What is Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip?

Developmental dysplasia of the hip or DDH, is a condition that affects the hip joint in newborns and young children. The hip is like a ball-and-cup, formed by the round top of the thigh bone - called the femur - and a cup-shaped socket in the pelvis. The hip joint is stable in spite of its large range of motion and is kept in place by ligaments and other soft tissue structures. The normal infant hip is not mature at birth but develops into a strong and stable joint as the child grows.

What happens in hip dysplasia?

In DDH, the hip does not develop normally as the cup and ball are either partially or completely out of alignment. DDH can vary from mild to severe depending on whether the cup is shallow, soft tissue structures are lax or a combination of all. These problems may cause the hip to become unstable, and even come out of the joint. This is known as a dislocated hip and is believed to occur in around one in 1000 infants. One or both hips can be affected. DDH isn't painful in babies and young children. Untreated DDH can result in limping in young children. This can progress to hip pain and arthritis at a later date.

How common is it?

DDH is more common in girls and first-born children. It's more likely to occur if there's a family history or if the baby was breech. Swaddling or wrapping a baby's legs too tightly can also lead to DDH. Certain traditional practices like wrapping the children, etc. are known to increase the risk, while carrying them with limbs separated apart is known to decrease the risk of dysplasia. All newborns should have both hips carefully examined by a health professional. 

Treatment options

Treatment depends on the child's age and the severity of the condition. Young babies with confirmed DDH are usually treated in a brace or harness that holds the legs apart. This helps the hip socket to deepen and the hip to become stable with growth. Regular monitoring of the hip position is necessary to ensure good outcomes. Surgery may be necessary if brace treatment is unsuccessful, or if a hip dislocation is first noticed when the child is older.

What is the long-term outlook?

Most infants who are diagnosed and treated early do not have any hip problems in later life. Earlier the diagnosis and treatment, the better the outcome, as late diagnosis often requires surgical treatment and can mean a higher likelihood of ongoing hip problems.

Developmental Dysplasia Of Hip - How Common It Is?

Causes and symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, which is characterized by the inflammation of the joint lining and gives rise to pain, stiffness, warmth and redness in the joints. The inflammation occurs in the tissue that normally produces lubricating fluids for the joint. This condition is progressive in nature, and can cause the destruction of joints, leading to functional and locomotive disability.

Though rheumatoid arthritis is a disease that can last for years, patients may not experience any symptoms for a long time. In some cases, the disease may affect other parts of the body like the eyes, lungs, and the heart.

The severity and duration of the symptoms are unpredictable, and the symptoms experienced are:

- At times, people experience increased disease conditions called flare-ups.

- They may also experience alternating periods when the symptoms fade or diminish, which is referred to as remission.

- Some of the common symptoms of the disease include lasting pain and stiffness for more than an hour in the morning, inflammation, fatigue, fever, and a general sense of discomfort.

- Inflammation in the joints close to the hands like wrists and fingers and other parts like neck, shoulders, elbows, knees and hips can also be affected.

- In some cases, both sides of the body are affected at the same time, which is known as inflammation in a symmetric pattern.

Rheumatoid arthritis is usually caused by the body's weakened immune system, which produces antigens to attack itself. The trigger to this reaction is not yet clearly deciphered.

It is diagnosed by clinical examination (American association of Rheumatology criterion) supported by relevant Investigations.

Management

Management for Arthritis includes the following aspects:

1) To control disease activity and control of symptoms of pain, stiffness.

2) Medical treatment to prevent system effects of the disease.

3) Nonmedical treatments comprise of dietary therapy, physiotherapy, immunomodulation therapy.

4) Minimal surgical therapy like arthroscopic synovectomy to confirm the diagnosis as well as reduce disease activity. At times, with the advanced decline of joints, a major surgery like replacement therapy may be required for specific cases.

What's more important is to know that at any stage of the disease patient can adopt and live an active life with appropriate treatment.



What Really Causes Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Injuries are very common, especially head injuries are one of the leading causes of death and disability in adults. As per surveys conducted, 1.7 million people suffer from head injuries every year and this estimation is increasing day by day.

There are several types of head injuries from mild as a cut, bruise, bump, contusion to severe ones caused due to a concussion, fractured skull bone, deep cut, internal bleeding, brain damage, etc.

A head injury is a comprehensive term which consists of an array of injuries that damage the skull, scalp, brain, and blood vessels and tissues in the head. It is generally referred to as a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and brain injury, depending upon the type and extent of trauma.

Causes of Head Injury-

A head injury can occur due to many reasons. Some common causes of these head injuries are:

Vehicle accidents

Domestic violence

Street fights

Fall from height

Child abuse

Subdural hematomas

Brain hemorrhages

Symptoms of Head Injury-

A head injury is followed by various symptoms depending upon the intensity of the injury. Here is a list of all the possible symptoms of brain injuries:

Nausea and vomiting.

Fatigue or sleepiness.

Extreme headache.

Confusion.

Loss of muscle control or paralysis in the part of the body controlled by the part of the brain that is affected.

Coma.

Dilation of the pupils and related visual problems; Blurred vision, photosensitivity, blindness, loss of muscle control in the eyes.

Cerebrospinal fluids might come out of the ears and nose, sometimes accompanied by blood.

Problem breathing.

Low pulse rate.

Increase in blood pressure.

Difficulty in swallowing.

Loss of hearing.

Problems in cognitive functions.

Numbness or tingling in the limbs.

Loss of bladder and bowel control due to loss of control over muscle functions.

Loss of consciousness.

Treatment of Head Injury-

Diagnosis of a brain injury has to be detailed and very quick at the same time. It always comes under emergency cases. Some of the steps involved are:

Cardiac and pulmonary function test.

Glasgow Coma Scale test.

Pupil dilation and corneal function test.

Brain stem reflex tests.

The most common way of diagnosis is the use of CT scans and MRI scans.

A severe head injury often needs surgery to reverse symptoms like chronic fatigue, bleeding, or loss of bodily function. Diagnosis involves finding out the type and severity of the injury and treatment involves removing the problem surgically.

Take Away-

Head injuries take time to heal, but medical treatment along with neurosurgery can aid the process of recovery and also help a person to lead a healthy life in the future. Most young patients recover fully, while some older patients or patients with preexisting neurological conditions live with a degree of disability.

All You Must Know About Head Injury & Its Treatment!

Your knee is a very complex structure consisting of bones, ligaments, cartilage, tendons, muscles and meniscus. Most people encounter knee pain at some point in their lives. If your knee pain is chronic in nature, then it may last for a prolonged period.

Many causes may be responsible for your knee pain. Some of the causes are stated as follows:
1. Your knee is very much prone to injuries. Knee injuries may happen due to accidents, falling down carelessly or while playing sports. The most common knee injuries that may be the cause for your knee pain are mentioned as follows: 
a) Fractures may cause you to feel pain in the areas of your knee bones.
b) Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury (ligament injury caused by twisting and a sudden motion) or Medial Collateral Ligament injury (injury to the tissue in the insides of your knee) is very common to sportspersons and may be the reason for severe knee pain.
c) Sometimes your knee bones may get dislocated from their usual alignment. This can also make you experience severe knee pain.
d) Ligament injuries, meniscus tear or tendon tear can also be responsible for your knee pain.

2. Sometimes pain in your buttock or foot region can also result in mild knee pain.

3. At times chronic problems like osteoarthritis that affects the cartilage can cause the problem of knee pain. Other chronic problems like Gout, rheumatoid arthritis can also cause severe knee pain.

4. Being overweight can also result in knee pain.
The symptoms of knee pain may be different in each case. The most common symptoms are mentioned below:
a) Stiffness of knee
b) Swelling of your knee
c) You may also feel unstable
d) Difficulty in walking or bending of your knee.
e) You may notice redness in your knee area.

Knee pain must not be ignored. It is highly recommended for you to seek advice from an orthopedic as soon as you encounter any of the above mentioned symptoms.

Suffering from Knee Pain - Know What Causes it? 

The medical term used to describe a broken wrist is wrist fracture. The fracture might be in the 10 bones, which make up the wrist or in the radius. Some fractures can be serious while others may be tiny. The serious fractures make the bone unstable and these might require surgeries to cure. Open fracture is when the bone breaks and it breaks through the skin. This might cause an infection to the wounded area.

Causes
The most basic cause of a wrist fracture is injury. Any fall on your outstretched hand and you might have to nurse a fractured wrist. This type of fracture is common among sportsmen. If you are suffering from osteoporosis, then you have a high risk of getting a wrist fracture. Traumatic accidents may also cause severe wrist fractures.

Symptoms
The symptoms of a wrist fracture can be extremely painful. The pain escalates whenever you try to move your wrist or flex it, even if you are just flexing your fingers. Sometimes your hand or arm may even become extremely numb when you fracture the wrist. The muscles in the area become tender and swell up. It is almost impossible to move the wrist after it gets fractured. The fracture causes the wrist or rather the hand to appear deformed. The area around the fracture might even get bruise and a fractured wrist also affects the blood flow in the area. You might even injure your ligaments, tendons, muscles or nerves.

Diagnosis
To confirm and check the level of severity, you are generally asked to get an X-ray done. In order to get a more detailed look at the fracture, you might have to undergo CT or MRI scans as well. Usually to treat a fracture, you will have to wear a splint and move your hand as least as possible. But keep moving you're your fingers otherwise they might get stiff. Your doctor will inform you from when you will be able to move your wrist. Until then try to keep your movements to the minimal.

Causes and Symptoms of Wrist Fracture

Arthritis is a very painful disease. It restricts you from doing a lot of the activities you would love to engage in. However, there are steps you could take to reduce the chances of it happening to you. Here are some tips, which help you in preventing Arthritis:
1. Take Omega-3 fatty acids
Research proves that the regular consumption of Omega-3 fatty acids, present in fish, result in decreased risks of rheumatoid arthritis. Omega-3 fatty acids are also found in foods such as olive oil and walnuts.

2. Take Vitamins and olive oil
Vitamins are crucial, especially A, C and D. Vitamin A can be found in carrots. vitamin D can yet again be found in fish while vitamin C can be found in strawberries, mangoes, pineapples and oranges. Olive oil is also useful because it contains polyphenols which reduce the chances of developing arthritis.

3. Eat ginger and broccoli
Ginger and broccoli are two of the most therapeutic foods for various reasons and the chances of getting arthritis are also proven to reduce due to these foods.

4. Avoid injury
Although this is very hard to do sometimes, avoiding injuries do reduce your chances of getting arthritis.

5. Control your weight
This is very important, especially for your knees. It has been proven by researchers at John Hopkins University that if you are 10 kg overweight, then 30 to 60 extra kilograms of weight fall on your knees.

6. Exercise
Strengthening your muscles around your joint decreases the pressure on the joint. If there is less pressure on the joint, then the chances of arthritis are reduced. The best way to decrease pressure on the joint and strengthen your muscles is to exercise.

6 Tips To Prevent Arthritis

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