How to cure hip dysplasia on infant?

Hi K.,
My first child was breech and the doctor was concerned with her hips. He had us put her in two diapers for quite a while and it ended up being all we needed to do. Sounds so simple but it might help on a continual basis.

Best wishes for your family.
L.

Hi K.. :) One thing that I learned when shopping for baby carriers is that babies should never be forward facing in them (unless they are on your back) because it can cause this. You may already know this but I had not. Best wishes, K.

My daughter was diagnosed with congenital hip dysplasia (CHD) when she was one week old. She wore a under-the-clothes velcro harness (Pavlik harness) for several months and has had yearly follow ups since. She is now almost six years old.

I found this website especially useful for finding information and others dealing with this diagnosis: http://www.hip-baby.org/

If you are in the Naperville area, I would highly recommend M&M Orthopaedics, specifically Dr. Matthew Bueche. They are a great office to work with!

Good luck!

Hi K.,
My daughter had a hip ____@____.com Knuth, in Barrington did a great job treating her. My daughter is now 3 and her hip is in place and her hip is doing great!
Let me know if you have any questions...
S.

with your baby just 6 months old treatment will/should go smoothly thier bones and cartilage are still quite soft and generally take well to treatment.One of the kids I used to take care of had this as a baby we would put him in a soft harness type contraption,(sorry I can't recall the name its been over 8 yrs ago) and it would draw the legs up and out to give a frog leg look,it never seemed to bother him as he would just go to sleep.Hope all comes out well for your baby as well
H.

They thought that my daughter had this at birth, but it turned out that she didn't. My doctor told me it was no big deal as long as it was caught early it could be taken care of easily.

Hi K.,
I have 3 kids. Both of my girls had the hip dysplasia. It was discovered at birth in the hospital. They also had the click in their hips. We had ultrasounds done on both of them and they had to be in a brace called a Pavlick Harness. It is a full body brace, but don;t let that scare you. It's made of straps with velcro. My girls each wore it for about 3 months. It was not fun to be honest, it was 24/7 and kind of a pain in the but. I took it off for diaper changes and bath time. It straps across their shoulders and chest . YOu wrap the legs in the straps and they hold the legs out so they are almost in a frog position so to speak. It allows the hips to mold to the hip socket. My girls got used to it, but my youngest daughter did not like it at all. They straps are a little moveable, but they are really in that position for the hips to grow. My youngest daughter had gotten checked out because my older daughter had it and it's genetic. So I thought Oh they'll just check her to make sure it's okay, but then they said she had severe hip dyspasia (sp?) in both hips. IT's fixable so don't panic, It's more of a pain in the but for parents to redo the brace over and over, but it's temporary and things could be a lot worse. I've been through various things with my babies health wise, but it won't last forever and they will heal. I saw DR. Kevin Walsh in Naperville. His office is in the rear of Edward Hospital. He is excellent if you need to see someone.
Good luck

K.:

My daughter was diagnosed at a much earlier age (7 weeks) with hip dysplasia. Because of this we were able to use a Pavlik Harness. I believe that the harness isn't effective after the age of 6 months. The doctor tells me her hip (she's now out of the harness) is still underdeveloped but that at this point we will continue to monitor it. The alternatives for the future if it doesn't correct itself are a cast and/or surgery. I'm not sure what the other less invasive treatments are after 6 months (if there are any) as we haven't walked that path yet and I hope to never do so. We saw Dr. Eric King at Children's Memorial. I like him....the caveat being that if an appointment was for 9:45 - we actually saw him about 10:45 or later.

There is a web group out there - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hipbaby/

that is for parents who have children affected by DDH. It might good to ask a bunch of questions of the group who started treatment in a similar age range as your daughter as their experiences will be different than our own. I will say that what I have learned is that if it's caught early, it's correctable and then as teens and adults it's unlikely they will have further issues.

Good luck.

M.

I have a friend who is a pediatatric PT at Children's Memorial downtown and she said they are seeing more of this condition. While how the baby is position before birth is a factor, the baby carriers out there can cause this as well, as the hips are displaced in an awkward position, like the baby bjorn's and yes babies should be facing you when carried. She also stated that the jumpers can make the condition worse and kids should not be in there for more than 30-min and said to definitely to stay away from the baby walkers, that is the worst.

My daughter was diagnosed with hip displasia around 6 months. She also wore a velcro harness for only about 2-3 months. This just allows the hip bones to form properly while keeping the hips in the position they need to be in. This is a highly genetic condition and since I had it when I was born, I knew to watch for it. Since she has had the brace off at 8 months she has had no problems and is now an active 4 year old. We saw Dr. Laura Lemke with Fox Valley Orthopedics in Geneva. They were wonderful!!!

I was diagnosed with hip displasia as a young child (early 80's) and had surgeries including pins put in and removed, had physical therapy, was in a full body cast up to my chest. I did have pain in my hip on and off throughout my teenage years and young adulthood. In the last 10 years my limp went from mild to severe. And my hip joint was bone on bone I finally had a hip replacement last year (33 years old). No more limp and I feel like superwoman! That's my story, but with the advancement of science I'm sure they'll be able to fix her hip without having to go through everything I went through. I think the early intervention is the way to go. Why let it get worse? In my opinion, you're doing the right thing by taking her to a specialist and being proactive.

We had our son checked for this at 6 weeks (he was breech and b/c of their position in utero this is pretty common in breech babies). It ended up being fine for us - they did an ultrasound on him - but I know a couple other kids who ended up having a true dysplasia. They do a cast to hold the baby's legs in a certain position for a couple months and, since the bones are still developing, it really completely corrects the problem. Aside from the hassle of dealing with the cast for several weeks, your girl shouldn't have any trouble later in life.

Another poster made a comment about baby carriers - this is absolutely true. If you look at the info on wrap sling baby carriers, for example, (see Storchenwiege and Didymos in particular) they actually have some good infomration on how correct baby positioning (facing you, with the legs spread and knees bent, and "sitting" in the sling) can help with proper hip development. You want to avoid front-facing carriers like the Bjorn where the legs are dangling. I always carried my son, who had a "hip click", in one of the wrap slings and I think it probably helped us avoid problems.

Hi K.,

There may be real no concern and your daughter may be fine. If you want to see a specialist, I would recommend Dr. Robert Bielski. He is out of the University of Chicago, but comes out to Elmhurst once a week and another surrounding suburb. When my daughter was diagnosed with torticollis, he told us to get an x-ray for hip dysplasia as well. Several nurses, doctors, and friends recommend him. So I am recommending him as well.

http://www.uchicagokidshospital.org/physicians/robert-bie...

appointments: ###-###-####. office: ###-###-####

Hi K.,

I was born with that over 40 years ago. Mine was a very bad case--completely out of the socket. Anyway, I was treated right away. Went to a leading specialist at the time. Had a body cast for two years, corrective shoes and surgery at age 9. Have never had a problem since. They have come a long way with treatment since then. If it is addressed at an early age, the hip does not cause problems. Sounds like your doctors are on top of it. Definitely go to the specialist. Hopefully you are going to someone who specializes in hips. Treatment all depends on the severity of the dysplasia. The doctors kept saying I would have a limp. I don't. Your body adjusts. Good luck!

My daughter was breech and she was also diagnosed with hip dysplasia in both hips at birth. She wore a Pavlik harness for about 4 months, and then she was out of it for a while, but the doctor has us putting her in a hard "Rhino" harness, nights, at the moment, because he's concerned about her progress.

We're also seeing Dr. Bueche at M&M Orthopedics. He's very nice.

This needs to be seen by a pediatric orthopedic doctor. If it is left untreated, the hip ball can become deformed and cause bad problems like dislocations or wear away the joint. I worked for one MD years ago before finishing school, and am now a PT. A good doc in the Joliet/Palos area is Mark Moran, MD. He is with Parkview Orthopedics. I don't know the number offhand, but they are in the phone book. At the time I was working for the ped ortho, we used a special brace, but as I'm no longer working with kids, so I'm not up on what they are doing now. Definately go in now though. If treated at this time it is easily corrected and is no longer an issue then as they grow.