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Hip Pain: What to do if one leg is shorter than the other
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June 9th 2010 - We have a lot of patients that present to our office with hip pain and/or a leg length discrepancy. Some of them have noticed a hip variance while looking at oneself in the mirror at home or have been to another chiropractor that has suggested they have one leg that is shorter than the other. Is there merit to this finding? And if so, could it be the cause of their hip pain and what should they do about it. If you scan the literature it readily becomes obvious that leg length asymmetry is a common finding. What are some of the causes of leg length discrepancy? The most obvious in a true anatomic leg length variance, but the most uncommon presentation. Often times the patient has compensated tissues around the hip and lower back that has caused this leg length change. Dysfunction of the hip joint itself can lead to a compensatory alteration by the joint and the muscles that impact the joint. Short hamstring muscles can pull on the attachment of the pelvis and cause the length to be altered. Joint dysfunction, such as the sacroiliac joint, can produce pelvic shifts and allows one side of the body to function normally while the involved side becomes stiff and immobile. Why is this important? This dysfunction can directly affect the hip joint and create symptoms throughout what we call the kinetic chain. This includes injuries that could begin from the foots mechanics, involving the knee, hip, and further up towards the lower back. What does treatment look like when we address the asymmetric leg? Pulling on the legs is one possibility but at Fall Creek Chiropractic we look at and try to understand the causes of this common finding. We look at whether the leg length discrepancy is a cause or an effect. Could it be due to hamstring length that also should be addressed? What if the individual is pregnant and the sacroiliac joint is very mobile which contributes to the leg length change? Treatment would obviously be altered as a result of our findings. Dr. Wiggers would evaluate and suggest treatment based upon individual findings. It could include stretching one tissue independent of others, strengthening the opposite muscle involved to work on the compensation, ultrasound the area that could be creating symptoms and manipulate differently on one pelvis side than the other. |
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