I read somewhere on this site that Michael Johnson has one leg loner than the other. I too have a long leg. I was wondering how this effects sprinters and what sort of compensation is required when training?
That very much depends on the degree of the discrepancy and on how much the individual has been able to adapt to it biomechanically .
How much is it in your case, and which leg is the shorter one?
Regards,
Robin.
It’s hard for me to say exactly, but my left thigh is around 1cm longer. I ask mainly because I have had problems in that left hamstring and feel as though that leg resists more when running. I feel when squatting that I am uneven as I go down. The left butt gets tight sometimes, as well.
You might want to consult with your chiropractor or a podiatrist about the option of getting a heel lift. It seems like your leg length inequality is significant enough to cause real troubles, and a heel lift is really the only lasting solution to such problems.
Konstantinos Kenteris always had problems and injuries due to a leg length discrepancy, by the way. He finally got a heel lift in his shoes as well as his spikes and the result was gold medals at the Olympics, world and eupean championships.
If you decide to get one you will have to make sure, though, that you wear the heel lift (usually simply a thick orthopedic insole) all the time.
Regards,
Robin.
thanks for the advice.
where and how would I best come across an appropriate heel lift? How should it be fitted? Should the lift match the defecit or simply reduce it?
When I see my patients (as a podiatrist), I do not correct the discrepancy immediately; rather I start with a 1/8" inch adhesive felt heel lift and then assess the results. Your body has been in this biomechanical position for your entire life (along with the adaptation of your muscles and ligaments), and to change it so dramatically can cause even more injuries. Then you slowly increase the heel lift, if needed. Then a more permanent cork type permanent heel lift can be placed in all your running shoes…I hope this is helpful. 
Good advice about rapid change or reversal. I have witnessed leg length differences often and on most occasions regard them as a natural variation. Adaptation to these discrepencies is a long term process as is reversal of these differences. The advice on adaptation of muscle and connective tissue is very true. Your body is a highly adaptable organism and people tend to forget this. I have witnessed few injuries, in fact none, you could say are caused by leg length difference exclusively. It’s common to see leg differnce that don’t transcend throughtout the rest of the body. I would suggest you look at other things more likely causes of your problems, eg flexibility issues about the hip, knee, ankle, and even the spine, and training/recovery related issues etc. If all else fails, which is unlikely, you could get one of those leg extension operations as one girl in Aus recently had who wanted to be two inches taller.
Good luck
Most people have some degree of a leg length discrepancy, and in most cases this is not severe enough to cause any major problems.
I’m not sure what podiatrists say about this, but among chiropractors there are some schools of though that state everything above 6mm should be corrected by a heel lift, while others even regard 10mm as acceptable.
An important question is, of course, also the age of the patient. Both legs don’t always grow at the same rate, so that a temporary leg length discrepancy might occur during growth phases which later corrects itself.
If the patient is not growing anymore and the short leg is causing problems, a heel lift is, in my humble opinion, advisable.
Surgery is, of course, a very drastic option, and would also prevent you from doing sports for an extended period of time.
Regards,
Robin.
I certainly agree with you by all accounts, Robin! The majority of people do not have significant limb lengths at all, but have a tightness or weakness of a more proximal muscle group, causing an apparent limb length discrepancy that should be addressed by other means.
Dear Krusty,
It's interesting that you bring up this topic, Krusty. Is that what podiatrists generally believe in? Amongst Chiropractors there is some discussion about this issue.
My personal belief is that imbalances of proximal muscle groups can only cause an apparent leg length inequality in a non weight-bearing position (e.g. lying). When standing straight and with your feet parallel, it is mainly passive structures that maintain your posture, and a tight proximal muscle group can, in this position, only result in an apparent leg length discrepancy if one leg is actually lifted off the ground. In my humble opinion the only things that can cause an apparent leg length discrepancy in a weight-bearing position would be unilateral (one-sided)ankle problems (e.g. pronation/ supination), a unilateral genu valgus (knock-knee) or genu varus (bow-leg) or a unilaterally altered angle between the neck and the shaft of the femur. A combination of several of these pathologies would be a possibility as well, of course.
What do you think about this issue?
Regards,
Robin.
Mentioned in earlier posts reagarding this topic was the advice to use a heel lift in the shoe of the shorter leg. Wouldn’t a heel lift of any type also cause a compensatory anterior pelvic rotation on the same side? Better to use a FULL sole lift on the short leg; at least that’s what I’ve recommended to some of my clietns who think a leg length differential is causing their problems.
I too, have a short leg(R side) and actually injured by back over time by trying to lift up the shorter leg. Sometimes it might be better to leave these types of things alone; especially if one’s body is already adapted to the imbalance!
Thank you for the discussion; I think it’s important for all specialities to debate and discuss issues. I can understand your opinion, and it certainly makes sense, but podiatrists (and myself) believe that adduction or flexion contractures of the hip (ligaments, muscles) can cause a limb length discrepancy. I work with two athletes who are notably afflicted with this, but admittedly have insignificant (in terms of treatment) limb length. Having work done on their hip flexors (by chiros) has caused them to be injury-free (unfortunately I have not checked their limb length to make this an air-tight case ). When one of the athletes did not have treatment for about two weeks, he started displaying backache which I believe is the most common symptom of limb length. I plan not to treat this distally, because it is due to a more proximal etiology…This is something both (or all) of us can keep an eye on, to refute or accept my contention. Any comments?
Dear Krusty,
Thanks for your comments.
“podiatrists (and myself) believe that adduction or flexion contractures of the hip (ligaments, muscles) can cause a limb length discrepancy.”
I wouldn’t say that’s impossible, but in terms of posture I believe that these kind of pathologies should present much more obviously with other deviations from the norm (e.g. lateral deviation of sacrum away from the midline, unilateral anterior pelvic tilt, etc.) than with an apparent leg length discrepancy. If you tell a patient whose iliac crests are leveled in bilateral stance to shift their body over to one side you will see, for example, that you need a quite significant amount of lateral deviation before you can observe any difference in height of the two iliums.
“I work with two athletes who are notably afflicted with this, but admittedly have insignificant (in terms of treatment) limb length. Having work done on their hip flexors (by chiros) has caused them to be injury-free (unfortunately I have not checked their limb length to make this an air-tight case ). When one of the athletes did not have treatment for about two weeks, he started displaying backache which I believe is the most common symptom of limb length. I plan not to treat this distally, because it is due to a more proximal etiology…This is something both (or all) of us can keep an eye on, to refute or accept my contention. Any comments?”
Considering that these chiropractic treatments seem to have only resulted in temporary resolutions, I would suggest that the problem might in fact be caused by a structural anomaly such (as an anatomically short leg) that keeps throwing his pelvis and/or lumbar spine out.
Maybe it would therefore be good to actually perform a proper leg length measurement on this athlete. What do you think?
Thanks again for the exchange.
Regards,
Robin.
Littlegreg,
I’ve recently strained my left hamstring twice, so after the second time, I decided to visit an athletic therapist. She found that one of my legs was appearing to be longer than the other - though I’m not sure which one. Anyway, she put me in a bunch of holds and stretches, and by the time she was done, both legs were the same length. She told me that my hips and glut area was very tight, and that was the cause of one leg being longer - seemingly anyway - than the other. She has given me a bunch of stretches to do, to remedy the situation, which is also supposed to remedy my problem with my left hamstring straining on me.
I hope this is of use to you.