Teagan ’s triumphant return: Dancing after Perthes disease

Teagan has lived and breathed dance — ballet, jazz, tap, and more — since she was 5 years old. “It’s what makes me happy,” the now 12-year-old says. But two years ago, she started to feel pain in her hip that persisted after dance class and worsened over time. As her spring dance season wrapped up with four shows in two days, Teagan ended the final show with her pain at its worst. But since her injury didn’t seem to be anything more than a minor muscle pull, her mother Jeannine had Teagan lay low over the summer, hoping that rest would help the pain go away. When dance classes started again in September, her dance teacher noticed that Teagan lacked the flexibility to do the moves she normally could. She recommended that Jeannine take her daughter to Boston Children’s. A diagnosis of Perthes disease “We came to Boston Children’s that September,” Jeannine recalls. “They did an x-ray and immediately sent us to Dr. Shore.” Dr. Benjamin Shore, an orthopedic surgeon at Boston Children’s Child & Young Adult Hip Preservation Program, diagnosed Teagan with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease. Also known as Perthes disease, this is a condition where the blood supply to the ball-shaped head of the femur becomes temporarily disrupted, resulting in the femoral head collapsing and causing pain and inflammation in the hip joint. Eventually, the blood supply returns and the bone heals, but the shape of the femoral head is no longer normal, so it cannot move smoothly i...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Child and Young Adult Hip Preservation Program Dr. Benjamin Shore Legg-Calves-Perth Disease Orthopedic Center Source Type: news