Q: ok. so my sister in the last couple of days has sprained both her wrists and her knee (i think). both wrists are swollen and hurt when she moves them and her knee is REALLY swollen and really bruised and she can barely walk with crutches. the weird part is that she doesnt know how any of this happened. she fell down 2 weeks ago but I dont think thats it. she hasnt fallen at all since. 5 days ago her wrist was sprained. 2 days ago her other wrist was sprained and now today it was a hurt knee. she hasnt been doing any real physical activity. I think she may be sleepwalking???? any ideas?? please help. Im worried btw she's only 14. and if she is sleepwalking how can she stop? my house could be really dangerous for a sleepwalker: casacastillasma.com
A: She really needs to see a doctor. Sprains need treatment and often take a long time to heal. Also, any injury from an unknown trauma should be reported to a dr. pathological fractures from bone cancer often happen without trauma. Also need to look for signs of trauma such as bruising. If you suspect sleepwalking, stay up and watch her. She may need a formal sleep study. BTW does she have a boyfriend? He may be harming her and she may be scared to report it. Is there a family member who could be harming her? Often victims are too scared to tell anyone. She may fear for your safety as well as her own. Regardless of cause, you need to protect her and get her treatment. Get her to a doctor. If you are not the guardian and can't involve the guardian, take her anyway. The doctor can get a court order to treat without parental consent. By the way, he can look at her without consent. Looking is not treating. If he sees any signs of foul play, he can call a judge. You did the right thing by asking and she is lucky to have a sibling who care so much. Now take the next step. I hope she gets to feeling better.