Steps To Take When Your Child Has A Suspected Broken Bone

Whether from falling out of a tree, crashing on a bicycle, or playing sports in the backyard, children can easily end up breaking a bone. If so, an otherwise quiet afternoon will be turned upside down as you load the child into the car and take him or her to your local urgent care center. If you haven't been through this process before, you'll have to work hard to stay calm — after all, the more panicked you are, the more upset your child may feel. Here are a number of things that you'll need to do before and during your trip to the urgent care center.

Try To Immobilize The Injury

Broken bones can vary significantly in severity — a wrist might be visibly bent at a bad angle, or your child might just be favoring a body part and complaining of pain. In either case, you'll want to immobilize the injury as best you can. One way to do so is to wrap the injured area in a cloth or towel and tell your child to avoid moving it. If you have an older child, you can get him or her to sit in the car next to the injured child to help hold the affected area.

Provide Ice For Relief

Sometimes, broken bones don't result in much pain. In other cases, your child will experience plenty of discomfort. If the latter is the case, you can deal with the situation by having the child hold ice against the injury. Place some ice cubes in a zip-top bag or use a freezer pack. Wrap either the bag or pack with a thin towel so that the cold doesn't irritate your child's sensitive skin, and instruct him or her to hold the ice against the injured area while you travel to the urgent care center.

Calm Your Child Down

Even if you're calm on the outside, your child may be upset about the injury. Do your best to calm him or her down while you travel to the urgent care for children center. Explain that the child will soon be in the care of trained physicians who will help to relieve the pain and deal with the injury. Sometimes, explaining the process of visiting the care center can make the child feel more comfortable. If so, talk about how the affected area will be X-rayed and, if there is indeed a broken bone, the child will get to wear a cast. Injuries aside, many children find the idea of wearing a cast to be exciting.


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