Bree, like many 3 year olds, has a tendency to flail her body to the ground in protest if she doesn’t want to be led somewhere. (In the door, out the door, across the street; any transition really.) This can lead to a problem if a grown-up is holding her hand, as we found out the hard way!
I was leaving for my Bunco night and Bree wanted to go with me. Greg was leading her away from the door so I could exit and she was not happy about it and threw herself to the ground. Greg, still holding her hand, tried to hold her up instead of letting her hit the floor. This resulted in more tears and she began to favor her arm.
When she was still favoring her arm the next day, we knew we’d better take her to urgent care. She would hold her arm against her body and would not remove her right hand from her left wrist, causing us to think that she’d hurt her wrist. She said that Daddy had “hurt the hand.”
When I explained what had happened to the nurse and then later to the doctor, they both immediately suspected something called “Nursemaid’s Elbow.” It is basically a partially dislocated elbow joint. Ouch. No wonder she was favoring it. Apparently, it is very common for children this age because of the exact situation that we had found ourselves in (temper tantrum). Why had we never heard of it before?
The doctor came in and calmly told me what he was going to do – pull her arm straight and turn it to the side while pressing on her elbow in such a way that the bone pops back into its proper place. Yikes.
Bree cried a bit right after the procedure and then just minutes later she was playing and using both arms normally again, as if nothing had ever happened! We now know what actions to avoid and are more careful to not tug on her arm when she is being obstinate about going somewhere. She is at increased risk of it happening again, especially in the next 6 months.