My 4 year old has been having pain in his leg for almost a year. Last year he was complaining in the middle of the night over a period of a couple of months until one morning he couldn't walk. He was x-rayed and found to have fluid on his hip. The possibility of perthes was discussed and we were told to come back at a later date. A few weeks later he got more pain and we went back to the hospital to be told he was ok. He was fine then for about 2 months and I thought that it was all behind us but then a few weeks ago it's all started again. His pain isn't as bad so far as it was before - He's not screaming for hours. We're waiting on an appointment for a x-ray and bloods. Is this going on too long to be Perthes? Would he be unable to walk by now? :? Any advice would be much appreciated, I just don't know anything about this.
hi
this sounds like perths but i am not a doctor
the best thing to do is to make sure that the doctors that you see have had experiance with patients with perths and know what to look for
my doctor was a specialist and my treatment was first class as i have led a pain free life up to now (am 38)so has my brother and two friends of mine who also had the condition
when i was diagnosed with perths my pain was gone but that was due to the damage to the nerves in the hip ,i had a limp when i walked but could still get around easy
hope i havent worried you and am sure your four year old will be ok
frank
Thanks Frank. He's got his appointment next week and we'll know more by then. It's good to hear from someone who had a pain free experience. Some of the stories here are a bit frightening!
Hi My son who is 4 coming on 5 next month was told he has perthes just after his 4 birthday. My sons perthes is very bad and he has a lot of scaring on his pelvis. It was a nightmare trying to find out what was wrong with him as I am sure it must be with your son. The only thing that I can tell you is to try and stop your son from running, jumping and football which is very hard for a 4 year old boy. Swiming and cycling is very good and will help to reduce the pain he has. I have been told by his doctor the younger the child (2-5) the best chance for a good out come. I know that at this time you must be very worred, you are doing well so far and you will keep on doing well. There will be days that are hard but just rember this is not life therting and your son will get better. Best wishes Kelly-Ann 
Thanks Kelly Ann,
Just spent weekend in hospital. Running high temp with pain in hip. They had to rule out septic arthritis. Thankfully it wasn't. They did x-rays and found abnormalities on both hips but said that it might be normal for him. At this stage I'd just love an answer so we know what we're dealing with. We have an appointment with the orthopaedics in 2 weeks. Should get some answers then. Fingers crossed
Hi Mccarthy I am sorry to hear that your son was in the hospital. This just sounds like what we went through with our son. I don,t know if you are from Ireland or England, but what I do know that Ireland has the highest rates of perthes in the world. You need to make sure that the hospital you are going to has orthopaedic consultants that deal with perthes disease. We made the mastake of going to our local hospital which relly knew nothing about perthes and it took them well over a year to find out what was wrong. I am not medical traned and have read a lot about perthes. We wish you all the very best and hope you get the right Consultants that will put your mind at ease. Good luck Kelly-Ann
We are from Ireland and had been taking him to the local hospital until last weekend when i took him to the National Childrens Hospital in Dublin. They definitely seem to know what they're doing and treated us really well, which was a nice change. He's very sick at the moment, high temp, rash, swollen face and crying again last night with pain in his leg. I don't know if any of it is connected. I just want some relief for him.