Son is limping

[Londoner202222]

My little boy has started limping on Sunday am, he woke and couldn’t walk but improved throughout the day. He’s still limping this morning but is happy playing and no temp. Took him to the gp yesterday who have referred him for bloods tomorrow. He has been waking in the night saying ow but then I settle him and he goes back to sleep quickly. The other thing is he’s been wanting to go in his pram the past week to, he’s such an active little boy that this is out of character. I’m really panicking after googling, has anyone had this before with there little ones? Any advice? Thank you.

Back to GP for an X-ray. There are growing conditions which can affect the hip which need early assessment and treatment

This sounds exactly like something my DD had when she was about 4. Has he had a viral infection lately? There is a condition called transient synovitis which is a benign inflammation of the hip joint. I took my daughter to the doctor as she had suddenly started limping and had problems walking to the toilet in the middle of the night. It ended up being this transient synovitis and the only treatment is Ibuprofen and not walking too much. It went away quickly, maybe within a week (though it was a long time ago, can't remember exactly).

I would get this properly checked out as it could be osteomyelitis which is serious.

That is an infection in the joint (knee/ankle etc) following a previous infection and it needs turbo antibiotics to get rid of before it damages the joint very badly.

Go back to the doctor and ask for further tests.

My son had this several times from the ages of 2-4yrs old caused by viral infections it is known commonly as "irritable hip".

If he gets a high temperature or shows other signs of being unwell please go to hospital. Be ready to advocate strongly that a child who is unwell with a temperature and bone pain must have an MRI to rule out osteomyelitis.

DD had Osteomyelitis in December. It presented with pain and a high intermittent fever. It was only on the second visit to hospital that they investigated properly for osteomyelitis and treated properly. DD's was caused by a Strep A infection (scarlet fever/strep throat) she'd had a couple of weeks prior.

Some children don't make a fuss about pain and will then risk being dismissed by doctors who apparently aren't aware of this.

Thank you for all of the replies. He has no temp, hasn’t had any virus’s recently (that were visible anyway no runny nose, temp etc). He is playing lots and eating/drinking. He says it hurts when you ask him but it hasn’t stopped him running around today. He has had long naps the past couple of days which is unlike him but put that down to being busy. Trying to get a gp app this afternoon to check him again.

Hi, the blood results have come back all normal, no infection which is great and no temp, he’s playing and eating as normal. He’s still got a limp they have ruled out any strains, irritable hip, infection but the nurse practitioner doesn’t have any ideas as to what it is. Any ideas what it could be, we are hopefully going for an x ray tomorrow or being referred to a specialist (depending on what the dr thinks is best).

Have you asked about Perthes syndrome or have they mentioned it?

It's a degenerative hip condition which affects the ball of the ball-and-socket hip joint. The best treatment is rest (no running jumping etc).

My daughter had this at age 4 and spent several years in a wheelchair/major buggy. It got better but recurred and she at age 20 had a total hip replacement on Monday!

Thank you, we are just in hospital now he’s had x rays and they’re doing further blood tests. Results are in but waiting for the dr to review. They did ask this morning if my husband had Perthes as a child but I will ask them about that.

Lots of possibilities, most of them not serious. My children have had limps from muscle strain and from transient synovitis. But a friend's child started limping and it was leukemia (their only symptom). So they will take it seriously.

Most likely irritable hip. But bloods should rule out septic arthritis. It's quite common in toddlers.

Sorry only just read full thread.

Hi thank you again all for replying. They have sent us home, x rays all clear and just waiting for results from one other blood test. The dr thinks it’s irritable hip now, they said he could have had a virus without being obvious then got irritable hip (it was our gp that said it wasn’t) but has made an appointment for a weeks time to review things and said he should be better by then. He’s napping on me now which is not like him, still limping and wanting to be carried everywhere but if he’s fighting a virus and the irritable hip I am hoping this is all normal. I can’t help but worry it’s something else but that would have shown up on the x rays and bloods I keep telling myself.

my son has had recurrent irritable hip since he was 6. He[s 10 now and we must be on his sixth episode. Basically some kids just have this after any respiratory infection, sometimes we are lucky and it doesn t show up, but some other times a few weeks after a cold.. Boom! Rest and ibuprofen for the win. Important if recurrent to do a full workup to rule out infections, lyme, perthes disease etc.

Hi @Londoner202222

What you have written exactly describes the condition of my son right now. Did you find what was causing the problem?

Thanks a lot