Patient Stories
Samantha’s Story
Samantha was firstborn and female, but didn’t fit into any other risk factors for DDH. She was checked before we left the hospital after her birth, but nothing was found.
At her 8 week baby checkup, the nurse found a clunk. We didn’t really know what this meant. The nurse told us to go to our GP. She mentioned plaster and traction, and referred us to a physiotherapist.
The physiotherapist was lovely and kind. She fitted Samantha with a Pavlik Harness and taught us a few things about the condition. I researched on the internet, but ended up more confused than ever. There didn’t seem to be anybody I could talk to about it, that had been through it.
Samantha’s DDH was so “severe” that it hadn’t been able to be detected at birth; they look for a clunk, but there was nothing to clunk with. She had seemingly no socket.
She stayed in the Pavlik Harness from 2 months old to 8 months old. Every ultrasound visit, every orthopedic visit, every physio visit was a case of feeling hopeful, then crushed. I anticipated it after a while, but it never stopped those feelings.
Finally it was decided that the Pavlik wasn’t working any more, so they prescribed a Hewson Brace. I don’t know what sort of difference this was supposed to make, but I *did* know we could take it off sometimes for baths and for that I was grateful.
She wore the Hewson from 8 months until 1 year old. At that time she was pronounced “good enough to go without.” For a little while afterwards, we had followup x-rays. However, the last one, at about 15 months old, looked no different from a normal hip.
Today, Samantha runs around like crazy and can’t be stopped. She doesn’t need x-rays or followups.