My youngest daughter is limping... again

In My Humble Opinion
1

First, I’m definitely going to call our pediatrician later today.

My youngest daughter is five. She started limping back in mid-February. Her right leg looked stiff-ish (knee didn’t bend much) and her foot fell flat on the floor (not the usual heel-first movement) when she walked. She didn’t complain at all unless we touched the area of her upper calf, almost opposite her kneecap. Although there was no fever, we decided to go to the family doctor the following day. He prescribed some anti-inflammatory drug and a lot of rest but told us to come back if things didn’t get better within 5 days. Two days later, the limp was gone and we left it at that.

Except that I started looking at the way she walked and couldn’t help but notice that her right foot was turned noticeably inward. That made me suspicious but since she was not limping anymore, didn’t complain during our daily 20-minute walk to school and looked generally fine, I thought I was being a bit paranoid.

Until yesterday evening. She was walking in front of us at school and we immediately noticed that she was limping again. She was adamant that everything was fine, turning almost defensive when asked but finally admitted that she felt pain in the same area as 4 months ago. I didn’t check her temperature but she didn’t feel warm to the touch at all and didn’t have the usual accompanying signs of a fever (chills, cold hands and feet). She was still limping this morning although it seemed to be better when we got to school, by car this time.

Apart from that, I’ve found her kind of tired in the past few weeks and she’s had more colds than usual. Also, and this is going to be difficult to describe, her skin feels warm BUT not feverish, especially her hands and feet (actually the opposite of what happens when you have a fever). And she has really sweaty palms, just like me.

I don’t like this at all. I made the mistake of googling “limp” both in English and French and, unexpectedly, found dozens of possible causes, some benign, some really nasty. The bottom line is: a limp must always be taken seriously, no “She’s doing this to get our attention” hand-waving.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

2

We had something similar with our son (about to turn 4). He’d start limping with his right leg, but had no pain or anything that he’d fess up to, regardless of poking, prodding, pulling, etc…

We had to get blood drawn to test for leukemia. Apparently a limp can be a symptom of pediatric leukemia. If you ever want to see something awful, watch a toddler getting blood drawn. It’s pitiful and awful.

Turns out that they think it’s something idiosyncratic that he’ll grow out of, and so far they seem right- the limping episodes have gotten less frequent and less drastic over the past year.

3

Thanks, bump.

Yes, leukemia is one of the nasty possibilities, along with other forms of cancer and bone or articulation infection.

We walked back home a couple of hours ago and her gait looks OK although I suspect that I am starting to pay too much attention to it. She also said that the pain is much weaker. No fever.

Still, I called the pediatrician and he refered me to colleague who specializes in problems like this. I asked to have an appointment next week and I am now waiting to hear back from him.

She had blood drawn when she was 14 months old. And a spinal tap. It still makes me cringe when I think about it.

4

No orthopedic surgeon? After ruling out stuff like leukemia, our pediatrician referred us to an orthopedic surgeon to do more muscle/joint related tests and observations.

One thing that they recommended we do is video him when he’s limping, so they can see it in action, since his would often come and go before we could get him actually in to see the orthopedic surgeon. Couldn’t hurt to take a few short videos of your daughter’s limp for the same reason.

5

General pediatrician checking in. Yes a persistent or recurrent limp needs to be taken seriously, fully evaluated (remembering that hip can be referred down as knee symptoms) … and most of the time turns out not to be any of the horrible stuff.

6

My daughter had a limp that persisted and got worse. She was diagnosed with Juvenile Rhematoid Arthritis. They injected some anti-inflammatories into the joint (she was sedated for a few minutes) and was fine. Never reoccurred.

Just to suggest a non-cancer alternative :slight_smile:

7

Yes, Juvenile Rhematoid Arthritis is one of the possibilities I’ve read about. Honestly, with all the information I’ve soaked up both in French and English plus the jargon, I’m starting to get it all mixed up. Glad to know your daughter was fine after the treatment, though.

The doctor I contacted is an orthopedic surgeon. I’m still waiting to hear back from him by the way. And the video is a great idea.

Yes, we’re going to have her limp evaluated. I think she’s walking fine now and again, she had no fever this morning. Our pediatrician wanted her to be examined this week but the first available slot was on 10th July. I thought it was too long and sent an e-mail to the orthopedic surgeon directly. But now, I guess we can wait 2 weeks unless the situation changes (fever, limp comes back) in which case, we’ll go to the ER.