Why can't she move her broken arm?
February 23, 2010 12:10 AM Subscribe
Why can't she move her broken arm?
My 8 year old daughter broke her upper arm last week, just below the shoulder joint. Went to hospital where they said it couldn't be plastered and just put it in a sling for a few weeks.
That's fine - however she is completely unable to move her arm... at all. Is this normal for a broken humerus? I would have thought she would be able to raise her wrist a little at least.
She's booked in to see a physio in two weeks but I wanted to see what other peoples experience of similar injuries was. I am well aware that I am possibly expecting too much 6 days after the incident - and I am also aware that YANAD but should I be seeking earlier intervention?
My 8 year old daughter broke her upper arm last week, just below the shoulder joint. Went to hospital where they said it couldn't be plastered and just put it in a sling for a few weeks.
That's fine - however she is completely unable to move her arm... at all. Is this normal for a broken humerus? I would have thought she would be able to raise her wrist a little at least.
She's booked in to see a physio in two weeks but I wanted to see what other peoples experience of similar injuries was. I am well aware that I am possibly expecting too much 6 days after the incident - and I am also aware that YANAD but should I be seeking earlier intervention?
NotADoctorFilter: Can she move and feel pin-pricks on her all of her fingers? If she can, it's a good sign that the nerves running down her arm are functioning normally. If she has paralysis and lack of sensation in all of her arm and her hand, the fracture might have damaged or be constricting a nerve. In that case, she should see a doctor sooner rather than later. Beyond that, it's also possible she's just reluctant to move her arm because it hurts.
posted by embrangled at 3:56 AM on February 23, 2010
posted by embrangled at 3:56 AM on February 23, 2010
should I be seeking earlier intervention?
I would. Spending two weeks with an arm that hurts too much to move won't be fun at all, and a second opinion might well save her some of that.
posted by flabdablet at 4:21 AM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I would. Spending two weeks with an arm that hurts too much to move won't be fun at all, and a second opinion might well save her some of that.
posted by flabdablet at 4:21 AM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
IAN(even slightly close to being)AD. Data point, though: I had a greenstick fracture (read: barely a break at all) in the same place a couple years ago, so minor I didn't even realise it was broken for a week, and still couldn't lift my arm more than 30 degrees or so for two months.
Second flabdablet in seeing the physio a bit earlier though, if possible.
posted by katrielalex at 4:53 AM on February 23, 2010
Second flabdablet in seeing the physio a bit earlier though, if possible.
posted by katrielalex at 4:53 AM on February 23, 2010
This may be as simple as Newton's Third Law, i.e. "the forces of two bodies on each other are always equal and are directed in opposite directions."
When you try to move your arm, what's happening is that muscles are contracting and exerting force on bones via tendons. If your bones are intact, this is okay, because the force exerted on them is transfered through them into your torso, which has sufficient inertia to oppose that force, enabling the arm to move.
But if a bone in your arm is broken, that force can't be transfered to the torso. As a result, there's nothing to provide an opposing force, so the muscles just kind of flop around. In addition, because broken bones hurt, moving them around at all causes excruciating pain, which creates a pretty big incentive not to do much with that particular limb.
It's possible that this could even prevent her from moving her hand, as if I remember correctly, the tendons which move the wrist are connected to the humerus.* If she can't even move her fingers, the tendons of which only run to the forearm, that might be a problem, but I think this limb is going to be pretty useless until it heals.
If she doesn't even have sensation, that suggests a nervous problem in addition to the orthopedic one. You might want to get that checked out.
*Anyone who's taken A&P is more than welcome to correct me here.
posted by valkyryn at 5:47 AM on February 23, 2010
When you try to move your arm, what's happening is that muscles are contracting and exerting force on bones via tendons. If your bones are intact, this is okay, because the force exerted on them is transfered through them into your torso, which has sufficient inertia to oppose that force, enabling the arm to move.
But if a bone in your arm is broken, that force can't be transfered to the torso. As a result, there's nothing to provide an opposing force, so the muscles just kind of flop around. In addition, because broken bones hurt, moving them around at all causes excruciating pain, which creates a pretty big incentive not to do much with that particular limb.
It's possible that this could even prevent her from moving her hand, as if I remember correctly, the tendons which move the wrist are connected to the humerus.* If she can't even move her fingers, the tendons of which only run to the forearm, that might be a problem, but I think this limb is going to be pretty useless until it heals.
If she doesn't even have sensation, that suggests a nervous problem in addition to the orthopedic one. You might want to get that checked out.
*Anyone who's taken A&P is more than welcome to correct me here.
posted by valkyryn at 5:47 AM on February 23, 2010
Data point from the opposite direction: When I broke my arm at the top of the humerus, I was able to move my arm pretty normally from the elbow down, but I couldn't raise it from the shoulder. It didn't hurt at all. During my first Ortho appt while the Dr. was doing the exam, we discovered that if I manually grabbed my arm and put it up in the air, I could keep it there, but I just couldn't raise it on my own. I went kayaking the next weekend.
Everyone's injuries are unique,. My break was very tiny and hardly visible. It sounds like your daughter has a different type/degree of injury.
I don't recommend you try any of this at all.
posted by CathyG at 6:40 AM on February 23, 2010
Everyone's injuries are unique,. My break was very tiny and hardly visible. It sounds like your daughter has a different type/degree of injury.
I don't recommend you try any of this at all.
posted by CathyG at 6:40 AM on February 23, 2010
Get it examined by a physician in the next day or so; it is unclear from your description why she can't move her hand but nerve damage is a possibility with humerus fractures as the radial nerve wraps around the humerus as it travels to the hand. Radial nerve problems are more common with distal humerus fractures (near the elbow) but without knowing exactly what your daughter's fracture looks like it is impossible to know if this is what is going on. If she can't move it due to pain then it is possible she could benefit from better pain control. There are a number of different ways to break your humerus and the treatment and potential problems can vary a lot, so an exam and possibly x-rays are the only way to really know what is going on and whether or not your daughter should have more movement in her arm.
posted by TedW at 8:42 AM on February 23, 2010
posted by TedW at 8:42 AM on February 23, 2010
Best answer: I broke my arm near the elbow around the same age (9 I think). I recall that for the next day following before the cast I couldn't move it, but still had feeling. Not sure this is her case, but for me it felt like a powerful instinct I couldn't override. I couldn't voluntarily move it although nothing was technically wrong. I don't know if it was a subconscious thing or what. Maybe nature forcing stabalization? Just my experience.
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 8:59 AM on February 23, 2010
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 8:59 AM on February 23, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for the responses. She has feeling throughout arm and hand and the fingers are wiggling just fine so I guess it will just take a little time.
posted by xla76 at 10:53 AM on February 23, 2010
posted by xla76 at 10:53 AM on February 23, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ZaneJ. at 12:36 AM on February 23, 2010