Former paramedic reveals the child's bruise no parent should ever ignore

‘If you see this bruise on your child bring them in urgently to be seen by a doctor.’

Bruising, cuts and scrapes all form part of a normal kids’ life, and if you have active little ones who love to run, jump or climb, you will have seen plenty of minor bumps and bruises as a parent.

While most bruises can be treated with an ice pack, cuddles and possibly some pain relief, other much rarer bruises need more attention.

A now viral post on Tiny Hearts Education, featured a rare and potentially deadly bruise that parents should watch for.

The video shows the back of the head of a toddler aged child with a small, dark bruise behind their ear.

The words, ‘parents don’t ignore this bruising’, are overlaid on top of the short clip showing the bruise from a few angles.

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Image: iStock / Instagram @tinyheartseducation

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"Bring them in urgently"

The caption goes into a little more detail about what to do if you see this particular bruise on your child.

‘If you see bruising behind your child's ear (called Battle sign), there's a chance that they might have a serious skull fracture. Bring them in urgently to be seen by a doctor for assessment.’

While the video has been liked over two and half million times, and shared nearly 28,000 times, the comments are mostly from shocked parents tagging each other or considering whether to follow up on old injuries.

“I never knew this,” writes one mum.

“My son hit his head not long ago and the first thing the nurse on call told me was to check his ears.”

According to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne website, Battle sign, or bruising behind the ear ‘typically indicates a fracture of the middle cranial fossa. As with periorbital bruising, Battle’s sign may present several days post injury.’

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When to take your kid to the GP if you're worried about bruises

For any parent with concerns about a bruise behind the ear, it is important to get your child checked over by a doctor, even if the head injury was a few days prior as it seems it can present later.

While it pays to keep a close eye out for the Battle sign, most bruises are usually nothing to worry about.

Toddlers are constantly covered in bruises while learning to walk and older kids might often become bruised if they play a lot of sport. Some medications can also increase the risk of bruising – for example, aspirin and ibuprofen.

Other than the Battle sign bruise, here is a list of occasions according to the Raising Children website where you might want to see your GP because your child: 'seems to bruise more easily than other children, has bruises all over their body, has bruises and also bleeding from other parts of their body (like nosebleeds), has a family history of blood disorders or bleeding after surgeries.'

It’s good to remember that as parents we can’t prevent every injury, but that supervision and safety gear, like bike helmets and protective clothing for sport, are important for reducing the overall risk.

Originally published as Former paramedic reveals the child's bruise no parent should ever ignore