8 Year Old Daughters Hand Looks like It's Been Run over by a Truck...

I would take her to the ER right away-what's an 8 yr old girl doing with a hammer? It sounds fishy.

Each hand contains (plus or minus... everyone is different, and everyone counts these things differently...)
29 major and minor bones (many people have a few more).
29 major joints.
At least 123 named ligaments.
34 muscles which move the fingers and thumb:
17 in the palm of the hand, and
18 in the forearm.
48 named nerves:
3 major nerves.
24 named sensory branches.
21 named muscular branches.
30 named arteries and nearly as many smaller named branches.

We'd go the ER. And then I'd plan my bail money for after my chat with the dad for letting it happen. Ugh. But yes, we'd head to the ER most likely because that sounds yucky.

Yeah, you don't want to mess with her hand. I'd take her in. I hope it's not anything serious, but you'll feel better *knowing* that as opposed to *feeling* that. Brave girl, dealing with that pain for two days.

R.:

What would I do?

First take her to the Urgent Care.
Second - take the hammer to Jason's head.

Follow your instincts!! Take the mommy out right now - follow EMT training...
Can she make a fist?
Can she bend her fingers?
Can you feel a pulse in her fingers?

If the answer is NO to any of these - today she needs to go. Not tomorrow. If it feels funny - the longer you wait - the chances of them having to re-break it - as it sounds like that's what she did if she cried for 2 days and Jason didn't take her in - can I hit him again over the head with the hammer? she needs to be seen.

God I wish we lived closer. I would be there in a heart beat to take care of Roman and Maddy!!!

I would bring her in.

get her in to the ER dont wait. trust your EMT in you.

I'd take her in. DH didn't think his hand was so bad and he'd broken it. Your EMT training is speaking for a reason. Urgent Care (depending on the place - ours does) may do the x rays or there's always the ER. She's already cried for 2 days. Get her seen.

I would take her to the E.R.

Take her to the ER or an urgent care that does do x-rays. At the very least she'll get some pain relief.

We rarely go to the doctor anymore, but in that situation I would take her to the ER or another facility that can do X-rays (my orthopedic doc does them, and he got us in quickly once).

When I was a kid I broke my thumb (doing cartwheels in the yard). My mom didn't take me for several days because I could move it. It hurt so badly I couldn't sleep, and it swelled up huge. When we did finally go my mom was really upset that she waited that long.

Good luck and I hope it gets better soon.

Just to remove any doubt about nerve damage and such, I'd probably take her in.
Weird things can happen to our hands if we dont arrest small problems.
I broke my pinky playing volleball in jr high, and NOW it's a crooked, gnarled mess with arthritis 40 years later... sheesh, just out of the blue even. It was fine till about a year ago.
Go have her checked out, especially since you feel scar tissue building up, and the throbbing pain she was in for 2 days does mean something. You wouldnt want any clots to form on the inside undetected.

I would take her in.....did she not have school today, or were they on holiday there, also?

What about "urgent care" that has x-ray capabilities? Is there one you could take her to? Our medical clinic (3 story building with multiple specialties in it) has an x-ray facility in the building, as well as a lab. These are private companies, but have offices all over central Texas. The doc gives you the paperwork, and you just go downstairs to have the x-rays taken, or set up an appointment for x-rays, depending on need.

I agree with the other posters that you probably need to CYA, since the ex isn't letting you know what all happened, and is being real casual about it.

Please keep us posted..... I'll be wondering all day tomorrow what happened, but won't be able to check until evening....

Some guys are absolutely clueless!

Oh my, I would take her in immediately and when all is well I would have a nice chat with dad. Either he needs to supervisor her better or be supervised when he takes her. Best of luck!

I would take her in. She should have seen a doc right when the swelling started getting out of control. Best outcome: just a badly bruised hand, yay!
But she may have severe soft tissue damage or broken bones that she may need surgery for. I know we don't generally perceive it this way, but the hand is a very delicate body part that is made up of dozens of bones and ligaments and seemingly moderate injuries can result in lifelong problems/disability.

If it were her face looking all smashed up no one would hesitate taking her in...well, hands are a lot more difficult to repair than faces, it is often done by specialized plastic surgeons, because a working hand is such a complicated delicate construct.
Don't wait, just take her in.

If both sides are bruised you may want to get it checked out. I fell on mine when I was about ten. It didn't really hurt, but felt funny. I was at a friends house and came home and told my mom I broke my finger and went to bed. Next day bruised on both sides, but still didn't hurt. I dis end up going in and my finger was fractured. If it isn't too bad I would think waiting might be ok, but if it is very painful then maybe go.

Good luck and hope her hand is ok and feels better soonn

Xray time.

The nerves in the hand (from experience) get cut off when there's a lot of swelling. She could have 8 broken bones, be feeling NO pain... just a thick syrupy feeling because the nerves are being blocked from sending. And if she's severed tendons or ligaments, she's going to need surgery to repair them. In fact, the swelling MAY be a torn tendon or ligament that has snapped back into the muscle.

For her own sake, before the pain sets in as the swelling goes down, take her NOW. :\

For CPS's sake, take her NOW. Needing to explain why you waited a few days is a hassle you don't need. If she was hit with a hammer (or knife hilt, or door, or whatever)... and you don't take her in... it's an argument for his attorney that it didn't actually happen on his watch. That the bruise happened but that the broken bones happened at your house afterward. Afterall... if it had been really bad you would have taken her in, right?

So go now. A) The possibly broken bones B) CYA with CPS

When in question, call the doctor. Hope she feels better!

Yikes. I'm not sure what type of insurance you have, if any. However, if it were either of my kids I would call the advice line and take them in as soon as possible if that's what they recommend. Best case, it'll be nothing serious, they'll prescribe her some pain medication and you'll have peace of mind. If it's something more serious, they can stabilize and take care of it right away before there's potential for further damage to that area. If it was my hand, I might wait until tomorrow. With my kids, I'd probably act sooner.

Absolutely, she needs to be checked. Take her to an urgent care or ER with x-ray facilities.

I don't understand at all why you're waiting. I would have been at urgent care for an X-ray in a heartbeat. Especially with the crying. I would skip school and take her if I were you.

I would take her in if it were me. Better safe than sorry. Hope it feels better soon!

With that type of bruising and swelling, I would definitely have it looked at. I know you said she hit in the "fleshy" part, but she could have fractured something.
I fractured some of the bones in my hand as a kid and it was so swollen it looked like it was going to pop, not to mention the bruising.

She's injured. I would take her in.

I hope she's all right.

I would take her in and get it x-rayed. Seriously.
I was about 6 when my brother landed on me on our trampoline. Bent my hand backwards at the wrist. No obvious damage. But it hurt. No bruising, but it hurt. I couldn't sleep. I rested it on the pillow next to me, still couldn't sleep. It hurt. Kept telling my mom it hurt--but she thought it was okay. Next day she took me in (she worked for a family doctor) and he xrayed it.
Broken. (not snapped--forget--is that a compound fracture?) Just cracked.

Only broken bone I ever had. Only time I ever had an injury that kept me from sleeping, too. And I've had a few injuries---including a railroad tie falling about 18 inches and landing flat on top of my big toe (standing on concrete barefoot). Big toenail was black underneath from all the blood. It throbbed and was very painful. My ingenious brother drilled a hole in the top with his pointed blade pocketknife (that was painful!) to release the pressure. Eventually the nail fell off. But nothing was broken. And once the pressure was off, I didn't have any issues sleeping.

But with the cracked bone---couldn't sleep.

Get it xrayed. It's her hand. You don't want those muscles/tendons or bones to heal improperly.

Take her to an Urgent Care, now.
Keep her home from school to do so.
If this were my kid I would not wait at all, to take her to the Doc or Urgent care or ER.

An 8 year old, CAN tell you what happened.
So, did you ask her what happened?
And if she took anything for it, from her Dad?

The thing is, an 8 year old, CAN TELL YOU what exactly happened.
So ask her.

And her hand feels funny and she can't sleep because it hurts.
And her hand is all full of contusions or who knows what else. Hopefully not nerve damage or anything.

Did I ever tell you about when I flattened my pointer finger? Strangely I didn't lose the nail but things were not quite right for months. I would imagine I did more damage than I believed. :(

As I understand it breaks down the tissue. Like in my case if you looked at my finger tip it was no longer roundish but flatish. It healed and no harm from not seeking medical attention but it was a couple months before it was normal.

What I would worry about is the tissue that is healing moves. Mine it was just the tip so it only hurt when I poked at it. Yeah I know, me poking at injuries, who knew. You may want to make a call and see if there is anything that can help with the pain of movement.

I'd take her in right away.

My vote is taking her to be seen!

Better safe than sorry, right?

Hi, R.:
Put ice on it for 24 hours and
then see how the hand looks and
feels.
Good luck.
Hope the nerves are calmer now.
D.

P.S. Talk to your husband and tell him if
she gets hurt to put ice on the place for
the first 24 hrs. Children can always
do something like this.

Please post what the outcome was!

An 8 year old with swelling of hand the size of a tangerine?? Crying for two days and you are waiting to have it checked out?
The pain could be decreased because the hand is so numb from compression on the nerves that she doesn't feel the pain.....
A "compartment" syndrome can occur with nerve compression and she could be crippled or have long term impairment of her hand.
Scar tissue does not build up in two days. Hematoma's (blood in the tissue) can be a long time going away and painful.
I do hope she has been examined by a Dr. since you posted this message.
What kind of a Dad would let his child suffer like this without letting you know right away of such an incident? Or take her to Dr. himself?
Keep her hand elevated to help reduce swelling.

Take her in is what I would do.

i would take her in to be sure nothing is badly injured.

Take her in. What if her bone is broken up by the webbing part between her fingers?

I would wait until the morning and take her in for it to be x rayed. I would also give her some tylenol. Even if she has had some its not going to hurt her to get some more. It actually takes alot of tylenol/ advil before you over dose on it.

I would go take her to get an xray pronto. My son broke his arm with his dad and they did not go to the ER. He said later that day it did not hurt much anymore. The next day I was still concerned even though my son thought it was ok. I took him to the Dr and they did and xray and yes it was broken! If she says it does not hurt now I would just make a Dr appt first thing tomorrow morning and have them xray her. If your pediatrician does not do xrays ask them who does. Our pediatrician is connected to the hospital and they just send you over to the xray department. It is ok to wait till tomorrow if she is not in awful pain anymore.

It sounds like she broke a blood vessel. It looks a lot worse than it feels because of the pooling blood. When it happened I'm sure it hurt because of the injury and then swelling of vessel before it popped. Bruises always raise flags because they're so alarming. If she's not in a lot of pain, "I" would assume it's nothing to freak out about. Do you have an Ace Bandage to wrap and hide it in? Sheesh, her Dad not knowing and ignoring it is the worse part!