I just took my daughter to her 9month ck up. Her doctor said she has tight hips. He wants me to take her to a specialist. I'm very scared. I'm having her seen tmrrw morning. She did not cry when her Dr was trying to open & close her legs. Any advice u can give me or if you've been through this.. What happened..
Thank you EVERYONE!!!! I took her to Shriner's children's hospital the doctor said she's fine just strong :) had an x-ray done and was told everything looks good we have a follow up appointment in June.
Happy Girls Day (yesterday) to all you wonderful mos/women out there
Specialists keep up with the trends in their areas of expertise-it makes sense he would hand-off to a colleague. I'm not familiar with this diagnosis-but better to be safe than sorry.
My daughter is now 11 YEARS old. When she was a baby, I had the pediatrician tell me something similar about her hips. He told me they always check every tiny thing on a baby because it's always better to be safe. I took her to an orthopedic and she checked out just fine. If it makes you feel better (I hope it will), my pediatrician had me take my daughter to a cardiologist, eye specialist and orthopedic during her first 12-18 months "just to check things out". Most of it was exactly that - to check to make SURE there was nothing that needed to be done while she was in such a huge growth period during those first few years. The only thing that ever required any more visits was the eye doctor. Her vision is perfect, but she has a slight difference in her eye muscles in one eye and her pupils are a few milimeters from being perfectly straight and in sinc. Nobody would notice this - including me - but the pediatrician picked it up and had me check it.
Many many babies need to be checked for different things during those early years. It's just an extra measure to make sure that everything is going along the way it should be. Many problems can be fixed easily if caught EARLY. I never minded taking my daughter to a specialist. Yes, it can be scary, but it almost always turns out to be nothing. Please try not to worry.
Our doctor also picked up a slight curvature of my daughter's spine during a regular visit. We went back to the same orthopedic doctor and yes, she has a 7 degree curvature (yes, scary). We have it checked every 4 months and again, very common and just something to watch for changes.
My daughter did not have tight hips, but she had a tilted head because one side of her neck muscles were tighter than the other. We figured it out at 5 months and it would inhibit her ability to sit and crawl because her balance would be off. She went to physical therapy, which was basically playing with the therapists for an hour while they made her reach for things, bounce on a yoga ball, etc. She actually liked it, and best of all, she was fine after a few months of therapy 2x per week. She started crawling at 8 months, and was walking at one year, so no delays or anything. I'm sure your little one will be fine. Just be sure to deal with it. The therapists are really good at making babies do things that work their little bodies the right way while the kids think it is just fun.
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You should be glad that your doctor is very thorough and looking after the health of your daughter. Going to a specialist for an evaluation shouldn't be such a scary venture for you (you may end up doing that a lot of times while you raise your daughter for all kinds of issues) but I know you have some concerns. Write down a list of questions you want to ask. Take someone with you to take notes on what the doctor says and how he(she) answers your questions. You will be involved with your baby and the exam and you may not be listening to the information you are getting. Good luck - hope everything is ok or easy to correct.
One word: CHIROPRACTOR!
I wouldn't worry too much about this until you've had a chance to have a family chiropractor work with her - it can really work wonders in many ways. We've been taking our DS since he was 3 weeks old. Even if you go to both, please don't opt for meds or surgery (although I think both would probably be extreme anyway, but I don't know the whole situation) until you've consulted w/the chiro for a few weeks.
I know it seems scary when doctors give off the "something's not right" vibe to parents, but some overdo it, IMO.
One step at a time! Good luck tomorrow - let us know how it went!
The pediatrician is probably checking for the possibility that your little one has a developmental dislocation of the hip. A dislocated hip gives the baby no symptoms and is not painful. I'm sure it will all be fine, nothing too serious. Take a deep breath and relax. good luck.
My niece had a diagnosis of tight hips. The ortho gave her special exercises to do with her in the form of play and checked her every 6 months until she was 2 or so. She's is now 4 and no problems moving around. The girl is a rocket!
Orthopedist, NO chiropractor! Any ol chiropractor will not have a lot of experience with little babies unless it says specifically or you ask specifically. I would not trust a baby or toddler with a normal or any chiropractor who doesn't have a SIGNIFICANT amount of baby experience.
You'll have to update and tell us what happens :)
go see the specialist and then get her to the chiropractor, if you don't know of a good one ask around.
I second the advice of the other moms. A chiropractor can work wonders! However, I would also go to the specialist to get their opinion as well. More information is never a bad thing.
