Leg exercise for DDH

I wonder if there is anybody who can share the workout for this health condition.

I have this condition that called Developmental Dysplasia of Hip (DDH) or Congenital Hip Dysplasia. Basically, when I was an infant, my hip joints weren't formed well, and in my case, the connection of the hip joints, especially left one, were shallow. I had surgery at age 14, but there is no foreign object in me. So, this is my background.

I am supposed to not doing high impact exercise naturally, but I want to strengthen my muscle around hip joints. I recently started doing pilates, and I feel it's working really well on my muscle around thighs and hip joints, which is great. However, I also notice that it makes "clunk!" noise on my left hip joint, which I had surgery. I don't think it's a good sign. I also have a problem posing "plie". If I do it with deeper and wider stance, my hip joints oftne go "clunk". The thing is that my hip joint connects better when I point my toes to inner. When I point my toes outer, like when I do "plie", it causes problems. But if I wouldn't do it with the correct pose, "plie" is not effective.

I should ask doctors about this kind of question, but my doctor choices at this small town is very limited. Besides, I'm moving to a different city in less than a month. DDH condition for each person may unique, but I wonder if there is anybody who could share leg exercise routine without hurting hip joints. Oh, by the way, I am a poor swimmer, and I don't like the idea of dipping into the pool.

Thanks!!

Hi! I don't have DDH specifically, but I do have a mitochondrial disease, which makes my muscles weak and my hips come out of joint a lot. I'm also an orthopedic nurse... That "clunk" is not a good sign. Mine do that a lot to when I do something requiring to much resistance.

Here are a few hip exercises that my PT gave me last year that have really helped:

1. Lie on back, have a medium size ball between your knees and then squeeze your knees against the ball. Do not over do it so that your hip pops.

2. The opposite of this: if you have an elastic band or towel, tie around knees and push outward against the force of the towel/band. It doesn't take a lot of force, do not let your hips pop. It is better to do repetitions than to push the limits of flexibility.

3. On your side: Leg lifts, but modified. Keep knees bent inward (like almost fetal position) and raise. Do not do if hip pops.

These really helped me. But, certainly don't take my advice over a doctors since you have already had hip surgery. I took care of a lot of hip surgery kids where I worked and many of them did have re-occurring problems as adults that required intervention. Hips a finicky thing...

Good luck! And I know you are not at your goal yet, but you do look great! =)

Thank you for the advice, Trish. (By the way, I'm sorry for my late response. I just found your posting today.) Do your hips come out?! Oh, my goodness, it sounds so painful! I haven't been in a such situation yet, but I need to be careful too.

My surgery was pretty simple, according to my doctor. He took a piece of born from my back (I don't know exactly "where" ) and attached it to the end of left hip socket. It's long time ago, so the treatment nowadays would be much different. Because I had surgery on the left hip joint, my left leg is so weak that I cannot stand only with my left leg long. When I do, my joint (or muscle around the joint) hurts. My left tight is 1 inch smaller than the right one too. I want to make them even and stronger.

The exercise you suggested sounds good. I should try those moves. Since I posted, I made adjustment on my plie: with narrower stance, shallower movement, and pointing toes out about 30 degrees, not 45. I don't know if the adjustments were good or my muscle around hip joints got stronger, but I don't hear "clunk" anymore. Instead, I DO hear it when I move my legs to outer. When I lift my legs to back in 45 degrees angle, the joint goes "clunk" sometimes. It does when I do high-side-kick too. It seems that the key is "angle" to my hip joint. Although I want to do workout in a correct form and make it effective, I want to protect my hip joints. From now on, I'll make sure to alter my form whenever I hear "clunk".

It's really a tricky condition, don't you think? We need to lose weight for joints, and at the same time, we should avoid running and jumping. I know those are NOT the only ways to lose weight, but those are the easiest/fastest way to achieve the goal. Take well care of yourself, Trish, and I will too! Thanks!!