by Penny on July 12, 2010
Parents, did you know that? Well we sure didn’t. The sound of the words “joint dislocation” would be enough to make me shiver. Sure sounds painful and for those who have suffered from any form of dislocation, I’m sure they’d agree that it’s a very painful experience.
Why am I talking about this topic? Well, as it turns out, Ryan didn’t just suffer from a muscle pull that I was talking about earlier today (read the post here). We brought him to the doctor and it was found that he dislocated his hip joint. And the scary thing that we learned is that it’s common that children suffer from this.
So parents, do watch your kids closely if they complain of any pains. Don’t ignore it. We are just glad that we brought Ryan for treatment as soon as we could so that he doesn’t have to suffer the pain much longer. As it is, he suffered the night be complained about it because the clinic was closed and we couldn’t have him checked. And now that he’s been treated for it, it still takes up to 3 days for him to be well.
We brought Ryan to see a doctor where I was treated for my back problem many years back. We told Ryan to be brave and to let the doctor know what hurts and what not. So when the doctor tried to move both his legs, he coolly responded what hurt him. We were surprised that he was so calm about it because we couldn’t even try to move his leg or he’ll yell and cry. Maybe it’s the doctor’s touch that works better.
The doctor then made him lie on his stomach and compared both his legs. He showed us what was clearly a longer limb than the other! That’s when he diagnosed the problem as a hip dislocation and explained to us what it meant and how he may have possibly gotten it.
The poor boy had to be put under a heating machine for about 15 minutes, after which he was massaged at the hip area. The doctor moved his leg in circular motion and some bending movements. All these movements caused him to scream in pain and cried too. It ached to see him suffer but what to do, the doctor’s got to do what he’s got to do to fix the problem.
Finally some herbal medicine was prepared and laid on his hip area. He had to take another 10 minutes or so of the heating with the medication on before he was finally allowed to go. Check out the pictures below. He was pretty cool about the whole thing and only cried when the doctor moved his leg about and when the heat got too intense. My poor little baby!
Ryan being put under heat treatment for 15 minutes
Some herbal medication applied to his hip, with more heat treatment for another 10 minutes
Don’t underestimate this thing…the heat can be very strong!
The medicine has to stay on for 24 hours and we’ll have to return to the clinic for a check-up on Wednesday. I hope by then he will be much better and literally back on his own two feet.
by Penny on July 12, 2010
Yesterday after his nap, Ryan woke up and complained of some pain on his right thigh. It was so bad that he couldn’t walk properly and was limping awkwardly as he took his steps. At some point when it hurt him, he would burst out crying.
Even when sitting or lying down, at some angles if he moves his right leg, he would cry out in pain too. I suspect he may have pulled his muscles. We didn’t have any children’s medication for that at home. The only thing we had was a deep heat rub so we applied a little on him. After that application, he seemed better and can walk better, albeit still a slight limp as he tries to avoid making the muscle hurt with his steps.
I went out to get a milder cream for him, and ended up with Himalaya Muscle & Joint Rub. I’m more comfortable with it as it’s made of plant extracts and I think it’s much milder than the contents of deep heat rub. At least it doesn’t feel as hot as deep heat to begin with. But whether it’s as effective, that’s a different thing. We don’t really know.
The poor boy even has trouble turning in bed and he’s so afraid to inflict more pain when he moves his legs. So he gets us to help him turn. Really poor thing!
So this morning we’re going to bring him to a doctor and hopefully he can get some help and heal soon. This kind of treatment we seek is a little more difficult compared to obvious problems like getting eczema treatment. Because we don’t really know what it is, and him being a child, he can’t really explain what the pain is like or where exactly it is.
It is only our guess that he’s pulled a muscle or two during play…we hope it’s just as minor as that as muscle pulls can heal pretty quickly. Hope the doctor will be able to help.
Anyone has any suggestions for me on what I can do to help my little boy get better soon? Any similar experiences?
by Penny on July 12, 2010
Remember some time back I talked about Pharmaton Kiddi for kids that worked very well for Ryan in terms of improving his appetite? Recently we tried out some different vitamins for Ryan and one of them is from the Champs brand, it’s called Champs M Lysine Chewable.
It’s actually a multivitamin supplement with lysine for kids. It’s orange flavoured and comes in donut-shaped tablets. For children above a year old, the recommended dosage is between 1 to 2 tablets a day.
I found that this multivitamin is not as effective as Pharmaton Kiddi in terms of improving appetite. Perhaps this is meant more as a multivitamin whereas Pharmaton Kiddi’s focus is on improving appetite.
In any case, I guess if you want a multivitamin supplement for your kids at the same time give them a little boost in appetite little bit at a time, this might work well.
We will continue to put Ryan on it anyway for the multivitamin properties. Anyone is taking this too?
by Penny on July 11, 2010
Ryan has been using NUK teats for 3 years now. You can read the earlier article about NUK bottles and teats here. Obviously when he was a newborn, he was using the smallest size teats and we gradually changed it a size bigger as he grew.
The problem I find with this is that our selection of NUK products here in Malaysia doesn’t cater to bigger size teats. In the official NUK website in Denmark, I see that NUK has 3 sizes of teats, from Size 1 to Size 3. But here in Malaysia, we only have Size 1 and Size 2. It’s weird.
I thought I’ll stand a better chance shopping on Amazon.com to find the NUK teats in Size 3 but I found none. It just seems like only Denmark caters for it. Should I buy direct from Denmark or just forget it and let Ryan continue to use the NUK teats in Size 2?
He’s not complaining but I do find that the flow may be too slow for him. He’s turning 3 already, he should be on a flow that’s a lot faster. What do you think? Are your 3 year olds still on bottles or they are drinking from cups already?
by Penny on July 10, 2010
A few days ago I was having lunch with a friend and our topic turned to kids. As always, people always ask when our Number 2 will come along. I guess it’s the natural progression from the time when we had no kids and people would ask when we’re starting a family. The questions don’t seem to end! Haha.
Anyway, my friend was sharing with me what many people are thinking in their minds but probably not saying out aloud. He was saying that we should have more kids as they are a source of “insurance” for parents. Being Asians, I think we have a mentality where we do have some kind of expectations to be “taken care” when we grow into our golden years.
But times have changed. Maybe that was very true for the generation before us and even the generation before our parents. These days it’s very different. Lots of children grow up to get their education out of the country and end up finding jobs far across the globe from home. And parents even encourage that as many believe that their children have better opportunities out there.
And once they establish themselves in their jobs and lives there, it is unlikely that they would want to return home at all. More so if they settle down and start a family.
So then where does the “insurance” come in? There’s really none…and I don’t think it’s fair to expect that kind of insurance anyway. People have got to live their own lives, the way they want to, even if they are miles from home.
So we might as well start buying some real cheap insurance instead of counting on children, huh?
