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My friend's 2 year old was playing on some slippery surface (a "sprinkler park"), and fell. She was not concerned (2 year olds fall all the time, and he had no visible scratches) at first, but when he would try to walk, his knee (or hip or ankle?) would kind of "buckle" underneath him. He is not in any pain; no reddness or swelling either. He is jumping and squatting, but walking strangely. The most noticeable was an hour later: he went to kick a ball with his right leg, while standing on his left leg...and his left leg just "gave out". We can't notice any deformities or anything.
We called the nurse-on-call after-hours (it's a Sunday), and were told to do the "wait and see". Give him ibuprofen if it swells. He is eating and sleeping fine. If he still has trouble tomorrow morning, my friend will take him to the doctor.
Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else? Nurse said if strain, sprain or dislocation, there would be pain and he would not voluntarily move the injured leg. He is not doing this for attention, so can rule that out, too. What injury could this be, without pain?
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Add a Comment62 Comments
em...with all due respect i appreciate that people shouldnt just go to the ER unless its a dire emergency but i think the attitude of "dont sweat it" and "its tough" it very unfair. My daughter is suffering from the same condition, legs just giving way, sometimes she cant walk for ten minutes then its like she is normal - but in no way should this be considered something that you "dont sweat". if a faully grown adult was walking down the street and their legs kept giving way would you recommend they dont sweat it, after all it happens? Erm, it doesnt just happen - it happens for a reason and at the end of the day it needs investigated - could be any number of things, underlying conditions or symptomatic of an entirely different and unexpected problem about to present itself.
Its great you've not had that many problems with it and your child doesnt seem to suffer, but if they're legs are still buckling or giving way at all it ALWAYS needs repeated investigation. It would be cause for concern if your legs just gave out on you, even if it happens once im sure you wouldnt right it off if it happened more than once.
August 21, 2012 - 11:39amThis Comment
Yes, you investigate, but you do not use the ER. They will do nothing for you. You need to see the pediatrician.
August 21, 2012 - 12:32pmThis Comment
My 1 yr olds knee started buckling today took him to the ER they said its a strain but if we move it in any way he doesn't cry or seem to be in pain. But when he tries to walk on it he falls and cries... Not broken at all. I have no idea why its buckling.
July 19, 2012 - 4:23pmThis Comment
My 1 yr olds knee started buckling today took him to the ER they said its a strain but if we move it in any way he doesn't cry or seem to be in pain. But when he tries to walk on it he falls and cries... Not broken at all. I have no idea why its buckling.
July 19, 2012 - 4:22pmThis Comment
My son is 2 years and 4 months and this is the second time his leg just gives out right under him . The first time was about 6 months ago after playing at a park for a couple hrs (around 2-3pm)we drove home 30 min he was fine later that evening (6-7pm) he was walking and all of a sudden his (right) leg gives out and he falls to the floor (confused) but in no pain tries to get up again limps and falls again I get scared and take him to er (waited 30-45min) then by the time the doc came in had him walk around he only had a slight limp then doc said oh it's prob just a leg strain and sent us home. The next day I followed up with his ped. He also observed him and checked his leg for dislocation ,flexibility , any reaction of pain from movements he was doing to leg and he said he didn't hear anything pop back into place or see anything to be wrong but said if I wanted we could get whole leg X-ray so I did (from hip to ankle) nothing came up looking wrong or out of place. He said just keep an eye on its if it happens again let me know .
So like I said 6 months later it happened again this time we were at toddler gym he was walking down a ramp then close to bottom of ramp falls and lands tummy down on floor no crying just complained by touching knee and saying ouch tries to walk to me and his(left) leg gives out and it does same thing as last time . He still tries to keep playing I try and tell him to sit and play but insists on tring to walk and keeps limping and falling once again I take him to ped. Got there right after we left gym an had to wait 1hr30 min for doc to get back from lunch . Durring this time he was still limping and when he tried to run that's when he would fall by the time the doc saw him he once again only had a slight limp almost nothing .
Doctor observed him again and looks at his med chart sees last time was opposit leg says he prob just strained it again recomemds Advil for pain and that's that . It's been a couple days now and no sigh of any pain,limping or leg giving out.
Only thing I notice that to be similar in both instances is that it happens after over the norm, extreme physical activity ( park: running around a lot more then normal / Gym : jumping on trampoline ,walking down incline ramp; these are not his everyday normal activities .
So perhaps it might be knee/leg strain from what I would consider "extreem" and by this I mean not normal play activities
We just were 2 days into gym membership when this happened so I will post again if it happens to my son Julz again
Mama bee
May 13, 2012 - 7:31amThis Comment
Has anyone had any luck with finding info about this? My 25 month old woke up with a limp on monday, its now wednesday and she is still limping, dr told us that it could just be a viral thing, but as i had hip problems as a new born and still have them every now and then im a bit worried it could be more??? How much longer should i leave it before i take her back to dr???
May 9, 2012 - 12:23amThis Comment
I am 11 going on 12 and im a cheerleader, my knee dose that and its weird becouse ive never had an injury.Cheerleading has been out for like a month.I was serching up this to try and find out why this is happning when i read this, im so sorry this has happend. My mom put an ancle brace on and now its ok but still dose it a liltal bit.
April 5, 2012 - 8:49amThis Comment
My 23 month old son started having this problem today out of the blue. We took him to his Peds and had X-rays done which turned out normal. He doesnt appear to be in any pain but frustrated that his leg won't work. I am extremely concerned that many docs don't seem to know a lot about this. It was suggested to watch him and give iburopren. I hope this passes. If it doesnt by the end of the week, I am requesting a blood test.
April 2, 2012 - 2:05pmThis Comment
Stumbled on this thread yesterday after a very similar situation and wanted to post a followup because it seems there were more questions than followups. My 19 mo fell at the park, just a regular fall like a dozen times each day, no crying, but when he got up fell again. I got him back on his feet and his knee was buckling, still no pain just maybe frustration. Tried a few more times, same wobbling, buckling collapsing. Gave him an hour in his carseat to rest and then tried without shoes, but he was still in the same state so we went to Urgent Care, doc said to watch him for 12-24 hours. Came home, had a nap, and when he was up he was walking a bit better, and showing some discomfort (stiffness?). As he walked on it a bit more over the next 6 hours he seemed better and better until the end of the day when he was pretty much back to his old self. This AM, he's running, jumping, playing.
March 18, 2012 - 5:59amThis Comment
I had similar occurrences when I was a kid, turned out I had a dislocated kneecap and had to have surgery. All of my joints are loose (some kind of disorder/condition) that caused it but after surgery I was fine! I also have had orthoarthritis since age 15, not sure exactly the correlation between the two but it isn't hard to infer.
February 29, 2012 - 8:18pmThis Comment