8yr old boy with perthes . stressed and worried ....

Hi there

No you are not, I've cried far too many tears!

Where are you from? I notice you say 'mam'!? We are from Newcastle so say the same!

If you want to chat feel free to email me x

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When my son had it at age 9 he too had stiffness in the morning. He would soak in a warm bath and also ride his bike before school. He also took ibuprofen. I will tell you that if you baby him and let him see that you are upset, it will make it worse. We told our son that this was going to be an adventure and we weren't sure what Gods plan was, but we will hang in there together.

We found activities he could do, because he had to give up soccer for a couple years. He learned to play chess and the guitar and could beat any video game in a week.

Today, he is 26, in the middle of Med school, except for his leave of absence to have a total hip replacement. He played soccer in high school and a couple years in college.

He is a very compassionate and caring young man, with a strong faith.

Hope this helps.

Val Higginbotham

So my son has just turned 8 and we found out he has Perthes at the age of 3. He does good most days and doesn't complain a lot but when he does i know that the pain is bad. He now has an ankle problem because he walks on his tiptoes to even out his legs. I watch him limp and it breaks my heart to know that it is bugging him.

Hi Rhonda, what treatment plan has the Consultant suggested for your son? They all have different ideas in how to treat Perthes and some are more likely to cause pain than others.

My son was 3 when his Perthes was diagnosed, his head of femur had worn down nearly to the growth plate. We were told he had to stop walking/weightbearing immediately and for the next year. This was a huge shock, he started to suffer a lot of pain and was admitted to hospital numerous times, staying 2 weeks at a time, on traction. Eventually, because we were able to do the traction ourselves, we made him a bedroom downstairs and were given the traction equipment to use at home. Unfortunately our sons case was a severe one and complicated, and in the end he spent 5 years in a wheelchair before he was allowed to start weightbearing, slowly, when he was nearly 9. He was finally discharged at 13.

the reason our consultant believed in non weightbearing in because the head of the femur, that is affected by Perthes, becomes so soft and moth eaten and if still walked on you run the risk of changing the shape of the bone which can cause it to slip out. What you want it to do is to keep its rounded shape whilst it goes through the disintegration stage, return of blood supply to bone, and re growth of bone. If it is over used during this time you will get pain and stiffness.

If your son is still fully weight bearing, I would ask for a second opinion or do some research around the different treatments.

the pain and stiffness your son is experiencing can be quite severe, and just standing on it can be too much, my son used to scream with the pain sometimes. Your son will need good pain relief, not just paracetamol, he'll need something stronger, Diclofenac used to help my son, with some others I can't remember.

getting him a Memory Foam Mattress topper can help him be a bit more comfortable at night. 

No one can really predict how long this will last for your son, but the right treatment is the most important thing for his future hip health going into adulthood.

i hope I've managed to help a little, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. X