Patient Stories

Lauren

Hi!

My name is Lauren, I’m 18 and I’m from Scotland, UK. I was diagnosed with hip dysplasia when I was born. In the UK, the health system is very different.

When I was born, doctors told my mum that I would be okay and I would grow out of it. My hip joints at this point were not completely formed meaning my legs were stuck in the air all the time! Over time, my joints formed and I was a normal happy child. It wasn’t until I was around 12 years old that they really began to hurt.

At primary school, I loved running and was a keen cross country runner. When I started to feel the pain, I had to stop. I visited my GP and they just gave me painkillers. This didn’t help at all and I couldn’t climb upstairs at all. I spent a lot of time in bed as I couldn’t move. I visited again and was giving physiotherapy. The physio made the pain a lot worse and by this point, my hips were starting to dislocate and wear away the tendons in my legs. I was referred to a child orthopedic who said they cannot do anything for me until I have grown fully.

Six years on, I have been given five rounds of physiotherapy, a round of hydrotherapy and ultrasound therapy as well as countless prescription drugs. I am constantly at my GP but they refuse to send me to a specialist. It is affecting me daily and the pain in my hips has moved into my back and my knees which is really quite horrific. I now use crutches most days to get around. I joined my local gym to try and keep myself active and healthy but as I can’t do any cardio, it is a real pain. I spend most of my time on weights but even the weights are a painful ordeal.

I found this website today and I love it. It’s great to see everyone helping each other as here in the UK, I don’t know anyone else with this condition. I’m stuck in a rut with my GP, but my advice to anyone who’s child has hip dysplasia is to keep on at doctors etc and get it sorted while they are young. If my doctor had done his job properly, I would not be in this position.

Lauren 🙂