# Fell and bashed his nose - is it broken?



## batsoup (Feb 3, 2006)

My DS just fell over and smashed his nose on the door. He's got a couple of red marks where it hit, and some minor swelling. No bleeding; i gave him some Arnica right away, he cried for a couple of minutes, and after about 15 minutes, he nursed to sleep ( near his naptime anyway).

I hate to put him through the trauma of ER or DR when i don't think it's broken (especially since i don't have a car and nothing's walkable); online it says the only problem is possibility of septal hematoma (blood pocket), but this seems like a long shot.

Anyone have advice?


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## Qestia (Sep 26, 2005)

hm, I probably wouldn't do er for this. But if it swells more, or if he cries when you touch it still, I would probably call the ped, I'm sure they could tape it up in the ped office if necessary.


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## lexbeach (Mar 6, 2002)

It's definitely not broken. It is incredibly rare--if it's even possible--for a toddler/young kid to break his/her nose. There aren't really any bones in there to break, it's all cartiledge when they're young. I learned this just recently when I called the ped. while debating whether or not to bring my four-year-old into the ER for a possible broken nose. His bled a ton and was hugely swollen, and still the doctor said it definitely wasn't broken. He got two black eyes, but his nose looked normal within a week or so.

My four-year-old (yes, the same one with the not-broken nose) has had NINE black eyes so far. He really dives into things! The doctor does like us to come in when he gets a black eye, but I only do if there's blood in the eye or if it's particularly bad.

HTH!

Lex


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