Anyone had a child break a bone and not bruise or swell?

[jossanne]

My 7yo and 10yo sons have been building a fort for months now. It's about 3-4 feet high, constructed of scrap wood and pallets, and partly in a tree. Yesterday afternoon my 7yo went to jump off of it, his foot slipped, and he landed on his left hand (he's left-handed) and face. His face is scobbed up and he's got a knot on his forehead.

He immediately told me he thought his arm was broken (he's language delayed, and has never broken a bone before, but his sister did earlier this year, so that's his first reaction). I brought him in and cleaned him up, iced his arm, and kept him calm a while to watch him.

He never got shocky like my other kids have with broken bones. His arm never swelled, and there is no bruising. So I opted to not take him to the ER yesterday. This evening he had to finish his cursive homework, and sat there saying, "Ow ow ow ow" the whole time he was trying to write. I asked him if it hurt a little or a lot, and he said it hurt a little and a lot. Hmmmm. I finally got out of him that it hurt a lot if he pushed hard with his pencil, and a little if he wrote softly. I told him that I wanted him to try to do his homework, but if it hurt too badly he didn't need to continue. He got about half a worksheet of cursive practice done, and was suddenly almost to cry, so we put it away.

I wrote a note to his teacher to get him out of handwriting and most other written work tomorrow, and out of PE and rough play on the playground. I will take him to the doctor in the afternoon, who will hopefully get us into the ortho ASAP.

So... I'm not sure what to think. He didn't react to it like my other kids have reacted to broken bones. No shock, no bruising, no swelling. I'd like to think it's not broken. I hope it's not.

Have any of you had a child or someone break a bone and react like this? What's your experience been?

Thanks!

 

[Mahonri]

Usually there is swelling if it's broken, but not always.

DS#5 (Age 13) will be seeing an ortho soon to have his knees operated on.

 

[vickie2133]

I remember that my oldest was little at the time, and was being swing like an airplane. I was at the store and came home to him whimpering a little. His father had been swinging him and told me what happen. He didn't feel it was broke because no color change or swelling. I still didnt' like the look of it, hard to explain but I knew it was broke. I took him to the hospital and it was a clean break. He didnt' swell or bruise, but he kept a slight temp, I was told by the dr. it is our bodies way to raise our temp with a break. I hope everything is ok.

 

[ChooksChick]

This sounds a lot like a broken wrist. I've got a broken bone in my wrist and hubby had his operated on years ago, same bone...I'm putting it off. It's a strange kind of break that doesn't necessarily cause a lot of pain at the time of break for some, and isn't all that horrible compared to other breaks. Where exactly is his pain? Can he show you the area?

There are also hairline fractures to contend with, and ligament tears. Minor sprains can leave little visual indication, but still hurt like with that dull, deep bone pain without being apparent. I've also bruised a bone many times...nothing hurts like a bruised heel! Oy! Even a bruised thumb joint can be brutal.

Give him lots of hugs- sometimes things hurt differently for some...I have so much experience because I don't hurt like my sisters, and I was always pushing the envelope farther than they did because of it. I walked around on a broken ankle for a week before I decided to tell my mom about the crunchiness of motion...so he may just have a higher pain tolerance than his sibs! Hope he feels better soon.

 

[Roo_in_the_roost]

I broke my arm in 4th grade and there was zero brusing, swelling nothing. it was a clean break of the smaller of the 2 bones. Mine was an obvious break however due to the shape my arm took.But also concider there are nearly 40 bones from the elbow down. Not to mention if he fractured a growth plate stalling could cause long term problems.

 

[jossanne]

We're definitely taking him in tomorrow. He showed me right around the top of his radius, from the back of his arm around to the inside of his wrist. Yesterday when he first hurt it, I was gently feeling the arm, and he winced when I put any pressure on the radius up to about halfway up his forearm. His pain this evening is in the same place my daughter's was broken in February. They called hers a distal radius fracture. Hers swelled immediately, and she was immediately in shock. When I got to the school to pick her up, I knew she was broken before I even saw her arm.

I've got him wrapped in an Ace bandage to keep it stable, and he's not trying to use it at all. It must be pretty tender, because he's a very active kid. Wish us luck getting into the ortho in a hurry!

 

[patnjess]

best to get it checked out. My son broke his and it was grossly swollen. I broke my arm the same thing, but mostly the next day. Ive broken a toe and it was swollen and bruised.

 

[MetalSmitten]

i've broken my toes on several occasions (what can i say, i'm talented and the walls like to move during the night). sometimes they've gotten swollen and bruised, but sometimes they don't. i always thought the non-bruisey ones were hairline fractures but i'm not sure. i never went to a doctor about it =/

i hope your son feels better soon though! wishin for the best.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

When I broke my wrist, it immediately went numb. No feeling at all. When ice was applied, the pain started. There was no swelling and no discoloration. It wound up being a green-stick fracture.

 

[Tala]

Well, I guess I'm just gonna have to go with "every body is different" on this one.

See when I broke my finger (hairline fracture really....) I knew it. Bone pain is some deep pain that is totally different from anything else, at least in my experience. It's not like cut your finger pain, it's on a whole nother plane. It's the only thing that makes me want to pass out, as you put, "shock"

but apparently some people don't get that shock/passout thing, so you just never know.

My sister fell on her arm and it swelled up somethin awful, we were sure she was done for, lol, but the X-ray at the ER said it wasn't broken so ya just can't always tell by looking.