The Most Common Injury I See in Patients That Often Goes Unnoticed

By Dr. Ryan Lee

Would you be surprised to find out that one of your legs is longer or shorter than the other?

Chances are, that may be the case!

The vast majority of patients I see have one leg that is either longer or shorter than the other, and this is something almost none of them are previously aware of.

While this may initially sound shocking and leave you wondering how it could have possibly gone unnoticed, the truth is that the longness/shortness of one leg in comparison to the other is typically only a difference of .25 – 1 inch!

Is this something I was born with?

This is a common question many people have that is almost never the case.

Having one leg that is shorter/longer is most always the byproduct of hips that are out of alignment.

Our hips have commonly rotated either forwards or backwards, forcing one leg to be a different length.

Something to make note of is that this rotation of the hips is most likely the result of some repetitive stress motion or posture that we’ve adapted.

It’s common for our bodies to favor one side and subsequently adjust weight onto that side.

Think about how you sit in a chair. Do you typically lean to the left or right? Are you hunched forward? Do you maybe even sit on one of your feet to make things a bit more even?

These simple things that often go unnoticed can not only be signs of a misalignment but can also be causing the rotation of the hips that will allow a misalignment to become the body’s new normal.

What health issues can it cause?

Though this misalignment is something most people are initially unaware of, the side effects it can cause are anything but unnoticed.

Commonly, a rotation of the hips will lead to an increased amount of pressure on one side. This excess pressure is put on the ankle, knee, and hip joints of that side and can result in things like arthritis.

This excess strain to one side can also result in ,an unnatural curve in your lower back that can affect organs throughout your entire body.

When the lower back is over strained, the nerve roots attached in that area are restricted in the amount of blood flow they both send and receive. This can severely disable the function of the organs attached to that nerve root.

Some of the organs whose nerves roots are located in the lumbar spine and could be affected are the intestines, digestive track, bladder, bowels and reproductive organs.

It isn’t uncommon to see dietary issues or even irritable bowels syndrome as a result of a shorter/longer leg.

A third area that can experience significant distress due to uneven leg length are the muscles in the legs themselves.

Often this misalignment can lead to a loss of proper blood flow leading to numbness and tingling throughout the legs that results in sciatica pain.

So, how can I know if I have a short or long leg, and how can I fix it?

CHIROPRACTIC CARE is the easiest and least invasive way to correct a misalignment.

As a chiropractor, doing a “leg check” is one of the first things I do in every new patient’s initial exam.

Because the difference in leg length is so minute, it can be hard to tell on your own.

However, a chiropractor is trained to spot these hard to catch misalignments and

Chiropractic adjustments treat the causes rather than just the symptoms of your pain.

Adjustments work to put the vertebra in your spine back into alignment, taking pressure off the surrounding nerves and reducing the uneven load, allowing the body to repair itself.

I have treated many patients with these symptoms and have seen fantastic results!