Hi,
Does anyone have a child with hip dysplasia and if so, how were they treated?
My 1st daughter had it. She wore a brace from her first Dr. appt. At birth they knew and they double/tripled the diapers till she saw the specialist. They hared the clicking sounds. I forget now how long she was in it, maybe 6 months. She is 9 now and never had a problem after that. Her hips/bones grew as they should. Our 2nd daughter didn't have it, but it's common in girls and first born. Hugs to you!
My sister had it as a baby. She's now 30 and has had no problems with it. Being so long ago, she was never in a cast/brace, just had to wear 2 diapers. She did have weakness in her hips as young child so the ped recommended ballet which helped tremendously with stabilizing the joints and she still dances to this day.
Yes. My daughter was diagnosed "later". She was just beginning to walk and I noticed it wasn't even. One leg was over 1 inch "shorter"! The Dr. then diagnosed her. She was put in a body cast (actually 3 in row) for a total of 12 weeks to "reset" her hip. She is 4.5 and it seems to have worked. We go in every year to xray it and check it out to make sure it's progressing. If your child is smaller - they can put them in a brace at night/day to help correct it. Some children need surgery, but it's fixable... Happy to talk more if I can be of help. Good luck - find a good orthopedic childrens specialist - we did.
My daughter is now 7 and they found it in her when she was 6 months old. She went through a cast and wore a brace for a couple of years. We were lucky enough to be accepted into Shriner's Hospital for her treatments. They did it all for free and will monitor her until she is 18. Thank goodness for Shriner's!
Yes. Our daughter had it. The day after her birth when the ped. came around to examine her he heard the tell tale click in one of her hips. We took her (two days after we got home from the hospital) to an orthopedic specialist and they did xrays and gave us a foam brace to put on her. She was supposed to wear it 24 hrs a day. The reality of the brace was not bad, but the simple fact that she was a newborn that I wanted to hold and cuddle was awful, b/c the brace made her legs splayed like a frog and made it difficult to snuggle/cuddle her. After about a week or two, she started getting diaper rashes also, b/c it really held in the heat/moisture (we live in the deep south and she was born in June).
We took her back as requested every 2 -4 weeks for awhile... within 6 months, the xrays showed that the ball/socket of her hip had deepened to the point that you couldn't tell the "dysplasia" hip from any other perfectly formed hip... So we stopped taking her in for regular xrays and didn't need to continue "treating" with braces. Of course, at about 4 weeks, we had gotten so aggravated with the brace, and the diaper rashes, etc... that we had gotten to where we were rarely using it anyway. (Bad parents!!!). But because we were so aggressive right at the very beginning, it allowed her hip to deepen appropriately and that was all that was needed. She was carried breech, until 2 weeks before she was born (did external version on her and she successfully turned), and carrying or being born breech is a contributing factor in hip dysplasia, so I am told.
She will be 10 this summer and you'd never know she had a problem.
I wanted to add: the earlier you treat, the faster and easier the results. The bones grow SO FAST when they are babies... and the bigger they get, the more the growth slows down... so the longer any treatment will probably take. Be aggressive with getting her started with a treatment.
My son had it. They put him in a Pavlik harness at 6 weeks old. He wore it about 6 weeks. The x-ray was normal after the harness, but his leg got stiff from not moving. We did physical therapy for that for a year. He is 4 1/2 now and is doing well.
