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Original poster

What could be causing my toddler to limp?

33 replies

Petallic · 16/08/2014 19:21

DD is nearly 2 and has had a limp for over a week. Just woke up one morning limping. No memorable falls/injuries. GP referred to A&E who took an X-ray of pelvis & hip with nothing found. Seems to be clenching toes and walking with weight on side of foot.

She's still got a very noticeable limp that hasn't improved since last week. It's not slowed her down at all and she doesn't seem to be in pain with it, although I'm assuming there must be pain somewhere or why else would she limp?

We go back in a week for a fracture clinic referral. Not sure what they will do or look for.

No blood test yet as there was no sign of raised temp, illness, tenderness etc or any other symptoms.

Anyone had similar or know what it could be? I can't find anything on dr google that fits.

OP posts:
cungryhatterpillar · 16/08/2014 20:24

Ds had knee pain referred from hip caused by transient synovitis of the hip. This appeared after a viral illness.

BikeRunSki · 16/08/2014 20:29

Ds had reactive arthritis in his knee at 17 months, as a complication of viral conjunctivitis. He had a limp, but also a lot of pain.

DaleyBum · 16/08/2014 20:36

Not to worry you, as it is very very unlikely, but a limp with no other signs can be a symptom of more serious illnesses. I would push for the blood test.

Lauramatt25 · 16/08/2014 21:02

I would push for a blood test!!

Iggly · 16/08/2014 21:04

Why didn't they xray the whole leg?

Nerf · 16/08/2014 21:12

The only thing I know about is irritable hip but usually caused by a virus/illness. Ds had it but had temperature etx.

weegiemum · 16/08/2014 21:15

My dd2 had a limp at age 3 - turned out she had Perthe's Syndrome, degeneration of her hip. She never had pain until later in the process, but limped loads.

After lots of time off her legs (in a wheelchair/major buggy) she is now 100% fine and in fact has her annual checkup on Wednesday (now 10, she'll be followed up until age 18, as she's a slightly higher risk of getting it in her other hip, partly for their own research into the condition).

It isn't always obvious in an x-ray to someone not trained in Paediatric Orthopaedics.

Hopefully the clinic will help.

this is good info. Avoid US info - they do very invasive surgery with no greater results, our orthopod rolls her eyes at it all!

Original poster
Petallic · 16/08/2014 22:04

Thanks for the replies everyone. Yes I will certainly be pushing for blood test next week. I think they were reluctant to do blood test because she's not had a temp or any other symptoms and so felt there wouldn't be inflammation/infection markers. No idea why they didn't do xray of whole leg (DP took her to A&E)- this is something else I will also be pushing for.

For those that had post viral complications - how long roughly was it between virus and getting a limp?

Dd was at her grandparents 3 weeks ago - it is entirely possible although I won't know for sure as she would pretend not to have noticed but DD could have had a temp whilst with MIL. Is this too long ago though to even be a possible issue though?

OP posts:
BikeRunSki · 16/08/2014 22:30

For DS's reactive arthritis it was about 2-3 months from the original virus. He needed IV abs, so was admitted. I wouldn't 't have thought that this is your dd's problem, as ds got very ill, very quickly and had a temp of 42oC.

Nerf · 16/08/2014 22:32

The irritable hip thing was maybe four days to a week?

Original poster
Petallic · 16/08/2014 22:41

Thanks for the link. She's not had a temp and we've given her a few days of nurofen which made no difference. She's also not cranky so I don't think she feels unwell in herself. That said, she was a prem baby and I don't know if it's that or just her personality she is a tough cookie so something could well be hurting her somewhere. Both the Drs and myself have tried bending and prodding her but I can't get a flinch out of her that makes me think it hurts anywhere specific. I wish she could talk!!!

OP posts:
Original poster
Petallic · 16/08/2014 22:44

She's had a orthopaedic dr see her so far, I'm assuming the fracture clinic will be someone from the same team.

OP posts:
Nerf · 16/08/2014 22:54

God poor you. It's awful when something's not right but you can't get to the bottom of it.
Hope you get somewhere with the clinic.
It couldn't be a habit could it? Or something really silly like a verucca or a toenail or even something in her shoe?

306235388 · 16/08/2014 23:26

It could be a toddler fracture which often doesn't show up in first x rays.

We are going through the same thing with dd and waiting on an appointment because she has twice woken up unable to walk :(

Original poster
Petallic · 16/08/2014 23:41

She's got the limp both barefooted and in shoes. She literally woke up one morning with it. I thought splinter at first as we have oldish parquet but we can't find anything on her foot - no marks at all.

3062 how long has your DDs problem being going on for? That must be a big worry for you too. I've been googling this evening and found one hospital as a weekly limp clinic for kids - I'm using this to tell myself it's a common problem and hopefully most causes aren't serious

OP posts:
nocoolnamesleft · 17/08/2014 04:21

Another one saying "probably just reactive arthritis, but needs bloods"

SofiaAmes · 17/08/2014 04:31

Between the ages of 5 and 10 Ds had multiple (4 or 5) re-occurrences of transient sinovitis to the point where the doctors kept telling me they had never seen a patient with so many re-occurrences. None of them were ever preceded by a significant fever or serious virus. He generally had a cold of some sort between 1 and 2 weeks before the occurrence.

SofiaAmes · 17/08/2014 04:32

In all his occurrences, he was pretty much unable to walk for several days. High doses of ibuprofen cleared it up every time.

BikeRunSki · 17/08/2014 07:30

There's no "just" about reactive arthritis!

HopeJacob · 17/08/2014 07:39

Just to say my daughter limped for a few weeks at age of 2. GP eventually diagnosed 'growing' as the cause!

I know that there are more serious conditions that can cause a limp and, of course these need to be investigated, but the presence of a limp can turn out to be something and nothing. Apparently growing legs and joints can get out of kilter!

paxtecum · 17/08/2014 07:51

One of my DGC had similiar.
A McTimoney chiropractor sorted it the imbalance.
Might be worth trying if you have a spare 40 or so.

WalterandWinifred · 17/08/2014 07:52

DS had a week of limping at just over 2. No apparent cause, though he did fall over at nursery the day it started. He seemed to like the attention it brought. I was starting to worry it was something more when it went away. I hope yours is similar!

LauraChant · 17/08/2014 07:58

DS also had similar which was reactive arthritis following chicken pox. It was about three weeks between the pox and the limp. He definitely was cranky though - crying with pain and had to stay night in hospital.

Hannahabbott · 17/08/2014 08:02

Dd had an irritable hip which appeared over night and continued for 5-7 days. She was seen in a&e but not x-rayed and no bloods taken as she had no temp and didn't fit the profile of a more serious condition which they said tends to be overweight boys. I didn't even notice the viral infection that proceeds it, it was so mild.

Bikeskirun - antibiotics would have been administered for a bacterial infection not a viral one.