Short Leg Syndrome
(a fancy way of saying one leg is shorter than the other!)
By now, you have all had the experience of me telling you that one leg is shorter than the other, as an indication of why you have lower back pain. In fact, many patients, when I do a leg length check, say to me, “Yeah, I know, short right!”
The short (or longer length side) is a function of rotation of your hip bones. The leg is not actually shorter or longer (though in a small percentage of cases it is).
If your hip bone moves backward, it will look shorter. If it moves forward, it will look longer. This helps me decide which way to move your hips so I can bring you back into balance.
You already know that a “short leg syndrome” can cause lower back pain and sciatica. The hip moving forward or backward pinches the nerves and causes pain. Moving the hips back to where they belong takes pressure off the pinched nerves so the body can heal. Treat causes not symptoms!
What most people do not realize is that a “short leg syndrome” can cause problems in other parts of your body.
As you can see in the picture above, it can cause knee pain and foot pain.
Here’s the surprising part. One does not normally make this connection, but it can also cause upper back pain, neck pain, and even headaches.
This can happen even if there is NO PAIN IN THE LOW BACK!
That is why a leg length check is always part of my evaluation. In an ideal situation, I can correct a “short leg syndrome” BEFORE it causes pain in other parts of the body. As I am fond of saying, “tune up and an oil change!”
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