Nursemaid's Elbow

What is it?  According to the National Library of Medicine, it's a dislocation of a bone in the elbow called the radius. Dislocation means the bone slips out of its normal position at the elbow joint. It's pretty common in kids under 5.

How come I'm blogging about it? Because Mason had it. Yup, he had a dislocated elbow. But he's all better now. So, what happened?

While I was in gym class, Mason was running around outside with mama. To prevent him from running into the parking lot, mama grabbed his arm. And that's when he started to cry. At first she thought he was protesting not being able to go into the parking lot. Then she thought something happened to his wrist, but it looked okay. Mama and dada thought maybe he was hungry or tired.

He was fussy all night long - even when went was sleeping. Now, I know Mason is a fussier kid than me, but this was unusual. Something was definitely not right.

This morning, dada noticed that Mason wasn't really using his right arm - the arm that mama grabbed. He only used one arm to eat and drink. And he didn't reach or grab for anything with his right arm. So mama called the doctor, and dada brought Mason in. That's when she diagnosed it and fixed it by popping his radius back into place. After that Mason was as happy as a clam and using his arm again.

The doctor says no more pulling him up steps by the arms, grabbing his arms, or swinging him by the arms. I just hope no one calls child protective services on mama!