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Living and walking with hip-dysplasia: differently-abled.

So picture this… I come back from a walk only to find that my FitBit has categorised half of it as ‘outdoor cycling’ and half of it as ‘sport’. This happens to me quite often, because where walking is concerned, I’m differently-abled. I was born with severe Developmental Dysplasia of the Hips (DDH for short). In plain English that means that my hip joints didn’t form properly before I was born. I can walk but it’s not something I do with ease or speed and definitely not with grace!

I’m writing this blog to share my own journey with my funny walk – in an open, vulnerable way. Being ‘different’ has been a positive and a negative in my life. It has definitely shaped who I am. My unusual hips are not ‘who’ I am - but they are part of my story. Where I go, they go and so does their impact. In 2019 I chose to walk 100 miles of the South Downs Way – to see how far I could take my different walk – and my blog. In 2021, due to covid lockdowns, I turned my daily walks into a virtual Pennine Way to see if I could get to 268 miles in a year. And then I found out that I needed a knee replacement....

I hope you enjoy reading about it. You can also follow this blog on Facebook or Twitter by following @WalkingJill

Getting my new knee moving: hydrotherapy

By Jill Pringle January 28, 2022 In hip dysplasia, knee replacement, surgery 0 No tags 0

hydrotherapy diff-abled jill pringle knee replacement

Yesterday two really great things happened – I got into a pool and I slept.

You all know that I love to swim. Walking down the steps into the hydrotherapy pool yesterday almost made me cry with joy.

Sleepless in Surrey: my knee replacement

By Jill Pringle January 22, 2022 In hip dysplasia, knee replacement, surgery 0 No tags 0

I had my total knee replacement 10 days ago, just 2 weeks after my 50th Birthday. By my counting this is my 12th orthopaedic surgery, my last being a total hip replacement in 2003.

Taking Steps by talking DDH

By Jill Pringle October 6, 2021 In hip dysplasia, Personal, surgery 0 AdultDDH, DDH 0

Steps Charity recently asked me to do a podcast interview as part of their new series which tells the stories of people like me born with all sorts of lower leg conditions.

Hips, Knee and boomps a daisy!

By Jill Pringle August 30, 2021 In hip dysplasia, surgery 0 No tags 0

You may have noticed that I haven’t been posting many walks recently. That’s because I’ve been finding it harder to walk any distance. I can walk, say to the swimming pool,