Posted by Joel on July 03, 2003 at 10:48:13:
In Reply to: 7 Year old son with Perthes posted by Theresa on July 02, 2003 at 14:36:57:
Like Gro's son, I was in traction for about a week before the actual surgery. 6 weeks does seem awfully long, but I suspect that the doctor is trying to minimize cast time. The idea behind traction is that it loosens the muscles, ligaments, and tendons surrounding the joint. The looser the joint, the easier it is to reshape/repair the joint, and thus the cast time should also be less than it might otherwise be. So, traction is longer but cast time is less and it pretty much evens out in the end.
For me, the hardest part of traction was the fact that I only had a thin gown on, and I was decidedly uncomfortable. Don't worry, though, this will end. Try to allow your son to be as active as the traction and the doctor will permit. I know that I had some sort of a bar hanging from the ceiling so that I could do pull-ups. This let me do something to move around without affecting the treatment. Good luck and I wish y'all the best.
: My son was diagnosed with Perthes on April 2nd 2003. He was put into traction two weeks ago and has four more weeks of it til his surgery. Has anyone out there ever been in traction for 6 weeks before? He has to be in it for 23 hours a day and you can just imagine the frustration!
: I've been reading the message board and hadn't seen much about traction; and was just wondering if anyone could offer any insight to this.
: Thanks.