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Hip and leg braces
Written by Sean on Tuesday, February 13, 2007
I must have been 8 or 9, I think. We were visiting some of my parents’ friends in the ‘burbs. We were all playing in the basement, when friends of my parents’ friends showed up, with their kid in tow. He was a young boy, younger than I was anyway, and was equipped with a set of braces, which I now know are used for hip problems. The brace kept his leg separated, spread in a ‘V’ shape, and held the length of his legs, with the shoes attached, and a hinged spreader bar between the shoes. I’ve looked for a photo/illustration of that brace, but couldn’t find one…
I remember thinking "that looks *so* cool".
I believe my mother has confirmed that when I was an infant, I used some kind of brace, spreading my legs, a simple spreader bar attached to shoes I had to wear. I think she confirmed this when I was in my late teens, though the memory of that may be iffy.
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2 Comments
My son’s feet were turned in when he was born, we call it pigeon toed. From the first month to about one year old he wore a “night splint” at night. It consisted of a bar fastened to the bottom of his shoes. It was adjusted to hold his feet about 18″ apart with the toes turned out at nearly 45 degrees. His legs and feet grew straight and he never had any more problems as he grew up.
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1 On 20 February, 2007, Sandy said:
I was born with a hip luxation. In the country I lived during my first 12 months they did not cast infants. I was treated with so-called Pavlik bandage from 3 to 9 months and could move, but only within the limits of the bandage. The pictures of myself wearing this bandage must be my very first contact with physical disorders. Maybe my early fascination of physical disabilities was the result of some traumatic or positive experience then. I never realized this before! I remember being attracted by casted children at a very young age and being told I was lucky to be born in another country where they had a different approach. By the way, I was completely healed and never had any problems with my hips in 41 years.