Nursemaid's Elbow

I was just arriving home last night when I saw Dan in the driveway. I was making a U turn to go and check the mail when he started flagging me down to hurry up and come over. I rushed over to see what he wanted and he had already gone back inside the house. I parked the car, went inside and almost bumped into him rushing back out carrying Keira. She was screaming and crying hysterically. "Hurry! Get in the car!" I asked what happened a couple of times and he said that he would explain it on the way to the hospital. I wanted to know what was going on, but obviously I wasn't going to make him stop and explain everything to me. We got into the car and as we started driving he explained what happened. Keira and Dan were at the grocery store just up the street. When they were walking out to the car, Keira was holding Dan's hand and she apparently thought Dan was walking too slow and started pulling his arm to walk faster to the car. She lost her footing and almost fell forward. To stop her fall, Dan pulled her arm back a little and that was when it happened. She let out a scream and started crying hysterically. He was in a panic and called the dr's office and we were on our way to the hospital.

I was able to get her to stop crying for a bit on the way, but the whole time, her left arm was laying limp on her side not moving at all. I tried to hand her something to see if she would reach for it at all and she still wouldn't move her arm. Oh please don't tell me her arm was broken! We reached the hospital and Dan dropped us off in the front so that we could rush in while he found parking. She started screaming and crying again as I was getting her out of the carseat. I brought her in and Dan joined us and after a pretty short amount of time, they brought us in. The nurse took her vitals and asked what happened. Dan started to explain what happened and once he got to the part with her falling forward, she knew exactly what was wrong. "Ahh, sounds like Nursemaid's Elbow". What on earth?!?!?

Apparently Nursemaid's Elbow is a very common injury that happens with 1-3 year olds. It's more common for some reason with girls than boys and happens when the child's arm extends and the arm holding the arm doesn't let go. There are 2 ligaments around a joint in the arm and with the extension that happens with the arm, one of the ligaments crosses over the head of the joint. The doctor came over, took her arm, moved it around for a second around her elbow to move the ligament back over and boom! All fixed! We gasped and she cried for a second more, but was now about to reach out to get the sticker that the nurse gave her. Thank goodness she was ok. She was good as new and was her laughing happy self again on the way home!

I guess the moral of the story is:

1. When you are holding your baby/toddler's hand, make sure that there isn't alot of tension with them pulling your hand.

2. Be careful when dressing your child. When you are pulling their arms through the armholes of their tops, make sure you are aware of the angles that their arms are in.

3. Finally, you've probably all seen the family walking where the toddler is in between Mom and Dad. They are all holding hands and then on the count of three WEEEEEEE! They swing the toddler between them. Perhaps you yourself has done that. I know that we have. If you are doing that, STOP IMMEDIATELY! That is the most common way that toddlers are getting this painful injury.