DS's sore leg - should I take him to hospital?

[LoveAndSqualor]

Hey everyone, just after some speedy advice ...

DS (5) was complaining of a sore leg - thigh, to be precise - yesterday morning. It didn't seem to be bothering him too much, so he went off to school - I told him to tell the teacher if it really hurt, but he got through the day ok. Last night he was complaining about it a bit again, but tbh I didn't think much of it.

This morning, he shouted out for me the moment he woke up - he can barely walk, or straighten his leg without crying. He seems to be pinpointing the pain to his upper thigh now. Actually, I'm not really asking if I should take him to the hospital - I'm going to - but wondering if anyone can think what it might be? I'm quite worried about him. He's just having some breakfast and then we'll set off.

Has he had a virus recently? A child I know had some post- viral thing that affected her hip joints. It went away after a day or so, no lasting effects. I think it's quite common in children. Seems most likely if there's been no injury.

Hopefully that's it and you get seen quickly

How about out of hours GP rather than hospital?

thanks all for the replies. He jumps around a lot, so it's possible that he's hurt himself, certainly. No viruses, I don't think. Will try the out of hours GP - good idea!

I think I'm just a bit alarmed as it seems to have deteriorated so dramatically - a bit sore yesterday, now weeping when he tries to put weight on it!

Poor him! It's possible he might need to go on to hospital, but if a GP can see first it might be something they can deal with.

Never had it with my dcs, but a couple of friends have had similar with one of their dcs. In one case it was viral and in the other I think it transpired that he'd landed awkwardly on a trampoline and it took a couple of days for the leg to hurt. Nothing broken, just really really sore.

Oh and give him some ibuprofen to see whether that helps with pain right now.

thanks so much pooka, that's reassuring! DP thinks he's just pulled a muscle and it's stiffened up; naturally I'm assuming it's leg-death disease and they'll have to amputate. Will give him a bit and see how it goes xx

How's he feeling now?

My ds gets a weird leg thing when he is recovering from a virus and it knocks him off his feet completely for a couple of days. It's called transient synovitus and usually affects hips but can also affect knees I think.

Hope your ds feels better soon!

DS had a post viral infection in his knee joint when he was 17 months old. He could not put any weight on it and had a fever of 41o for 4 days. He was in hospital on IV antibiotics for 9 days, but no lasting effects. It was called Reactive Arthritis.