Although the cause is not known, in this condition the blood supply to the top of the thigh bone is interrupted. This causes the bone to stop growing, until the blood supply resumes. Children with Legg-Perthes are usually treated with leg exercises, crutches, casts, bracing, and occasionally traction or surgery. With proper treatment, the bone will grow back and your child will be able to walk normally without pain. SCFE is a common hip disorder in overweight adolescents, and it can cause severe pain in the hip, knee pain, limited movement of the hip and limping.
Diagnosis is by x-ray of the hips.
For minor differences of 0-2 cm no treatment is usually necessary or a shoe lift may be used. Larger differences in length of 5-15 cm require surgery to either lengthen the shorter leg or shorten the longer leg or a prosthesis may need to be worn on the shorter leg. The pain usually occurs at night, is usually not very well localized and may occur in different places each night. This condition should not cause your child to limp and should not limit his activities in any way and is usually made better if you massage or rub on the affected areas. Other causes of leg pain and limping include osteomyelitis , an infection of the bones that can cause pain, usually with fever, arthritis , which will also cause swelling and redness of one or more joints, and bone tumors .