DS Broke Arm-have questions?

[ctc917]

So my ds broke his arm this past weekend and we leave for Disney world next Wednesday. So I have read thru some other posts about others who have had the same thing come up right before their trip and I still have some more questions.

So here are my questions: Are water proof casts better than the reg cast with a water proof cover? If you have a water proof cast how does the water get out if your child goes swimming or to the water parks? Cast will go from hand to pst elbow. Will it be a problem with the heat and humity in Florida? If so what did others do for their child to help? And what do you do when your child has a itch or is itchy under their cast?

Thanks
ctc917

 

[The Moonk's Mom]

My DS broke his arm last summer and we opted to not get a waterproof cast on the recommendation of our DR. (We were heading to the beach, not WDW) He said that sometimes they tend to develop a smell. I then bought a cast cover from Dry Pro http://www.drycorp.com/ If you call them they can give you the name of places in your area that sells them or you can order from them online. We were very happy with the cover and would use them again.

 

[laughinplace199]

DD10 broke her left arm last March, and she broke the right arm about a year and a half before that (yes, she is my graceful ballerina ). Both times, she got a waterproof cast. The cast went from her hand up almost to her shoulder. The waterproof cast was great. It was so nice to let her bathe and shower and not worry about the cast. When she was done bathing, she just raised her arm for a couple of seconds to allow any water resting in the elbow area to drain out. She got her most recent cast off right before our WDW trip, so we don't have any experience swimming with a cast. Another poster mentioned waterproof casts possibly developing a smell. I don;t know about that since it never happened to us. However, my next door neighbor (11 yr old boy) recently had a plaster cast and told his mother that it "smelled like death in there." So, maybe that can happen with any type of cast.

Good luck with your trip.

 

[ctc917]

Thanks for the help. Please keep all suggestions and ideas coming I can use the help. Also any ideas about the heat with a cast and being itchy....

Thanks again
ctc917

 

[WindyCityDisney]

A few years ago, my DD broke her arm 3 days before we left. Pediatric ortho put a waterproof cast from fingertips to above the elbow and she was fine. She got lots of attention from the characters because of it.

She went down water slides, swam, took showers, etc. She didn't complain often about the heat and we never noticed any smell. If you get the waterproof one, you can put some cold water down the cast if heat gets to be too bad. We did bring a sling because the cast was heavier than she was used to. Sometimes we used it, sometimes we didnt.

But it was replaced about a week after we got back from Disney with a below the elbow cast (also waterproof).

Good luck! Feel free to IM or email me -- I remember the awful feeling I had before we left.

 

[NHdisneylover]

DD had a water proof cast at WDW and it was great. (DS also had one when we moved in January). She was allowed to ride all the slides at Blizzard Beach so long as she covered the cast in something soft (we cut the end off of a tube sock).

When her arm itched she found that running a stream of cool water down the cast really helped.

The doctor said to prevent a smell and/or infection to be sure to rinse it thouroughly with plain water from the tap (or shower) at least once a day (shower--jsut run straight water through for a coupld of minutes after all the soap washes away) and twice is better plus any time after doing something like swimming in the ocean or a lake (DD had hers in the summer and swam in many NH lakes that summer also).

 

[abcboys]

Yes, loved the waterproof cast. Youngest DS broke his leg and the waterproof cast was awesome. He could play outside and get dirty and I could just throw him in the tub. I don't know how long it took to dry but it never seemed to bother him. Even when they took the cast off it was not grody or fithy inside like the non waterproof casts are. I would highly recommend it if its available.

 

[The Moonk's Mom]

I wanted to add...i totally forgot earlier (OLD AGE!!!)...another reason my DS had to have the regular cast was because he fractured his growth plate in his elbow and it required to to be a little more stable and the WP cast didn't offer that.

It seems to me that the WP may be the way to go if you can...who knows why my DR said it would smell...I like the idea of being able to run the cool water in it if it gets hot or itchy...that was not an option we had with the regular cast.

Hope it all works out for you.

 

[sndfan]

I recommend waterproof as well. My son had his casted in a waterproof cast on a Monday and was going down the waterslide at Port Orleans on Wednesday.

I do recommend rinsing it off with clean water after swimming. If it's wet, you can blow dry as well. Sometimes if he had his shower right before bed, I would wrap a dry towel around the outside of the cast for a few minutes and it helped speed up the drying process.

Finally, I also carried his sling around in my backpack...towards the end of the day when it would become uncomfortable, he liked putting the sling on for a while...so it's good to have that handy!

 

[Kae]

Waterproof cast are the greatest things. To prevent the smell you must get it wet & I mean submerge it daily. DS had a WP cast 2 years ago it was awesome then he had to get a regular cast last because of the pins & it was awful-I mean the WP was so much easier.

Kae

 

[ctc917]

Thanks alot for all the great info. This is our 3rd child but our first broken bone so we have no experience with this kind of thing at all. I can't believe that it happened right before our trip to Disney.

Thanks
ctc917

 

[TwoGirlsandDisney]

My three year old just got her cast off. So she had it on pretty much all summer in the hot humid weather. Our insurance didn't cover a water-proof cast, so we paid the extra $60 for one. This is our first broken bone, so we had no clue what to expect. It was great!!!! She could swim with it, bath with it. and stay in there for hours. It didn't get smelly at all, and the poor thing never complained about itchiness. It is amazing how the water just drains right out, and then the rest just evaporates. I have heard of the traditional casts getting really funky, and if they get the least bit wet you have to go back and get it taken off and a new put back on. That just seems like torture. The Dr. had told us that if she complained about it being itchy, to just pour some cool water down into the cast and it would relieve it. It was well worth the $60.

Good luck and enjoy your trip.

 

[SueM in MN]

Another poster mentioned waterproof casts possibly developing a smell. I don;t know about that since it never happened to us. However, my next door neighbor (11 yr old boy) recently had a plaster cast and told his mother that it "smelled like death in there." So, maybe that can happen with any type of cast.

Good luck with your trip.

A nurse here, who has had a child with 2 leg casts.
Any cast will smell because you get a collection of dead skin cells, skin oils, bacteria, sweat, etc.
Plaster will break down if it gets wet, so you can't rinse out any of those things and they just stay and accumulate until the cast is removed.

With a waterproof cast, you can rinse all that accumulated stuff out. If you don't, it will smell. Plain water is best so you don't also accumulate soap scum or anything.
Cool water and a hairdryer on cool or just air (no heat) are best so that there is not a risk of burning.

 

[honugirl]

Cast Comfort

If you use the above link you can get cast comfort spray which is supposed to stop itching. You cannot use it if there is any sort of incision and you cannot get a waterproof cast if there is an incision.

I loved my waterproof cast when I broke my wrist. I could shower, swim, etc. But my regular cast on my leg wasn't bad either with the cast cover on in terms of showering, etc.

Yup, I've got the gracefulness of a ballerina!