31 Mar Have you been told that your baby  has clicky hips

Have you been told that your baby  has clicky hips
Have you been told to double nappy your baby to help with their clicky hips 

The term “Clicky hips” is often used to refer to a condition called Developmental Dysplasia of the Hips (DDH). DDH refers to when a newborn baby’s hips are not well developed at birth. There are 3 types of DDH – Dislocated Hips, Dislocatable Hips and Subluxable Hips. The hip joint is made of the thigh bone ( femur bone) and the pelvic bone ( acetabulum).

In Dislocated Hips, the baby’s thigh bone is sitting outside the pelvic bone and left untreated, baby will not be able to walk. In Dislocatable Hips, baby’s thigh bone is popping in and out of the pelvic bone, so a clunk is felt in baby’s hips when it is moved or a clicky sound is heard. Hence the term “clicky hips”. Again left untreated, baby may not be able to walk when they grow up or they may walk with a limp. In Subluxable Hips, baby’s thigh bone is “swirling around loosely” in the pelvic bone, so the hip joint is shallow and left untreated, baby will walk but usually the child experiences hip pain throughout their lifetime. 

The gold standard treatment for DDH or clicky hips is the use of a Pavlik harness, which should be fitted by an experienced Paediatric Physiotherapist. Research has shown that, the double- or triple-nappy technique, which theoretically prevents hip adduction, has not demonstrated improved results when compared with no intervention at all. This means that using 2 to 3 nappies to try to keep your baby’s hips apart so that the thigh bone is in the right alignment with the pelvic bone, does not work.

Here at My Favourite Physio, our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists have 15 years of experience in assessing and determining DDH in babies, and are skilled in issuing and fitting Pavlik harnesses for DDH. So if you are concerned about your baby’s hips, don’t wait, ring My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to speak to one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists today!

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