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Original poster

Broken leg but fine for hours afterwards - What's most likely explanation?

27 replies

MyShinyWhiteTeeth · 10/09/2018 14:22

Not sure where to ask this.

If a child falls after running into another child, gets up and runs off straight away looking fine at morning playtime, is fine all day although slightly tired in afternoon then is taken to a and e in the evening - is it possible his leg was broken at school during morning playtime?

OP posts:
Looneytune253 · 10/09/2018 14:32

Yes, I’m not an expert but on my last first aid training I was told that children can load bare on broken limbs. Their bones are more flexible than ours.

user789653241 · 10/09/2018 14:45

It was a vague memory but this happened to someone when I was in primary. Fell, totally fine afterwards, and next day we found out that she had actually fractured her bone.

Original poster
MyShinyWhiteTeeth · 10/09/2018 14:50

Would the child not be in pain during the day? The pain was only recognised in the evening and it came on suddenly.

OP posts:
steppemum · 10/09/2018 14:53

if ti wasn't a clean break, then possibly, and it could have got worse with running round on it.

Enb76 · 10/09/2018 14:55

I broke my arm as a child and it took two weeks before I was taken for an X-ray - I remember it hurting but more achy than severe pain. What clinched it was it got steadily worse as I carried on using it.

MrSlant · 10/09/2018 14:56

With a child you don't tend to get what people normally think of as a 'broken' bone, like a clean snap and obvious gap across the bone. Because the bones are 'juicy' like a young tree branch they can bend but not snap and often all that is left to show for it is a small buckle on one or both sides, no obvious big broken bit. Plus the body gives you a good dose of pain killer and cushions the area with swelling to keep it safe. Not saying this is definitely what happened but could be one explanation. Bodies are so cool.

SpottingTheZebras · 10/09/2018 14:58

Yes, children can really easily break their bones and not realise it.

Original poster
MyShinyWhiteTeeth · 10/09/2018 15:06

Would a & e be able to tell how long ago the break happened?

I think it was a fairly nasty break and there was a lot of swelling the next day.

I'd always assumed the break actually happened in the evening because of other accidents that happened when parental supervision was lax. It seemed more likely to suspect this than a child walking on a broken leg all day at school and nobody noticing anything.

OP posts:
stripeswitheverything · 10/09/2018 15:07

Definitely possible. A friend of mine fell over the day before taking part in the London Marathon and thought he'd just pulled a muscle.
Ran the race in a lot of pain, got past the finishing line and collapsed, couldn't get up again. He'd run the whole thing with a broken leg Shock

Original poster
MyShinyWhiteTeeth · 10/09/2018 15:10

Wow Stripes - that's perseverance!

OP posts:
SpottingTheZebras · 10/09/2018 15:13

Would a & e be able to tell how long ago the break happened?

To a certain extent the X-ray can show the age of the break but it all depends how quickly the child went in.

My daughter broke her ankle by slipping off a one inch high step. I didn’t realise immediately because she didn’t say it hurt and only limped when walking at speed or running. Another friend’s son slid down the bottom stair and broke his leg.

tinytemper66 · 10/09/2018 15:43

I broke my ankle on Friday and straight away I was unable to put my foot to the round. I didn't think I had broken it mind until they showed me the X-ray!

tinytemper66 · 10/09/2018 15:43

Ground!

Pascha · 10/09/2018 15:48

My brother fractured his wrist playing a game and he didn't take much notice of it for two days. At a&e the doctor diagnosed a greenstick fracture on sight before the x-ray and said children can typically present at hospital up to 48 hours after the accident because nobody realises how much damage was done.

theunsure · 10/09/2018 15:51

Yes! In kids especially, but also in adults.

I have had a couple of fractures not diagnosed for days afterwards. Fell off horse - hurt at the time but seemed fine after an hour or so. Days later in bloody agony as the break had worsened note to self, don't put off a&e visits

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 10/09/2018 15:59

It’s theoretically possible, but if the child was showing no pain at all after the fall and there are other concerns, I wouldn’t be too hasty to rule out that it happened after school.

Kidssendingmenuts · 10/09/2018 16:28

My son fell off the trampoline at home and cried while clutching his arm but not a broken arm kinda scream like you'd expect. Went to a&e to be checked out, X-rays, all fine, strapped up and sent on way, call next day and X-ray has been checked again and it was fractured after all. Son was fine throughout it all.
It could of happened at anytime to be honest; by the sounds of it you don't know when it happened?

youarenotkiddingme · 10/09/2018 17:00

Having read threads on here where Karen's have said the first they've known about a child's break is days after it happened when they e sough advice because it's not improving - I'd say it's entirely possible Grin

My friend fell off a pavement and broke her ankle. It was sore and she took two ibuprofen before bed after walking the rest of the way home!
By morning it was huge and very painful and very broken!

OneoftheOnes · 11/09/2018 00:15

Don't know about children, but I broke my leg in three places last year. It didn't hurt. So I suppose it us possible to do that without realising.

FrustratedTeddyLamp · 11/09/2018 06:27

One of my siblings broke their wrist and was fine to go to school the next day it was only after they went to hospital.

lljkk · 11/09/2018 06:53

Swelling is how you usually know it's broken, the area swells up & feels bizarre & you don't want to move it normally. 4.5 weeks later when his cast came off, DS still had obvious bruising (internal bruising) after breaking elbow this year.

Maybe it was 2 blows that did the leg in, OP. Hairline fracture from first event that broke fully when bashed a second time.

smurfy2015 · 11/09/2018 07:23

I was late 20s when i broke my arm, no drink involved but wish there had been the next evening, was on the bus on the way home from a few days away - 8.5 hour journey - there was a major rest break about half way and thats when my problem really showed itself, the bruising and swelling kicked in, anyway got home and went straight to a&e and while I had realised I had done in my wrist as couldnt bend it (i found out who my friends really were when they had to try and tie my too tight on me jeans after loosening them to let me use the loo), i couldnt bend my wrist due to the swelling, some bruising was starting to come up further up my arm and so it was xrayed as well - the wrist was a colles fracture and my arm had broken the radius and ulna in 2 places each so 5 fractures in all and I was complaining only of wrist cos of swelling and bruising, another day and the pain kicked in badly

Emz1989 · 11/09/2018 07:45

I've fairly recently done a children's first aid course and basically yes, from what I remember the trainer said that their bones are almost like twigs and if they load bare repeatedly the fracture 'splits' over the course of the day... I believe it's called a green stick fracture.

LetItGoToRuin · 11/09/2018 14:06

Yes - a friend's son fell off his scooter, and his leg did hurt, but we thought it was just bruised. It continued to hurt a bit but his parents were quite 'tough love' about it, until about 5 days later when he tried to get out of bed and couldn't bear weight at all. His leg was indeed broken!

ifIonlyknew · 11/09/2018 14:15

yes often happens in children