Hip dysplasia, anyone dealt with this?

Hi,
It looks like little Sarah will need to wear a harness to correct a shallow hip socket. I am still trying to get my head around it all and was wondering if anyone else has had their baby wear one?
Obviously we want to fix the problem as quickly as possible but I'm not dealing with the whole thing too well.
One doctor told us she would need to wear it for about 6 weeks but the specialist today said up to 12 weeks. We are currently trying to get a second opinion before going ahead with this specialist.
I can't help but wonder if her hip might correct itself if left alone, but I know that's not a risk worth taking.
The harness sounds very restirictive and I am worrried about how it will feel for Sarah, as well as worrying about the practical side of things, clothing, changing nappies etc.
I just want to pretend we never had the ultrasound (we had a routine scan because she was breech ) and that everything is fine. 8-[

How upsetting it must be for you to find that there is something wrong with your little girl. A friend of mine had this problem with her little girl, but it wasn't discovered until she was 6 months old. I will tell her to get on here and post her story for you.

When her DD had to go through all that she did (including surgery) I looked into this a bit. It was interesting to find that its actually a fairly common problem. 1 in 300 girls will be born with a problem in their hips, compaired to 1 in 4000 (i think it was) boys. Not having been through it with my own child I can only imagine from what I have heard from others who have but I would have to say that I would much rather get the problem corrected at a young age. Kerries DD was delayed in crawling and walking as she was just starting these milestones when the problem was found. She still may need surgery when she is 3. So get your 2nd opinion but do what ever she needs done now, it will be mush easier on her now rather then later.

Layla a friend of mine's baby son had hip dysplaysia. His was considered severe and he had to wear a hip brace for six months. My friend was transferred to far north Queensland for work, and Joshua wore the brace through a very hot summer.

It didn't affect his development at all. He achieved all his milestones within the normal time frame, and after a week he was totally used to the brace and it didn't bother him at all.

The brace was 100% successful in treating his dysplaysia.

Hope that encourages you :D

Thanks guys.
We are getting our second opinion tomorrow and I expect Sarah will be in a harness by the end of the week. I know it is best to get it done ASAP, the sooner it goes on the sooner it will come off I guess.
It is hard to accept but I know that it really isn't a big deal and it will probably be corrected quite easily. I'm just a stress head! 8-[

Shannon, I thought of Jessalyn and it made me realise that I'm overreacting. I do hope that things go well for your gorgeous little girl. :hug:

Awww Layla, matey, :hug: I am so sorry I can't help you, just wanted to know I am thinking of you and Sarah atm.

Layla, a big huge hug to you and your family. I know exactly what you and your family are going through. FionaJill has already told you that DD had her left hip dislocated but wasnt picked up till she was 6 months.

The clinic nurse picked it up at her 6 month check up. She advised me to go to our local GP and get a referral to see a specialist.
The GP recognised straight away how serious it was and we were sent for x-rays after visit.
Our specialist looked at the x-rays and i knew by the look on his face that it wasnt good.

She admitted to hospital within the week and had surgery to cut the muscle in her inner thigh so her leg would splay out, she was then put in a cast that went from just under boobs to below her ankles. She was splayed out like a frog for 3 months. Once that came off she was put in a brace for a further 6 weeks, she then went another 6 weeks with wearing it at night only. This allowed her to finally achieve her milestones to crawl and walk. Further x-rays showd no improvement so another brace was to be worn all day. I refused to do that as my sweet girl had had no freedom for so long and he pretty well said she would need surgery when she was 3 any way so give her a break.
The last appointment there was some improvement due to her walking but the improvement was good news to me. The specialist said we still arent out the woods but her was happy to leave her till the age of 4 now to do further surgery if needed.

I hope all goes well for you DD. Try to be strong and when you go to the specialist ask every question you can. You need to know the worst as well as the good. Good luck.

Ask away if you want to know more. Our DD was pretty severe so hopefully you dont have to go the extreme that she did.
Keep us posted.

Oh Kerrie, thankyou so much for telling me your story.
You and your DD have been through a lot in such a short space of time.
I really hope that her hip continues to improve and that any future treatment / surgery is not too traumatic.
We saw a different orthopedic surgeon yesterday who was lovely and explained evereything to us properly. Basically Sarah's hip can be fixed easily now by wearing a harness for 6-12 weeks. If we wait, however, she may be facing the same situation as your little girl. She clarified things for us and answered all our questions so we are now happy to go ahead with the harness. We are getting it fitted today.
Thanks for the offer of being a sounding board, I may just need that depending on how things go! At the moment though, there's no reason to think that there will be the need for further treatment after using the harness. :crossfingers:

Shannon, it made the world of difference.
She basically recommended exactly the same treatment as the first specialist, she just had a much better attitude, and was willing to take her time and answer our concerns!
She also drew a picture of the harness for us as we were confused as to which one Sarah will need. She seems a bit more pro-active too with regards to how soon we can get Sarah out of it. She said if all goes well in 4-6 weeks we can just put it on her at night and let her be "free " during the day for a couple more weeks, to sort of wean her hips off it.
The other doc said he would leave her in it for 12 weeks regardless as he doesn't like to do ultrasound scans toofrequently to check progress. When we asked why he said that scans are expensive! We are the ones paying so why should that be an issue???
Anyway, I'm hoping I don't get upset when we have to put her in it today, trying to be very sensible about things. 8-[

Hi Layla,
How did things with Sarah go today? Hope it went well.

I hope everything is ok. Your whole family are in for a few rough nights. The brace isnt very comfortable looking are they, and its damn hard to see your kids try to move around when theyre restricted so much.

Not going ahead with treatment was something we never considered. We needed our DD fixed.
I did ask at the last visit though what would happen if we chose not to go ahead with major surgery assuming all this didnt work. He said that she would need surgery at the age of 19 and if she chose not to go ahead with that (which i couldnt imagine any teenager wanting surgery) then she would definately need to have full hip replacement in her 40's. But, our daughters hip is really bad to so everything is worse. She would also have constant pain in her hip which id hate for her to go through.

Hope the fitting went well. Keep in touch.

Well, we got the harness.
The guy who fitted it was lovely, even gave us his home phone number in case we have any dramas after hours!!! When we left he told me that I'm only the second mum ever not to cry when he put the harness on their baby! I felt good after that but I did cry a bit in the car on the way home. 8-[
The harness isn't as bad as I expected. Luckily Sarah has just got big enough to have a Correctio harness, which is less bulky than the Pavlik harness we thought she'd need. The bar that holds her legs apart is no big deal but the straps that hold everything in place are a little bulky on her little body. She doesn't seem to mind having the harness on as she likes to have her legs up in a frog position anyway.
I don't know if it's a coincidence or not but she slept better than ever last night!!! :-k
She a bit more whingy when she's awake but I think it's beacause we can't cuddle her in close as easily any more.
Clothing is the only problem so far (all in one outfits are no good), but hey, it's a great excuse to visit Pumpkin Patch!!! :D
Here's hoping the next 6-8 weeks fly by.

Layla, Thats so great to hear that all went as well as it sounds. :crossfingers: that it continues to be a nice smooth couple of months and that it does fly by!

layla, thats fantastic news that she isnt distressed at all. What a relief that her nights sleeps arent unsettled either. We had such a hard time and im so glad you arent going through that to. I dont wish it on any mother.

Hope the brace keeps being her friend.