My 4-year son is suddenly limping

[MamaBearTeacher]

It's a bad limp. He doesn't seem to want to put any weight on his right leg or foot. He isn't telling me exactly what hurts so I don't know if it is his knee or ankle or foot but when he first woke up he said his foot hurt and asked for a bandaid. There is no swelling and he doesn't have a fever. He is happy like usual but he is not running around like usual. He will walk if I ask him to but he limps a lot. Medical attention right now would involve several hours wait in a croweded emergency room or clinic if I can find one that's open and the flu is going around where I live and I just don't want to risk that. I'm just thinking it will go away in a day or two if he rests. What do you think? He has tripped several times in the past few days and sometimes he cried but quickly got over it.

[Jan in SC]

There is a posibility that it is a virus in his hip. If he develops a fever, you should take him to be checked, as it could be an infection. All of my children have had the synovial hip virus. It lasted a couple of days and then they were fine.

If he can point to a specific place on his leg, or if he continues limping, then you can get it checked next week.

[2cents]

Instead of going to emergency, is there a neighborhood emergency clinic nearby that you could go to? They may be less busy and be may be able to take some films if needed. Our ped has an after-hours number to call. I'd call the ped to see if they think it can wait or if he needs to go in immediately. Hope the little guy is feeling better soon. :(

[MamaT]

I had something similar happen years ago. My oldest son stopped using one of his legs when he was two. He just woke up one morning and wouldn't walk on it.

 

We ended up in his pediatrician's office, who sent us to an orthopedist. Turns out, his growth plates in his hips were growing at uneven rates. We had to take him back every few months to see if the side he wasn't using was catching up. Right before they decided to put him in a brace, it evened out.

 

The not walking on it part only lasted a few days. He never complained about it after that.

[Cera]

I would probably get it checked out but I don't think it is an emergency if that is his only symptom.

 

I would watch him and try to pinpoint where it hurts and then call in the morning for an appt.

[Starr]

On the not so dire side, is it possible he had a charlie horse in his leg during the night? If he doesn't have any other symptoms I would see if it resolves its self and call tomorrow if not.

[Paige]

Has he been ill recently? Any kind of sore throat, fever, etc? My DS has reacted to viruses like this a couple of times. It lasts about 2 days and comes after the virus appears to have cleared up. The first time, I didn't realize he had been sick because the symptoms the previous day were so mild, but looking back I remembered that he had been a little out of it the day before. Our ped. said it happens a lot and is considered a typical strep reaction. I'm not sure if strep is the only thing that causes it. I couldn't see anything wrong with his legs or feet- no swelling or anything, but DS wouldn't put weight on it at all. I think my ped. said it was usually the calves that were affected but I don't remember. It's been a few years since the last episode. Now, I don't take them to the Dr if they don't walk for a few days after being sick. I would take him in if it has been more than 2-3 days. I think if you google strep and reactive arthritis you will find it.

[bzymom]

Just to add another possibility, my d/d has twice had Transient Synovitis. Both times she woke up unable to walk without pain.

 

I hope it is something minor which quickly resolves itself!

[JFSinIL]

Could he have simply sprained his ankle when he tripped? Try and keep him off his feet for a couple days - Rest Ice Compression Elevation (RICE) before looking for a more exotic explanation.

 

(Good luck keeping a four-year-old boy off his feet, though!)

[4everHis]

I would probably get it checked out but I don't think it is an emergency if that is his only symptom.

 

I would watch him and try to pinpoint where it hurts and then call in the morning for an appt.

 

This. One of my 5 had growth spurt pains so badly that she would start to walk and fall down. Scared us to death. so it could be that.

[Mommyfaithe]

My nephew woke up like that when he had Lyme disease. His lymph nodes in his groin were swollen. I would get him looked at. Did he fall?? Does he have a virus??? Sometimes when a kid is fighting off a bug they get swollen glands and they can be in their groin too.

Faithe

[Guest jab300]

Hope he's feeling better.

[LibraryLover]

Do you have a pedi? I would call and try to get him seen on Monday. I'd ask for a Lyme test and an pedi ortho referral.

In the meantime, I'd rest, ice and elevate.

[Alyeska]

If it were me, I would take him the the chiropractor first. It could be that his lower back needs adjusted.

[InterestingCase]

Osteomyelitis can also cause an unexplained limp; this happened to my brother and it took the doctors a few visits to realize that it was not a strained muscle. He had to be hospitalized and when he came home, he was on bedrest for a few months.

[Pink Fairy]

Poor little guy! Like someone else suggested, I'd call the on-call doc and if he agreed I'd have him seen on Monday. I'd avoid the emergency room if at all possible. I'm always afraid that any visits would end with us bringing home something worse than what we came in with.

[valkett]

My oldest did something similar when he was 8. His turned out to be a bone infection. The area that hurt (his ankle) was much warmer than his other ankle. They did a couple tests to determine whether or not it was a skin infection or bone infection. He had to do iv antibiotics for 6 weeks and has been fine ever since.

 

Best of luck!

[4ofus]

Something similar here, in a 6 yr old boy. Started complaining in the movies, I told him his leg was asleep. Could not walk out of the movies w/o severe pain & crying. Finally carried him to the car. He ended up having xrays, an mri, crutches, & a follow-up ortho appt. NOTHING. about 1 week later he was able to put weight on it again. Weird. He had a 1 year follow up appoint w/ortho & he did not seem to think it strange at all.

 

Good luck & I hope he is okay very soon!

[krwsmum]

Is it the joint or the leg? MY oldest dds both have juvenile arthritis...my middle dd's has had her knee joint affected the most and it presented itself with swelling and heat-like her knee was hot to the touch.

My youngest has had the virus op's have talked about, it could just be that...I'd take him in-it's worth the co-pay to put your mind at ease imo.

Hope he's ok!

[MamaBearTeacher]

Thanks everyone. He's better now! I put him in a stroller all morning yesterday (he hasn't sat in a stroller for over two years but he complied). In the afternoon the limp was a bit better and he wanted to run around and jump. I was looking for clinics but they were all closed. This morning it was gone. I had forgotten but the same thing happened around Christmas and it went away the next day too and I had even posted about it. DH took him to a clinic then and they said to come in after a couple of days if he was still limping but didn't have any explanations. I wonder why this happened twice, if it was an injury or something to do with his growth.

[Robyn]

This has happened two or three times with my 4 year old as well. We have no idea what was the cause. We had to carry him to church one morning because he could not walk at all, but by mid afternoon he was running around like nothing had ever happened. :confused:

 

He has very flat feet and he is extremely active. Hopefully it is just something that will stop happening as they get older.

[Guest jab300]

I'm glad he's feeling better. My 6yo has had a few episodes of leg pain like this but it has just come and gone. Not without scaring me to death first, of course. ;)

[Paige]

My ped. said that if you react to a virus like that one time, then it is more likely to happen again.

[AliciaG]

My 20 month old son has had 4 episodes now (lasting approx. 2-8 hours at a time), where he is unable to bear weight on his leg (seems to be more so the left one). He will bum-shuffle and crawl to get around, or walk with a limp. One of these episodes was at the same time as viral infection, but the other three weren’t. We have had hip, leg, chest and spinal x-rays, an ultrasound and a full blood count which were all clear. We have an Orthopaedics appointment in a few weeks, but in the mean time I am worrying myself sick that something sinister may be being missed, as there doesn’t seem to be any other explanation for these episodes. My son is otherwise healthy, active, happy and eating/playing like normal! Has anyone had a similar experience? Please HELP!

[Jean in Newcastle]

Ten year old zombie thread. 

[Rosie_0801]

1 hour ago, AliciaG said:

My 20 month old son has had 4 episodes now (lasting approx. 2-8 hours at a time), where he is unable to bear weight on his leg (seems to be more so the left one). He will bum-shuffle and crawl to get around, or walk with a limp. One of these episodes was at the same time as viral infection, but the other three weren’t. We have had hip, leg, chest and spinal x-rays, an ultrasound and a full blood count which were all clear. We have an Orthopaedics appointment in a few weeks, but in the mean time I am worrying myself sick that something sinister may be being missed, as there doesn’t seem to be any other explanation for these episodes. My son is otherwise healthy, active, happy and eating/playing like normal! Has anyone had a similar experience? Please HELP!

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