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Original poster

has anyones toddler ever sufferered a dislocated/broken/sprained ankle?

24 replies

lilsmum · 30/03/2005 20:17

dd as you all may know was in hospital last week with gastroenteritis, anyway to cut a long story short, they tried the drip in her left foot couldnt get it in properly and she ended up with it in her right foot they were VERY rough with her and i am thinking this is linked, the left foot didnt bruise or anything but for the last couple of days she has been limping with this left foot, took her the docs yesterday and he said she has sprained it, but it doesnt look right to me, the ankle bone has moved around the back (urrgghh) what should i do? she cant really walk on it, but doesnt seem in major pain but it just doesnt look right...advice please??

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Original poster
lilsmum · 30/03/2005 20:17

she is 14 mth btw

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Tissy · 30/03/2005 20:20

It's not likely that the ankle bone has moved if she's not in much pain. It takes a lot of force to break a toddler's ankle because the bones are very elastic at this age. The bruising could be internal and not visible on the surface, but enough to cause some swelling.

Why not ring the ward she was on and ask if she could be seen by one of the paediatricians?

duster · 30/03/2005 20:22

Take her to Casualty, as soon as you can. If it doesn't look right, the sooner it's looked at the better.

LIZS · 30/03/2005 20:29

If she can't weight bear on it after a few days then think you need an x-ray, possibly via A and E. It sounds unusual to have a sprain and no bruising or swelling. You could try arnica gel and an ice pack on it in the meantime to bring out any bruising and ease tension if she has sprained it, as that may be making her walk awkwardly.

dd squashed her foot when she tipped over her pushchair last year. Put ice and arnica gel on etc but she still didn't appear able to walk on it next morning. I managed to make a really inconvenient appointment with a different dr to normal as ours was on holiday, only for her to meet her friend and start racing around again. By the time we saw our usual dr it turned out to be just badly bruised and she had started to use it again, but I was told if she had any problems over the following few days to return for an x-ray.

Hope you find your fears unfounded and she is better soon.

Original poster
lilsmum · 30/03/2005 21:20

just had a proper look, and it is the ankle bone that has gone round the back , you can see it the worst when she puts weight on it, it is definately the ankle bone because it isnt where it should be compared to the other ankle and it is definatley bone, you can feel and see it, i have rang nhs direct and i am waiting for a nurse to phone back, dd has gone to bed, she was dog tired and i couldnt keep her up any longer

if this isnt just a sprained ankle my G.P has dropped the 2nd bol**ck in 2 wks (when dd was being violently sick i spoke to him on phone as it was out of hrs and he was emergency doc at the time and he said he didnt need to see her- she ended up in hospital for 4 days on a drip - gastroenteritis, and i took dd to see him yesterday re her ankle and he said it was sprained, looked and felt it and watched her walk with no sock or shoes on)

but

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Original poster
lilsmum · 30/03/2005 21:38

sorry...bump

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Peckarollover · 30/03/2005 21:40

Have you heard back yet? Poor little lamb

Original poster
lilsmum · 30/03/2005 21:41

they have just rang (an hour after i phoned ) to "apologise for the delay in ringing arrgghh

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Original poster
lilsmum · 30/03/2005 21:43

if it was sprained..would it be swollen/bruised?

if it was broken/dislocated would it be swollen/bruised?

i have no idea about this at all

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Original poster
lilsmum · 30/03/2005 21:53

bump

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maisystar · 30/03/2005 21:56

ds has had a badly sprained ankle and if i remember rightly it was just very swollen.

i think if the bone has moved prob a visit to casualty may be wise, it sounds horrible bless her!

Lonelymum · 30/03/2005 21:57

You probably don't want to read this, but your best bet is to take her back to A and E. When my ds broke his leg aged 19 months, I took him to the GP and he was pretty confident it was broken but he explained that was because he worked part time in casualty as well as being a GP and he implied a lot of GPs would be less able to diagnose a broken leg confidently. In any case, only an xray will put your mind at rest.

Original poster
lilsmum · 30/03/2005 21:58

i cant take anymore hospitals sob sob... but of course i will take her if need be

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Original poster
lilsmum · 30/03/2005 22:00

it isnt swollen or bruised at all, but when i manage to get her to stand, her foot is twisted (turned in) and her toes gnarled and a lump of bone at the back, but no ankle bone where it should be

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Lonelymum · 30/03/2005 22:03

Let's look at it this way, she is too young to be putting it on. If she really can't stand on it tomorrow, or it still seems twisted, take her to A and E. (Well, I would anyway.)

Original poster
lilsmum · 30/03/2005 22:05

yeah i will do lonelymum, thanks

still waiting for nhs direct...rang them at 8.30pm!!

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Lonelymum · 30/03/2005 22:17

They once rang me back at 1:30 am and seemed surprised to find out I was asleep!

Original poster
lilsmum · 30/03/2005 22:51

can you believe i am STILL waiting grrrr

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Original poster
lilsmum · 30/03/2005 23:14

just rang... a&e 1st thing in morn, sounds like a bone injury the nurse said

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LIZS · 31/03/2005 08:20

good luck this morning

Original poster
lilsmum · 31/03/2005 15:51

ok ... spent all morning at a&e they took x rays,and have said they couldnt see any fracture (but in babies its hard to see and if they look again in 2 wks there could be) the only thing they can put it down to atm is because the gastroenteritis she had was viral, sometimes it can settle in a joint (anyone heard of this?) so i have to give her anti inflamatories(sp?) for 3 days and take her back on monday (got a appointment)for them to see if it has improved if it hasnt she will be refered to a orthapedic doctor and i dont know what will happen then

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Original poster
lilsmum · 31/03/2005 15:52

thanks everyone for your help, especially LIZS

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LIZS · 31/03/2005 16:08

Funnily enough, yes. I was once told that a cold which dd had had and by then was all but gone, had gone to her hip joint, causing sufficient inflammation to make her hobble. A couple of days of anti inflammatories and she was as right as rain. When I posted about it on MN it met with some scepticism !

At least you have the reassurance of having been and hopefully it will resolve itself now. How is dd coping ? You must all be sick of hospitals by now

Original poster
lilsmum · 31/03/2005 16:17

dd and i are soooo sick of hospitals lol, i hope the ibuprofen does the trick, i have never heard of that before, weird eh! i didnt really understand what the doctor said tbh, he didnt speak very good english but i think i got the general gist of it, lets just hope that it has started to go by monday then hopefully (touch wood) we wont have to set foot in a hospital for a good while !! had enough to last me a lifetime!

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