Our hip dysplasia journey- Pavlik harness success!

I can’t believe I’m typing this. A fortnight ago we were awaiting a meeting with our consultant, fearing the worst and praying for progress. His feared appointment on Monday afternoon couldn’t of been more different that what I’d envisioned. In the best possible way- at least I think. There’s been a new direction in our hip dysplasia journey- Pavlik harness success!

The latest scan

Like every appointment before us, it began with the routine ultrasound. The scan showed a HUGE improvement in his angles! More improvement in 2 weeks than we’d had in the past 8 weeks all together. We were excitedly flabbergasted. His hip was finally looking close to ‘normal’.

After the scan it was onto the consultant who asks us to remove his harness- we presume he’s in need of a new one, mainly because it’s extremely rubbed and looking very tired in areas.

But no. The harness is apparently to stay off. And stay off for 4 whole weeks.

Is it Pavlik harness success if we regress?

I should mention that at times our appointments have felt a little rushed and that questions I have don’t often have a valid answer (being told to visit a website instead kind of says it all…..) so it’s no surprise I left feeling really confused.

Why would we be removing the harness before his angles have hit the ‘normal’ threshold? If it’s working, why stop?

To give him the ‘benefit of the doubt’ apparently. To see if his hips can get there on their own. How? I don’t know, but apparently it CAN SOMETIMES happen. Worked well last time we tried that approach… NOT.

No weaning, no double nappies, just waiting to see. And hoping that he shows no regression.

Following my Mothers instinct

Something I seriously didn’t understand until my son came along, was Mothers instinct. And that gut feeling or fearing the worst possible outcome in 4 weeks time.

So like most Monday afternoons before it, I sought out reassurance from other mums in the same situation. I know I’ve said it before, but I honestly don’t know where I would of been without these Facebook groups and mums on Instagram messaging me. And thankfully they understood my concern.

It’s nothing new, but the lack of consistency across consultants course of treatment baffles me. We were in the minority who would remove a harness so quickly, especially without reaching the all important ‘normal’ levels. Instead, most consultants like to see consistency for 3-6 weeks before removing the harness, only doing so in reduced hours of wear first.

Another reason to fear regression in 4 weeks time.

Hoping to continue Pavlik harness success

Which leads us to where we are today. Taking the lead and deciding to wean out of the harness for the next week before giving him 3 weeks harness free. This, we hope, will enable his angles to reach normal or stop regression reaching disastrous levels.

But to give him the best possible chance, we’ll continue using his Maxi Cosi Happy Hips car seat, ‘wear’ him in the ergonomic Ergo Baby Carrier and keep clothing soft and loose around the legs. The worst thing to do would be to force his legs back into a straight position and restrict his movement.

So we’ve got four weeks of snuggles, swimming and lovely dressing ahead of us, tinged a little with downright fear. I’ve still got so much to share with, what I hope, will be helpful advice to those starting on their DDH journey. So these type of posts will continue whilst we await our next set of results.

(and if you want to skip ahead to our next appointment, you can do so here-Our hip dysplasia journey- Hip Hip Hooray! – Flicks and Red Lips

But again, thank you so much to everyone for reading these posts. It’s heart warming to see how many people have landed here and your direct messages have seriously kept me sane throughout all this.

Sian x

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