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One Leg longer than the other??

Posted , 2 users are following.

Dark_Horse
Dark_Horse

For some time, I have had a lot of issues down my right hand side, frozen shoulder, supraspinitus, a collapsing leg, heel spurs and joint pain on the hip and knee.

I have just found out that lots of people present at podiatrists with these symptoms - and in many cases, one leg is shorter than the other. What appears to be the case if one leg is shorter your hips cannot be horizontal, in turn your spine cannot be vertical. So what happens? Because the spine is not vertical, it has to bend across the centre and back again to make your back a cork screw.   Clearly the spinal cord woudl hardly be able to strecth and contract as it should.  In addition, the muscles on the short side have to pull harder to maintain stability. This extra pulling probably causes bone spurs.

For some reason GPs and orthopaedic consultants do  not consider this possibility or how to treat it.

What medical professional should you see to try and sort out this kind of problem? I have heard you can orthopaedic consultants who are biomechanics specialists but they seem to be few and far between.

1 like, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • EileenH
    EileenH Dark_Horse

    Posted

    I would recommend starting with Bowen therapy - I've had these problems and that, together with a bit of osteopathy, worked wonders. Some of the problem can be purely muscular, spasmed hard muscles can pull you very "squint". Work on that first and you may find you don't need more. I had had uneven length legs, it sorted it by putting the pelvis back in line where it should be.

    I also saw a podiatrist in the NE of England who provided carbon fibre shoe inlays but although it worked fairly well it restricted the footwear I could choose. A previous session with biomechanics people in Dundee achieved far less and limited shoes to only trainers! Really useful for a formal dinner!

    However - Bowen therapy achieved a near miracle and has done so for several of my friends with severe back pain and other problems.

    Google "Joanne Hewitt Bowen" for her site with an explanation. "Mitchell Moser podiatrist Bowen therapy USA video" will also  get you links to see how they do it and an explanation of the theory behind it. One man thought it looked like hooey - but was happy to spend money on acupuncture. There is about to be a trial in the north of England NHS using Bowen for back pain patients for whom the pain clinic can't find an answer so it isn't entirely "alternative" and I know several physiotherapists who have trained and use it.

    • EileenH
      EileenH

      Posted

      PS - forgot to say, you will know fairly quickly if it will help your particular problem. If there is no i mprovement after 3 sessions it is unlikely it will help - but many people literally crawl into a session and leave walking on their own. One friend forgot she'd needed a walking stick as well as her friend to get there and had to go back to fetch it!
    • Dark_Horse
      Dark_Horse EileenH

      Posted

      Thanks for the info.

      I have not got to the walking stick stage yet, but I am heading there too fast for my liking. I have no back pain either but I am showing clear signs of sciatic nerve impingement which could seriously affect my mobility.

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