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Dr. Hive: Year old bruise


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My dd fell last spring at the playground, missed a step and hit her shin. She had an awful bruise on the shin a good 4" long, blue and swollen. After we iced it she was good to go and she never complained about it inhibiting her walking/running. Fast forward to now, she still has about a silver dollar size bruise there. It is blue-ish. If you push on it it is tender but she has never complained. Why is it still bruised and should I be concerned? Could it have been just a really bad bruise that is taking a long time to heal?

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Did you have it x-rayed? Sometimes bruises that won't heal are the result of a hairline fracture (also known as a "stress fracture") or chipped bone and the bruise won't go away until the bone is properly treated.

 

No because she never said it hurt to walk. She was up and running after it happened and we iced it.Is it possible to have a fracture like that without it affecting her walk/running? I never thought it being something like that since she hops and jumps and is rough all the time. I will feel totally like the worlds worst mom if it is a bone problem. Gulp. Now I am worried. Will call the Dr. today.

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I had a very hard hit to my shin while running up a flight of stairs. After a normal week or so of feeling the pain of the bruise, it felt fine. The bruise/dark spot took forever to go away. Like, a few years. It was almost like a scar. It never occurred to me that it could be a stress fracture, but I was in a county where I wouldn't have been able to get good medical care anyway, so I just went on with life.

 

I had the same thing - got the injury the same way, too. I never complained or asked my parents to have it looked at because it didn't hurt to walk or anything, just if I banged it again. Even pressing on it didn't really bother it. It happened when I was a kid climbing onto the school bus - rotten school busses!!! ;)

 

It went away by high school, so yes, years. I'd get it checked out if it happened to me or my kid now.

 

Edited to add that I just googled it and it's apparently quite commn.

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I had this, too. I fell down a short flight of stairs while leaving a classroom building, and totally sprawled everywhere. i got a big bruise on my leg, and it took over a year to heal. It was never particularly tender except immediately afterward and for maybe a week.

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Bruises can take FOREVER to go away. Especially a bone bruise. Seriously...years. If she's not complaining about it, runs, jumps and plays like normal...I wouldn't worry about it. Mention it on your next doctor's appointment, but I wouldn't make a special appointment.

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I also had a bruise that took years to go away on my shin. We were in a bad car accident in a small Honda. I broke the front seat with my knees. I was about 10. It was gone by the time I was 12. I did have xrays and they showed nothing broken .

 

I would just mention it to your doctor at the next visit.

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I have several lingering discolored spots on my knees and shins from when I was a child. I threw myself down over a lot of ground balls and my sliding style was not especially nice to the side of my left knee. It's been 15 plus years since I was playing softball and pick up baseball. They all started as bruises or nasty scrapes and now the shadows remain. The knee ones are the most noticeable. They were funky colored for a long time. I do not have any hairline fractures or chips or ongoing sensitivity at those spots.

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I had a bruise from a spider bite that took a year to heal (I don't know if that counts since it was from a bite, not a bump). My niece fell onto the corner of the fireplace and now has a permanent dimple. And I have bone chips in my elbow because of the many times I have walked into doorways (post-baby lack of depth perception). The doctor said no big deal.

 

I agree with pp - mention it at the next dr appt, but it's probably not worth an extra visit.

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I whacked the back of my head on a ledge two years ago and I still have a lump. Of course, it's not possible to tell if it still looks 'bruised' since it's under my hair. But, I think it's just the nature of injuries on or near bone to hang around a long time.

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