Hip dysplasia’s effect on young people

When you think of hip pain, you usually imagine middle-aged or older adults. However, children can suffer from it, too.

Thousands are born with hip dysplasia, but symptoms often don’t appear until the teen years.

If left untreated, it can lead to chronic pain and arthritis later in life.

Doctors are helping young, active patients stay fit for life.

Shea Stone is at the top of her game, perfecting her shots since sixth grade, and now her dream of playing lacrosse for the University of Oregon is coming true.

However, Stone was almost sidelined when her hip started hurting.

“It was a deep stabbing pain, like in the groin area of my hip, and I could barely put weight on it,” Stone said.

Stone was diagnosed with hip dysplasia, which happens when the hip socket doesn’t fully cover the top of the thigh bone.

“You have too shallow of a socket where the hip is not as rock solid, stable as it should be,” said Dr. Mike Ellman, hip preservation specialist at the Center for Hip Preservation, Denver.

Stone also suffered from a labral tear where the cartilage is pulled away from the bone.

Hip preservation specialists were able to combine two procedures into one.

First, arthroscopic surgery addresses soft tissue damage. This minimally invasive technique allows for repair of the labrum and removal of bone spurs causing impingement.

“We go in and we take care of all the stuff from a soft tissue standpoint in the joints,” Ellman said.

Then, surgeons tackle the misshapen hip socket by cutting and repositioning it to improve its fit with the thighbone.

“Eighty to 90% of these patients never get another surgery,” Ellman said.

As for Stone, recovery took six months, and now she is back out on the playing field, a true force to be reckoned with.

Hip dysplasia is more common in females, and firstborns also have a higher risk.