Nursemaid Elbow

We had to take Troy to urgent care tonight for a radial head subluxation, also know as nursemaid elbow. It happens when the radius bone slips out of joint. This is due to the fact that the ligaments and muscles are still very relaxed and flexible at this age, so they don’t hold the bone firmly in place.

I had taken him for a walk this evening, and when we got home, he was moaning that he had a booboo on his arm. He wasn’t crying, so I assumed he was just trying to get attention. After all, nothing had really happened on the walk for him to get hurt. But his moaning escalated into full-on crying fit. My wife tried to ice his arm, which seemed to help a little. He fell asleep, but when he woke up, he was immediately balling again. I noticed that he wasn’t moving his arm at all. Any attempt to move it only made him cry harder. So, we figured there was definitely something seriously wrong.

The doctor at the urgent care said that this is a very common injury with young children. It usually happens when the arm is pulled too hard, like when an adult goes one way and the kid goes the other way. Thinking back to our walk, that’s exactly what happened. I was holding his hand, trying to guide him toward the house when he suddenly decided to jerk on my hand to get away. He was smiling and playing at the time, but it was shortly after that that he started to complain about his booboo. I guess I should have listened to him. He was trying to communicate, and I dismissed him. I’m glad it wasn’t anything more serious, but I’m disappointed in myself for leaving him in pain for so long.