My feelings of maternal guilt were successfully lifted by the stories of my Coffee with Julie friends. Ouch! One almost forgets how injury-prone the young can be!
As for my dear little Stella, she came home with the following verdict from the hospital: buckle fracture.
Buckle fracture? Okay … never heard of this! The physician we’d first seen at the clinic mentioned the possibility of a “greenstick fracture.” Beyond these two, there seems to be quite the endless list of ways children can break their bones. Just for *fun*, take a look at all the possible types of fractures that children can experience (the very first one is the kind Stella has):
Apparently the Buckle and Greenstick fractures are quite common in children because the softness of their bones makes it possible for them to bend rather than break. These types of fractures can be easily overlooked (yep, more mother-guilt lifted!) or misdiagnosed. According to Kids Health, this is the difference between the two:
- buckle or torus fracture: one side of the bone bends, raising a little buckle, without breaking the other side
- greenstick fracture: a partial fracture in which one side of the bone is broken and the other side bends (this fracture resembles what would happen if you tried to break a green stick)
With a buckle fracture, at least according to my google search skills, it’s acceptable to splint the area rather than cast it and receive the same or better outcome. Stella’s got a splint on, and although both Hubby were skeptical about its ability to actually do much for healing, we have to admit that it’s much handier than a cast. You can remove it for sleeping and showering, which is a big bonus. Also, for when the whining about it gets too annoying 😉
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