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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Arthritis / January 2006new perthes diagnosis
my son was diagnosed with perthes based on x-rays taken recently that confirm the condition, but i am impatient waiting for the pediatrician to refer us to a specialist. I have read information online that indicates the disease can progress as quickly as a couple of weeks, and his first "limping episode" was oct. 9. i found a specialist that covers perthes, and comes recommended by a family member with a similar bone condition. so i called to see if he takes my insurance and he does, and so i told his pediatrician to set up the meeting. i feel borderline rude in my persistence with his pediatrician, especially if there is a lot of room for error in the diagnosis. he seems to have every single symptom according to the information i have found, so should i continue to push for hastiness, or is the damage already done to the femoral at fifity percent if he has begun to limp frequently? also, what is the most common experience of people afflicted. is it 100% that he will have either the brace or operation or can physical therapy alone treat it? what can i do to help his progress? any answers or information welcome. kaibus, I don't know about this condition, but just wanted to tell you that I read your post. I hope someone comes along soon that can be of more help. I think asking for someone else is a good idea/second opinion is a good idea. debbie m. Hi, My now 8 year old niece has Perthes. She was diagnosed when she was 6. She has never needed braces, or surgery. She did have some physical therapy in the beginning but was able to discontinue that as long as she maintains the normal activities of a child. She does karate and swims, both were recommended by the physical therapist. Katie did have periods in the early days where she was not allowed to weight bear but that was relatively infrequent and luckily she is tiny so she was easy to haul around. Probably the most difficult thing was slowing her down. Its really hard to tell a 6-7 year old to take it easy when her leg is hurting when all her friends are out running around. Katie is doing much better now and the Perthes is improving. The limp may mean pain or just that the muscle is getting weaker because he was favoring it. It is so hard to quantify something like a limp to disease severity especially in children. Like any disease Perthes progresses differently in everyone, so unfortunately there is no telling how the femoral head is doing until you get another x-ray. If your insurance requires a referral I would go and sit in your Pediatrician's office until you get that referral to the pediatric orthopod. Swimming at this point is probably the best thing you can do with him. It allows him to use the muscles without putting any weight on the hip. Once you get into physical therapy they will teach you specific exercises to do with him Karen > my son was diagnosed with perthes based on x-rays taken recently that > confirm the condition, but i am impatient waiting for the pediatrician [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > therapy alone treat it? what can i do to help his progress? any answers > or information welcome. My nephew was about 8 when he was dx...He did have to have the surgery and was put into a cast....That was over 20 years ago...More recently a friends daughter was dx with it at about age 11. She also had surgery, but no cast.... Really can't help you except to say....sometimes we have to push for our own healthcare...If it was me...I would be pushing also...It isn't going to hurt the peditrician to have your son seen quickly... Hugs Cindy > my son was diagnosed with perthes based on x-rays taken recently that > confirm the condition, but i am impatient waiting for the pediatrician [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > therapy alone treat it? what can i do to help his progress? any answers > or information welcome. |
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