16 Jun Has your 👶🏻 baby had a Hip Ultrasound at 6 Weeks old because of “Clicky Hips” Do you understand your baby’s hip ultrasound 🤔 results and what it means for your baby’s future hip health

Did you know that after birth, the hip joint remains immature and the intimate relationship between the thigh bone and the pelvic bone is crucial for the correct development of the hip joint as a baby grows. Sometimes when a baby is breech or very large or is a firstborn baby,👶🏻 their hips are not well developed because baby was stuck in a certain position in the womb, unable to move easily in the last few months of the pregnancy. Sometimes babies are said to have “clicky hips” when the nurse or doctor 👨‍⚕️examines their hips soon after birth. In all of the above situations, hip ultrasounds are requested to assess the shape of baby’s hip joints.

The common problem we see here at My Favourite Physio, is that often parents do not understand the results of their baby’s hip ultrasounds and they are told to just monitor baby’s hips. Then when baby 👶🏻grows up to be a toddler, and is not yet walking at 15-18 months, parents come to see our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists 🤓to have their child assessed. What we then find out is that baby’s hips are not properly formed and something could have been done to improve baby’s hip joints if their 6 week old hip ultrasounds were followed up immediately after the results were received.

So if your baby had a 6 week hip ultrasound, it is really important to be able to fully understand the results and follow up on the results. The first 6 to 12 weeks of life, is when we are able to mould and shape baby’s hips best to improve their hip joints. 🧐Missing this window of opportunity may mean needing surgery to correct a hip joint for some babies, while for other babies it’s having a less optimal hip joint which is more at risk of hip pain and early arthritis as they grow up.

If you are concerned about your 👶🏻baby’s hips, don’t wait and see, ring My Favourite Physio 📱on (02)9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to speak to one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists today! Early Intervention is the key to healthy hips for a lifetime.