Hippy Henry! Henry is indeed a rare find. A BOY with bilateral hip dysplasia! Henry was frank breech in the womb from 20 weeks gestation. He did not move from that position. A complicated birth, which involved an emergency c-section and a stint in special care, soon led us to ultrasounds of his hips. At four weeks old, Henry was diagnosed with grade 4 hip dysplasia (most serious hip dysplasia possible). He had multiple contributing factors such as birth position, strong family history on both sides and first born.

 

 

Almost every month of his first year of life was spent travelling over an hour to our paediatric orthopaedic surgeon. We tried the pavlik harness. Unfortunately, this was unsuccessful and resulted in one of Henry’s legs going to ‘sleep’ for over a month. Next step was waiting for a surgery date. At 16 months, he spent a week in traction. Surgery was completed on this left hip in February 2023. Then 12 weeks in spica casts and four week in a broomstick cast. This brings us to today. We are waiting for Henry to be put into night splints. We don’t have a time frame for how long he will be in them. Once night splints are finished, we will be doing it all over again for the right hip.

 

To say we are in the thick of hip dysplasia is definitely an understatement. Henry’s story definitely has a ‘to be continued…’ ending. Fingers crossed Henry can have a cast-free 2023 Christmas.

 

Thank you for enjoying the hip dysplasia stories. The stories shared by our community members are intended for information and entertainment only. We are incredibly grateful to our hip dysplasia community members who have taken the time to share their experiences and journeys through hip dysplasia. These stories reflect individual experiences and journeys. Nothing in these stories is intended as medical advice and should not be relied upon as a substitute for consultations with qualified health professionals who are familiar with your individual medical needs. Miles4Hips does not endorse specific healthcare providers or institutions, and information or opinions shared in these stories does not necessarily reflect those of Miles4Hips or the International Hip Dysplasia Institute.