My grandson has been diagnosed with nurses elbow twice. This has occured at 21 months and at 30 months. My question to you is on occasion I have seen his father restrain his hyper activities by grabbing his forearm and giving a twist to the point of letting him know it will be painful if he fights him, can this repetitive occurrence be causing damage that is dislocating his elbow much easier? Please give advise I am now very concerned and my daughter is in denial.
Greetings.
The pulling the elbow in that way can cause the Nursemaid elbow. But this in itself does not make it prone to the recurrent injury.
Please read this authentic resource on this about the causes and further details;
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/nursemaid_elbow/page2_em.htm
Please feel free for your follow up questions.
Dr. Arun
To make sure I am clear of your analogy you are saying that the small tear occurs when the arm is pulled and cannot be an old injury that is making him prone to this reoccurrance when arm is grabbed or pulled. So no damage is being caused by the constant twisting of his forearm at the point of slight pain.
Hello,
The twisting of the arm if causes injury will result in pain and swelling immediately or after 12-24 hours. These minor trauma are not responsible for the Nursemaid's elbow. The Nursemaid's elbow is due to the ligament laxity in this age, predisposing for the slip and occur very commonly in this age group, children.
I hope this answers your query.
It is pleasure and privilege assisting you.
Experience: MBBS, MS, Fellowship in sports medicine. Deals with general pediatric surgical disorders.