17 Feb Is your baby being treated with a Pavlik Harness for their Clicky Hips
How often is your baby’s Pavlik Harness adjusted and changed to accommodate for baby’s growth
Clicky Hips or Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is a condition where the “ball and socket” joint of the hip does not properly form in babies and young children. Undiagnosed, untreated or inappropriately treated DDH can result in a child developing a limp, leg length discrepancy, pain, frequent surgeries, femoral head necrosis, osteoarthritis, disability, and total hip replacement at young ages.
The gold standard treatment for DDH is the use of the Pavlik Harness to correct the position of baby’s hip bones to promote optimal healing of baby’s hip joint. Over time, due to funding and staffing constrains, the Pavlik Harness protocol has changed in Australian Public Hospitals. Often, parents are told to remove and refit their baby’s Pavlik Harness daily at home for baths or to bring baby into the hospital for a harness review at 4-6 weeks intervals.
Fortunately, here at My Favourite Physio, our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists are still able to follow the Internationally recognised Expert-Based Consensus on the Principles of Pavlik Harness Management of Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip. This protocol ensures the optimal outcomes for a baby with DDH and states that
1. A healthcare professional should apply the harness at the start of treatment.
2. A healthcare professional should check that the harness is applied correctly at each clinic visit.
Parents and inexperienced healthcare professionals are not recommended to be removing and re-fitting Pavlik Harnesses for babies with DDH.
Here in our clinic, our babies are given a bath during the clinic visit for the harness to be removed and refitted by one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists. This is to ensure that baby gets a thorough wash and clean to avoid any skin breakdowns in from wearing the Pavlik Harness 24/7.
So if you have been told that your baby has clicky hips, reach out to My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to speak to one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists today