see how she goes. All xrays are checked by a senior radiologist so if anything was missed they will alert you. If its not better in a couple of days go back.

Some extra info - a little bit on the American side but it's ok for wiki.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulled_elbow

hi op this has happened to my ds twice , we went to hospital both times and the doctor just kind of massaged it and my son started using the arm again, both times he was in pain throughout the night (so gave calpol, nurofen)and by morning he was back to his cheeky self.

Thanks all. She seems ok painwise and she can move it but isn't using it if that makes any sense. Will report back tomorrow!

Right well this morning she seemed ok painwise but wasn't usng it at all. I observed a bit, did a few simple tests that it wasn't behavioural but it isn't, it's totally consistent. It's like she doesn't have that arm She's used it for balance a couple of times but that's all. So we went back to a very busy A&E who were great. Triage nurse got her a sandwich (stupidly I didn't take food and the vending machine was broken) and then we saw a lovely doctor. He was so nice and he did get her to try and move it but she couldn't lift it across her body properly - started using her other hand to support it She can lift it over her head though which is more than she would do yesterday. He had a really good shot at manipulating it re pulled elbow but there just isn't anything needing to pop back in. So he went off and reviewed x rays with two other doctors and they absolutely can't see a fracture but it's clearly not right. So we've got an appointment for Monday for Fracture clinic and an orthopod. The doctor thought it's a soft tissue injury and I think so too - just wish she would start using the arm. Seeing it hang down and not be used is horrible. Thanks again for the advice yesterday. It really helped me be decisive today and take her back.

Your poor DD. That sounds horrible for her - I hope she makes a speedy recovery.

Poor kid - I hope she is comfortable and they find a better solution on Monday.

She seems ok this morning but still not using it. Starting to really upset me now Roll on tomorrow

My DS had pulled elbow from a very similar situation, and as mentioned above after some manipulation it was all well again. He has also had a suspected fracture to the elbow (it wasn't) and had more similar symptons to your DD. This took much longer to get "better" no treatment was needed just ibuprofen and rest. It took about week before he was completely better again. We were told to get him to move the arm as much as possible.

Let us know how it goes with the doctor today.

Hi

We got on fine yesterday - the doctor could see her range was limited but as she had started to move it on Sunday afternoon and then more yesterday morning, they were comfortable with a soft tissue injury diagnosis. The x-rays were definately fine. So we came home with an appointment for next week that we cancel if not needed and I'm sure we will be doing that as today dd is using her right arm as usual! Feding herself with it and taking some weight. It's not 100% but getting close so I will just keep an eye on it for a few more days. Great relief!

That is good news. I hope it continues to improve.