My 3 yo broke her leg on a trampoline accident earlier in the month. She'll be in a cast (below knee) till end of the month but the break is just above her ankles, tibia fibula and across growth plate. It's been a difficult 1.5 weeks but she's mostly back to her chipper self although less mobile. Now I'm hung up on the growth plate situation. The ortho said it should heal OK but need to monitor it. I haven't found too many comments about impact to the growth plate and recovery so hoping someone can share their experience. If your child had a similar break:
1. How many years ago since the break?
2. How long did you have to continue to monitor the growth plate? 1-2 years or do I have to worry till he/she's a teenager?!
3. Did you have to be particularly carful with the leg after the cast is off for another month?
4. How long did it take for your child to walk normally?
First time experiencing something like this and it's hard not to worry :(
My DD broke her leg at 2. Not along the growth plate, but she was in a cast for 6 weeks. (vertically fractured tibia)
She was jumping around before the end of that 6 weeks, so no need for being extra careful after it was off. It took her a day or two to adjust to not having it on, and then it was like nothing ever happened.
My advice is that if the ortho isn't worried about it, you shouldn't be either.
My oldest son broke his leg in a freak accident in a bounce house when he was 3. He was the only one in the house and wasn't even jumping; he just fell wrong.
He healed fine and they checked the growth plate a couple of times if I remember correctly. He walked normally after about six weeks. He's now 17 and I don't know if he even remembers breaking it.
My son had a hair line fracture right by the growth plate. They casted it because of how close it was to the growth plate. This was several years ago now and it's healed just fine and he's growing just as well. During the 6 weeks he had x-rays several times. We had the added problem of he was having some sort of allergic reaction to the cast. He went through 2 different casts and near the end they put him in a boot for the remainder.
I had a break near or on (I can't remember now) my growth plate when in high school and it healed and didn't impact growth at all. Both sides are even ;)
Once the boot came off it wasn't long at all before my son was walking normally. He was determined to walk normally as soon as possible so he really worked at it.
Our son broke his ankle trick or treating when he was 5. He just twisted it wrong and it snapped. Not 100% on the growth plate but like 98%.
We had it x-rayed several times. I thought they took him out of the cast a little too soon and we went back a few times. It eventually healed and he has had not issues. He is 22 now.
