Can corrected infant hip dysplasia cause problems decades later?

Shoeburyness — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 15:32:07 -0800

I'm having pain in my hip joint. This isn't unusual for a pregnant woman, but it does seem unusual that it's coming so early in the pregnancy, and occuring on one side only. Could this be related to having hip dysplasia as an infant? And is there anything that I or my doctor(s) can do about it? When I was an infant, I apparently had hip dysplasia. I don't have a lot of information about it; I was too young to remember, my mother is deceased, and my father's memory of it is fuzzy, so I pretty much have to rely on my memory of things I was told. I was born frank breech and my mother always said this was why my hip was dislocated, although my father recently told me he remembered it as being something more to do with the hip joint being immature or underdeveloped in some way. From descriptions I was given, it sounds like I was wearing a Hewson brace or something similar. Apparently the brace would give me leg cramps which caused me to scream in pain, and therefore my mother did not keep it on me as much as she was told to. (I also recall her mentioning that the doctor couldn't or wouldn't give me anything that would help or prevent the cramps.) This would have been in 1971-72.

I haven't previously had any problems with the hip, other than having moderate hip pain in the last months of my second pregnancy, but I understand that that is fairly common and not necessarily related to prior hip dysplasia.

I had no hip problems in my first pregnancy (in 1989), but now only 13 weeks into my third (and very, very likely final) pregnancy, I am having some pretty bad hip pain, With the second pregnancy (in 2003-2004) I didn't have the problem until about 7 1/2-8 months, not as badly, and on both sides. Now it only seems to be in the left hip (which I think was the dislocated one, although I'm not 100% sure).

There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on this either on the internet or in the books I have. My pregnancy book (Sears) takes the position that this is just a minor discomfort of pregnancy that you just have to endure until you deliver. Online sources are conflicting. Some pages say it's very important to rest as much as possible. Others say that inactivity will only make the pain worse.

Is it worth going to the doctor, or are they just going to tell me the same thing as the doctor who wrote my pregnancy book? If I do go to the doctor, do I see my OB or my family practitioner? What can I do myself to help this?

How can I keep my hip joints healthy?

fenriq — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 11:53:30 -0800

BadJointsFilter: I'm predisposed to bad hip joints (my mother had one replaced a few years ago and my grandmother had both replaced) and will occasionally have a really achy hip day. What are some things I can do to keep my hips as healthy as possible for as long as possible? I've been thinking about glucosamine/chondroiton pills but would like to hear from people who have benefitted from them. I work out regularly, ride my bike between 10-20 miles a week and lift weights 3 times a week. When I ride my motorcycle sometimes, I get what I can only describe as hip-joint cramps where it feels like someone's holding a blowtorch to the muscles deep in my leg up close to my groin. And yes, it does hurt like a bugger. The only thing that can alleviate it sometimes is getting off the bike and walking around for a few minutes.

I'd like to find out if there's anything I can do to keep my hip joints in shape or if I should start picking out my replacement joints now?

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Can corrected infant hip dysplasia cause problems decades later?

How can I keep my hip joints healthy?