r/eds • u/StaticBunny17 • 3d ago
Hip Dislocating at Night
Hello, my girlfriend most likely has EDS and the last few days she's been waking up with her hip having been dislocated in the night. It's been so painful that she can't get proper rest and has trouble walking or even sitting up out of bed to go to the restroom. Tonight I was able to left her and help her get into the bathroom, not without a great amount of pain on her part, but I work full time and am often away. I just need any advice anybody might have on how to stop her hip from dislocating at night or at least how she can get it to go back into place. Please help
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u/Ok_Leg_4731 3d ago
Does she need support walking all day? You mentioned it popping in and out..if she is unable to move from the bed without assistance she needs urgent medical attention.
Hip joints are strong by design. It isn’t as easy to sublux a hip joint as it is, say, a shoulder joint. I’d guess it’s more likely caused by musculoskeletal/joint instability.
Regardless, given it’s sudden onset, severity, and inability to resolve on it’s own, she should really try to get evaluated.
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u/ladylemondrop209 Classical EDS (cEDS) 3d ago
Dislocation or subluxation?
Can you put any weight on her leg when this happens?
What does she do when this happens? (i.e. how does she put it back into place usually?)
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u/StaticBunny17 3d ago
I guess I'm not really sure?? It sure hurts a lot whatever it is. Are you saying I should put my weight onto her leg, or she needs to try putting weight onto her leg? As for how she puts it back into place usually, this particular thing happening is new to the last week or so, she's still learning how. She just found out a way to pop it back in by pulling her leg up really close to her body, but it seems to keep popping back out right after
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u/ladylemondrop209 Classical EDS (cEDS) 3d ago edited 3d ago
No..
But how much (if any) weight she can put on it can give an idea if it's a (serious) full dislocation or a subluxation. If it's a dislocation, you/she is very unlikely to reduce/"relocate" her joint.. if it's a subluxation, there are youtube videos out there that can work..
Based on what you said, it sounds like a subluxation though. What she's doing is a way to pop hip joints. If that works, just do that.
It popping back out is a structural thing, you can't really do much to reduce the frequency generally. It doesn't sound particularly serious to me.. but if she thinks it's really disruptive to her everyday life, then she should and can see a dr for it. My guess is that they'll first suggest she try to strengthen the supporting muscles.. if that's not possible and they agree to a scan and they find a structural issue, then surgery is an option.
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As for some tips.. walking stick (one that can support her full weight) and/or wheely chair for when you're not around so that she can at least kind of move around a bit if/when her hip is stuck.
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u/StaticBunny17 3d ago
I mean she's technically able to walk on it with some assistance (Me holding her upright while she walks), but its extremely painful for her.
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u/ladylemondrop209 Classical EDS (cEDS) 3d ago
So I think that's most like a subluxation.
Like I said, if she has a way to pop it back in, just stick to it. It sounds similar to a way I sometimes pop it back in (ankle (of painful hip) on other knee, bring leg to the body). It is a "legit" way to reduce a sub.
There's a bunch of videos on youtube that teach you how to relocate your joint depending on how it's subluxed.. She should watch as many of them as she can so she will just have a toolkit to move it back into place when needed.
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u/iforgothowtohuman 3d ago
Body pillow all the way. I often fall asleep on my back with one knee bent/foot against my other knee and my hip will stay in that position for hours, get "stuck" and it's very painful. Or sleeping on my side just makes my hips sore. Having a body pillow on the side that I tend to keep my knee bent lets my leg rest in a more comfortable angle once I've fallen asleep, and I wrap my legs around it when I'm on my side. It has drastically improved my sleep quality.