Son has to see Pediatric Ortho Dr...update post #13

[kmp1191]

DS10 had a Dr. appt. yesterday for a general checkup....allergies, ADHD meds....etc. While there, the Dr. had him bend and touch his toes. At this point the doc gets a funny look on his face and has him do it again. Apperantly his right leg is longer than his left. Dh nor I had never noticed this before. After looking at him, I could tell that one hip is higher than the other and when he bends, his back kinda humps on the right side. His right calf is larger also. Pediatrician wants him to see an orthorpedic dr. I made an appointment for Monday 5/1.

Has anyone ever dealt with this? Any advice or input? I'm trying not to worry, but am anyway.

 

[disneygals]

Did they mention scoliosis or something else?

 

[golfgal]

Did they mention scoliosis or something else?

I was thinking the same thing. Is he really skinny? My DS11 is on a "scoliosis watch" with the school nurse because he has a VERY slight curvature and is really skinny.

 

[kmp1191]

Did they mention scoliosis or something else?

he said he didn't think it was scoliosis because the spine wasn't curving...

 

[kmp1191]

I was thinking the same thing. Is he really skinny? My DS11 is on a "scoliosis watch" with the school nurse because he has a VERY slight curvature and is really skinny.

No, he's not really skinny. 4ft 10in - 96 lbs. not fat, but solid.

 

[barkley]

i have scoliosis (diagnosed when i was in jr. high) and dd has it (diagnosed at age 10). my back on the right had a kind of a bowing/hump that was only apparant when i bent over and touched my toes as well. while i did not have one leg longer than the other it's not uncommon with scoliosis.

treatment can start with physical therapy and then can include a back brace (i think the most popular is still the milwaki brace)-very severe cases can involve surgery.

the other thing that comes to mind is something we went through (still on oversight for and will be for years) with dd last year. she broke her arm bicycling and the xray showed that she had experienced a bone cyst (could have happened at any point over the last 10 1/2 years) in her humerus causing the bone to stop growing on the interior (it looked like a soda straw). the orthopedic pediatric surgeon advised us that in some cases it is detected because one limb will have less growth than the other, but usualy it is detected when a break occurs. more often than not it occurs in the arms or legs. dd had surgery last may to place bone grafts in her humerus (which are amazing! initialy the xray looked like there were peices of popcorn inside the bone, within a couple of months it had grafted together and to the existing bone such that it looks like a normal humerus).

i know it's hard to not worry, but since he has'nt shown any problems medicaly regarding this previously i would tend to think it's something they've caught early enough to easily address (and with orthopedics if they are concerned they will get you in FAST-dd was in one md office and they had her referred outside our hmo/medical group to a non participating ortho within 2 hours).

please keep us updated!

 

[kmp1191]

thanks for the input Barkley...I appreciate it.
I just don't know what to think right now.....I keep telling myself that he's just growing crooked (LOL....) and will straighten up in time....but deep down....well, i'm a mom...it's my job to worry!

 

[ZebraStripes]

Hi kmp1191. My DD10 has one leg about 1/2 inch shorter than the other. When looked at by a doctor who isn't aware of that, scoliosis is the first question. However, there is no curve to the spine. We've been going to a pedi ortho for about 5 years now (1 visit per year). Each year my DD gets a scanogram (I think that is what it is called). It is an xray of the legs and hips with a metal ruler underneath. The doctor then uses the xray to get measurements the bones to find out the difference in the two legs. We've been fortunate that the difference has never gotten any larger than 1/2". What we have done to "fix" this is to put a 1/2 inch lift inside her shoe. This helps correct some toe walking she did on the shorter leg. For now, we are in the watch and see mode. He's not overly concerned at this point. If you have any other question, let me know, I'll be happy to answer what I can.

 

[buzzlady]

DS13's right leg is shorter then his left (about 1/2 inch now). He was born with a bowed tibia. His was found at birth because of the position of his foot - think bending your foot back so that your toes touch your shin. His foot was taken care of with a splint-like device and stretching his muscles.

DS has had the growth stopped on his left tibia so that his right can catch up. Another option is leg lengthening which isn't a process we want to go through.

I would think that if it was a bowed tibia, it would have been found sooner than now. Good luck.

 

[laura001]

There can be a few reasons for this including scoliosis. From what I understand as far as what you have written, it is not an actual or physical leg length discrepancy, but is coming from somewhere else.

I don't know how long it will take you to get into see an orthopod, you will get quick results and also treatment for this problem directly from a chiropractor. If the chiro feels something else is going on, he/she will tell you and refer you elsewhere also.

Good luck!

 

[Evil Queen]

I had surgery for scoliosis about 25 years ago. I had a 52 degree curve, but couldn't tell from looking at me if I was standing. My was "noticed" by a school nurse.

I wasn't skinny I had a medium build, but I had no waist line to speak of at all.

During the surgery I grew 2 inches and had a waist line. My lower spine is fused with rods on each side of my spine. But due to the way they did the surgery back then(heard it has improved GREATLY since then)I now have a condition called "flatback", which cause me discomfort. I could have surgery for that, but won't at this point.

It does also tend to run in families, both my sisters have it,one has a "C" curve like me and the other sister actually has a "S" shaped spine.

If this is what it is, and it's not severe I hear exercises and therapy are good and a possible brace.

They really have come along way in treating this.

 

[Sleepy]

My right leg is longer and my right foot is bigger by a half size (makes wearing shoes a challenge unless I buy 2 pair).

 

[kmp1191]

Good Morning All....happy Monday if you will.
Dr. this morning was ok....took over 2 hours, but i feel good about it so far, i guess. They took x-rays and a bone scan of his back, hips and legs, and we have to go next Monday (5/8/06) to have an ultrasound done on his Kidneys and an MRI done on his right leg. His right leg is 1 1/2 inches longer than his left, and 3-4 cm wider. He is ordering the ultrasound on his kidneys to determine if there is anything going on w/ his adrenal glands that could be causing a growth discrepancy. The MRI is because DS has a birthmark on his leg, looks like a handprint almost, that goes around his calf. ( I used to tease that it was where I would hold him upside down to put his shoes on him...almost looks like a bruise, but it's not). The dr. said that sometimes a birthmark can cause vasular problems...(increased or decreased bloodflow in the area), and that could be causing the growth plate in the right leg to be working overtime. He will have a 3 cm lift in his shoe for the time being, until the dr. determines the cause of the growth difference.

Well, that's all I know for now.....I guess we'll know more next week.
Thanks for all the info & well wishes....I appreciate it.....and I'll update next week.

 

[justjulie]

We took my teenaged son to the chiropractor for a knee injury from soccer only to discover that one leg was shorter then the other so to speak. His legs were the same length but because his hips were tilting, his legs appeared uneven. After some specific chiropractic adjustments, we seem to have him back on track.

Whether through surgery or alternative medicine, I hope your child is better soon.

 

[lsyorke]

I had a 1 1/4 in leg length difference since I was 10.(diagnosed at 10, probably there from birth). I have a lift on my shoes for 39 years. Find a good shoemaker!! The lift only has to be on the heel for correction. The reason they gave for the length difference is the "space" between the tibia and the femus is smaller on the one leg vs the other. I also have foot size difference(1 1/2 sizes) which is from who knows what!(Nordstroms will split shoe pairs for those with a size and half difference!) You would never notice any difference to look at me. There are ALOT of people out there with leg length difference that don't even know it. Look at hip heights.. it tells the tale.

It never stopped me from doing anything!

 

[horseshowmom]

DD18 has one leg that is just a little shorter than the other one. We never even noticed it.

We found out when she was about 16 and had switched trainers (she shows horses). They were making some adjustments with her stirrups, because her leg wasn't "quite right" (it should look a certain way in the stirrup). After working with it for a little while, they realized that the problem was that the stirrups couldn't be set at the same place - one stirrup needed to be a tiny bit longer than the other one.

After that, she started paying attention to her jeans, etc. and, sure enough, one leg was just a little different than the other one. It's not noticeable and has never caused her a problem, so we haven't worried about it.

Good luck with your situation!