What Would You Do?? - Wausau,WI

My sister was so pidgeon toed when she was younger that she constantly tripped over her own feet. My mom took her to a chiropractor around kindergarten age, and w/in 6 mos, it was straightened out. She is 26 now and you would never know it was ever a problem.

Why didn't you get the surgery when you DID find out? If it's not too late, get the girl the surgery. The older she gets, the more physical demands she's going to have. What about gym and sports at school, let alone day to day walking?

Over time, how will this affect her spine alignment, posture, and will there be some sort of joint deterioration over time? These are all real concerns to consider. I really think you should not worry about her being down for the count for a few weeks. It's so little time when you consider a possible lifetime of physical challenges because of what sounds like a preventable disability. I say get more answers and seriously consider the surgery.

Do you Have a children's hospital or a Shriners Hospital for children in your area??? Find another expert and have them evaluate her conditon. Even uf you have to travel to get it. If it syncs with what this specialist now is telling you, then you'll be set and reassured.

I would look into physical therapy to help her learn to use her body differently and to strengthen the muscles that she uses to compensate for the hip dyspalsia. Personally I would see a chiropractor too, one that takes exrays first and see what they can doa s well.

good luck.

opps forgot to add my dd had heel surgury at age 5 and it was tough but not insermountable. we considered what a couple of drs had said and it seemed the best course at the time, she may need more later, but for now it was the best choice for us IN ADDITion to PT.

It's really not that big of a deal! I'm 42 with the exact same thing -had it all my life and was NEVER going through the breaking and resetting thing. I have been athletic and participated in individual and team sports my whole life, and I wear heels and walk normally. She WILL grow out of some of it as she ages. Encourage running and skating. Skating forces you to keep your feet straight. Your doctor was right in the fact that most kids DO grow out of being "pigeon-toed" -but if your hip turns in -it turns in. Have her also do yoga -it took me awhile to be able to sit cross-legged, and it's definitely more comfortable one way than the other, but it's possible. I am a klutz! I do fall sometimes for no reason -other than I think I may have tripped over my own feet. That only happens when I'm VERY tired though.

If anyone tries to foist corrective shoes on you -don't do it. They do NOTHING. Just get her running a lot and skating (ice or roller). Dancing also helps a lot. She'll be fine! In fact, years ago some study came out that showed pigeon-toed runners to be faster than others! I'm not sure if that's really true, but it's not a huge impediment by any means.

Also -don't listen to the "double hip replacement" scare tactics! Maybe -who knows? Let her doctors and her decide when she hits 40 if she needs that! Chances are she never will. My parents and I were told the same thing, and like I said -I'm 42 and my hips are just fine. I think the doctors when I was a child wanted to make some money off of that major surgery....

Look into arthritis -if they break and reset her hips and legs, she's almost GUARANTEED to have it -another reason I'm so glad I didn't have the surgery.

I don't completely blame your doctor. Many children start walking pigeon-toed and don't have hip dyslpasia. Should he have given you a referral because you asked for it, yes. THat's where he went wrong.
You are now 6 years into this. Go to the specialist and weigh your pros and cons.
Will she need this done before child bearing or will it hinder carrying a child?
Should surgery be done before the preteen/teen growth spurts?
What exactly does it entail?
Is she uncomfortable?
Will it hinder her ability to perform in sports, gymnastics, dance, soccer, swimming?
Write them down and go into the specialist.

My daughter was also pigeon toed and they said they wait until 7-8 years old to decide if they need surgery. And that did come from a specialist at the San Diego Children's Hospital. They also said not to EVER let her sit on her knees the way you describe. They said it would make her condition worse.

My daughter is 11 now and she's fine. We never needed to do surgery.

Your daughter may or may not need intervention. But if she isn't in pain, I would not worry about it.

I would get a second opinion, from another specialist. If that one agrees with breaking her hips and resetting them now, I would do it. Six year-olds heal fast. I wouldn't want to let my child grow up dealing with pain and other issues her whole life, knowing that major surgery will be needed at some point. I would have done the surgery at age two. Kids don't even form any lasting memories until they are three years old or more. She likely wouldn't have even remembered it being done.

I had a friend who had a similar issue from birth. She constantly had physical problems doing normal things like walking up stairs. At age 18, her parents finally had surgery done on both her legs. She was in casts for a whole summer. But after that, she had fewer on-going problems and she was glad it was over with.

To help you answer...

Is there the danger as she ages that this will cause excessive wear-and-tear on her feet, knees, and hip joints? Will it affect her back? My legs were not "right" and I lived with pain, although it was "normal" to me. But by 16 I had some osteoarthritis. Things just get slowly worse over time. I dream of no pain. A pharmaceutical company came out with a medication that would give people like me what I want and the FDA did not approve it because people then used their joints a lot and wore them out sooner. I just wish every one on that panel could live with the pain, then see whether or not they'd approve it. It works, but they don't trust us to go easy on our joints.

On the other hand, will the surgery truly fix her and prevent the arthritis, or will it just cause other problems?

Oh, and by the way... I COMPLETELY know the scream that must be inside you because the pediatrician essentially DID THIS to your daughter by not listening to you to begin with. It would have been so simple to just refer your baby to a pediatric orthopedist to check. The doctors act like the referrals or running tests are money coming out of their own pockets! Medical insurance does put pressure on them to "keep down costs." And that is done at our (health) expense.

I have my own regrets with my own baby who is now an adult... I had the scream stuck inside me, and am turning it into advocacy (http://www.ItsNotMental.com)

UPDATE: Then, with that new information you just provided, YES! It is so much easier to heal at 6 than in her 40s. And while young YOU can take care of her. She won't be missing work, or having children of her own at home to care for.... As long as the surgery won't cause a DIFFERENT set of problems such as to her pelvis.

I think it depends on the individual, it's always a good idea to get a second opinion. I have a good friend who has hip dysplagia and has had to have 1 hip replaced at age 32, the second one might need it now too. Beleive me when I say she did everything to prevent this, exercise, yoga, etc and went 10 years beyond when the MD's thought she would need her first replacement. But something to consider, her hips were so bad that her body could not handle a pregnancy so she had to adopt.
I also have hip dysplagia in only one hip and it's mild. I never had pain or discomfort until I hit my 30's and even then it was mild and went away with exercise. The pain comes more now 10 years later, but exercise is still the best remedy for it. Maybe in 20 years I'll need a replacement (age 60). So it's really dependent on the individual and how severe it is, get another opinion, ask more questions about her future. There are web sites dedicated to this subject, do like you did here, ask their opinions, arm yourself with tons of knowledge like you are doing before you make your final decision.

Oops....I think you should have done the hip thing when she was 2. It's going to be a lot harder to do it now. But, If I were in your position I would be doing the surgery now.
Just had to say though. My son walked pigeon toed for about two years. I, like you, was always asking his pediatrician about it and he was never concerned. Always told me that he would grow out of it. And he did. So, maybe what happened with your daughter is not the norm and your pediatrician was right...she should have grown out of it. Hip Displasia is probably not normal in a 1 year old.
If I were you I would probably set up her surgery for this summer.
L.

Young children's feet usually turn out until about two, and then turn in...I'd be a little upset at your doctor, as well.

However...if your child has "severe" hip displacia, why in the world did you not have it fixed at two? Is it somehow better to have it done now? I don't get your reasoning. I think you really need to research what the permanent effects are going to be of this, how it's going to get worse (or better, I don't really know), if it's ever going to correct itself (probably not), and what the long terms difficulties she'll have to deal with are.

Yes, if it were my child, I would have had it treated at two...but if some reason I hadn't (but I would've) I would still have it treated now. I'm sorry you let it get to this point. Shame on the doctor for not listening, I agree, but you should've done something when it was diagnosed.

Don't let her sit on her knees, this make it worst.
My daughter also would walk putting her feet in, the doctor gave us a thing (sorry I can't think the name) to put on her shoes that made her walk with her toes out.
I don't know the severity of your daughter's case but I would recommend you to look for a second or third opinion.
However, be careful to don't let your fear (or better say your fear to put your daughter in pain), close your eyes to what it needs to be done if necessary.
I mean, be careful to get in the hands to a bad doctor that would tell you only what you want to hear.
Inform your self up and down before making any desiccion.

Have you tried Chiropractic care? I swear by it! I'm not sure where you're located, but there are quite a few great chiropractors out there. Personally, mine is located in Salem, WI...Biese Gorsuch Chiropractic, but I also know of one in Franksville.

It would depend on what the risks of not doing something are vs.having the surgery. If one outweighs the other I'd go with that one. Something that comes to mind as I read this is will your daughter have difficulty carrying a child in pregnancy due to her hips? What other medical issues might she have as she gets older? Are there any other forms of treatment that can be used?

Read today's blog posting on this site. It's about mother's intuition vs. doctors.

We kind of had the same thing, my sons left foot turns in just a little and the ped said back in the "old days" they might have put him in braces, but now, they work on strengthening up what he has (we did not go to a specialist or anything either, mind you, so this could be completely different.) He is almost 12 now, and his foot still seems to turn in a little, but he plays all sports and can run ok.

What the ped suggested when he was younger, was to try ice skating or roller skating to strengthen those muscles up because your feet have to stay straight to do that...not sure if it would help you, but couldn't hurt to try! Poor girl...hope this is something you can help her fix w/out needing that drastic surgery!