How can I tell if my toddler has broken a bone?
Children's bones are more flexible and can absorb shock better than adult bones, so they don't break as easily, but if a bone is under too much pressure, it can still break. It might be tough for you to tell if your toddler has a broken bone, but here are some signs:
- A snapping sound
- Tenderness to touch
- Severe pain, especially in one spot
- Increased pain with any movement
- Inability or unwillingness to use the limb (but if your child can move his limb or digit, that doesn't mean that it's not broken)
- A limb or joint that seems bent or out of position
If your toddler has just a little swelling and no other symptoms of a broken bone, you can treat the injury with ice and wait to see if it gets better. If the injury doesn't improve or gets worse, you'll want to have him examined. Of course, if you aren't sure, it's best to err on the side of caution and take your child to be looked at.
What's a fracture?
The word "fracture" is used to describe a break of any size. Here are some other terms you might hear:
- Greenstick fracture: The bone bends and breaks on one side. This tends to happen in the middle of long bones, like in the arms or legs.
- Torus fracture: One side of the bone buckles on itself, but the other side remains intact. The bone isn't actually broken through, but it's weakened. (Most fractures in children are greenstick or torus fractures.)
- Complete fracture: The bone breaks all the way through.
- Nondisplaced fracture: There is a break through the bone, but the two pieces of bone are still in the proper positions, lined up with one another.
- Displaced fracture: The ends of the bones are separated, no longer lined up with one another.
- Closed fracture: The skin is intact over the broken bone.
- Open or compound fracture: The broken bone sticks through the skin.
- Stress (or hairline) fracture: A crack that develops in a bone because of repeated force against the bone.