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Indiana Babies
Laura & Jason
Nursemaid's Elbow
If you're friends with me on FB you probably saw this already, but Luke did that partial elbow dislocation yesterday again. (The first time was about 5 months old.) We took him to the ER the first time, but yesterday Jason was able to get it back in. (It's fairly simply - you hold above the elbow and then rotate the wrist.) It popped, Luke cried, and then for the most part it seemed ok. I took him in this morning to have it checked and she said that we did it exactly right.
It's frustrating because we have no idea how he's doing it. Most of the time it happens if their arm is jerked (if he was walking and we were holding his hand and he fell, or if someone was swinging him around by his arms.) We're 99% sure that hasn't been the case. It just sort of happens. They didn't even realize it at daycare - I picked him up and they said he just wasn't himself, wasn't really crawling, and was really fussy. When we got home I noticed he wasn't moving his arm - it breaks my heart that he was like that all afternoon and no one realized it! (And on a side note - daycare feels AWFUL about it.) I guess I'm just worried about him now as he's crawling, starting to pull up, learning to walk, etc.
Has anyone else experienced it?
Laura & Jason
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Nursemaid's Elbow
My brother, my cousin, and my cousin's son all have Nursemaid's Elbow. Collagen deficiency runs in my family, so we have less cartilage in our joints. My knee occasionally goes out of socket.
There isn't a treatment, as far as I know. Just being careful and having all his caretakers learn the proper way to get it back in.
From my experience with my knee, it hurts with the initial dislocation, and it hurts as it's being popped back in, but while it is out of socket, if it isn't moved too much, it is a bearable kind of throb. It's just really scary. I hate that he has to go through this!
I see it in the ER all the time at work. It's really far more common than people think. Usually in an infant or young child, they cause it themselves by rolling over their arm strangly rather than an adult (or older sibling) causing it.
Obviously, you'll need to be careful about not pulling on his arm(s) even for things like swinging over a puddle, etc. There's no way to prevent him from rolling over it strangely, but as he learns to move around easier it should become less common.
If kids are getting these frequently, we sometimes teach the parents how to put them back in. There are two ways to do it, one of which I prefer more than the other (easier/more successful). Obviously, you never want to try to reduce a nursemaids elbow unless you know forsure that's what it is (vs an elbow fracture).
Our IRL friend Jen could probably show you the tricks....assuming she remembers since it's since she doesn't do nursemaid reductions regularly.
Also, you might try giving him some tylenol/motrin before reducing them.
The good news is that kids usually outgrow it by age 3 or 4.