Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip advice please

[TMIname3]

Hi, my son is 18 months old. He's been walking for about 6 weeks. A couple of weeks ago he started limping and then couldn't stand up. Since then he has been ok but he's being referred to orthopedics. I noticed when he started crawling that one leg would lift out to the side and back in again, I also wondered when he started cruising if one leg was longer than the other because he was leading with the same leg all the time.
He has quite a wide gait and waddle (which people have always commented on as being cute ) but gets around and is pretty sturdy most of the time. Sometimes it looks like one leg is buckling a bit under him but the next minute he'll be fine. He had slightly clicky hips when he was very young and I still hear/feel a bit of a click/pop when I hold him sometimes.
Also his thigh creases don't match.
Could this be DDH?
Myself and my daughter have Hypermobility, could it just be that?
Any advice would be great, thank you

[Yankeetarts]

My daughter was the same her leg kept giving way,I got her referred to the hospital at 1 but her ddh was missed till she was 3

[TMIname3]

Oh no, poor thing. Did she have to have an operation? How did they finally diagnose her?

[Yankeetarts]

In the end they finally did an X-ray,she had 2 ops the 1st was never going to work,2nd one worked

[weegiemum]

My dd2 had clicks, limp, legs of uneven length and asymmetric creases and she had Perthes Syndrome, she was 4 on diagnosis - is now 12 and in the school cross-country team despite spending 3 years almost totally off her leg! She was possibly going to need surgery but in the end it finally resolved on its own. She still has an annual check and x-ray.

Hope you find out soon what the problem is.

[TMIname3]

Glad to hear the 2nd open worked Yankee, poor thing.
I've never heard of perthes syndrome, will look it up, thank you.

[flutterby77]

Thigh creases not matching is an indicator of ddh. Are his legs the same length when he is lying down? If you bring his knees together bent do they match? When you change his nappy can both legs drop to the side easily?

My daughter was diagnosed with ddh at 3 1/2 but had no problems up to then. We got her urgently referred when we noticed she was tiptoeing on one foot so she could walk straight. However looking at old videos of her from when she was around 18 months her gait was very awkward and she constantly fell over, I feel awful having not spotted it earlier and can't believe I missed it.

Hyper mobility and ddh are linked.

[TMIname3]

Thanks for your msg,
You just don't think anything's wrong if they're not in pain etc, don't feel bad!

One of his thigh creases is considerably deeper than the other leg if that makes sense. I do have to maneuver him about to get a nappy on, one leg normally stays slightly higher than the other but they do both flop outwards. He's a bit of a Bugger for staying still, I asked the health visitor to measure his legs but he moves about so much I don't know how they can be accurate.

[SmokingGun]

Uneven thigh creases is what resulted in my diagnosis except I was a bit younger than your DS. If you are looking for advise there is a charity called STEPS, they have a forum and all the parents their are extremely helpful and knowledgable. There's even a few of us adults suffers on there. Fingers crossed for you both, things have moved on hugely since my day which can only be a good thing

[flutterby77]

I wouldn't go by what your health visitor says anyway, my husband suspected a leg length discrepancy at around 2 and the gp said there was no problem. He needs an x-ray to see what's going on in there.

[TMIname3]

Thanks smoking gun, I'll look them up