"The term syndrome refers to the association of characteristics that often occur together, so that the presence of one feature alerts the physician to the presence of the others." Wikipedia.
Any professional develops a way of looking at the world according to our experiences and this poster would be characteristic of how chiropractors notice people in day to day life, as well as in our clinics.
One of the common signals I look for is if a person keeps their weight evenly balanced on their feet, or do they tend to perch consistently on one leg. |
Often a person will try to compensate for a short leg by perching on short leg, usually with the other (longer) leg bent at the knee and turned out... effectively shortening the long leg. NOT GOOD. Rather than balancing the pelvis, fatigue and strain usually causes the pelvis to over compensate. In either case, the distortion of the spine unevenly loads the joints and muscles, and promotes faster wear and tear, and injury.
You may have heard of the If you, or someone you care about, is persistently perching on one leg, or complaining of back pain, this needs to be evaluated. The sooner the better
The sooner the better.
How to manage short leg syndrome: Perching on one leg, postural deviation, spinal scoliosis are a few of the more obvious ways to bring attention to a potentially short leg. I will also have the patient lie both prone and supine and check the leg lengths. Sometimes a leg only appears short due to a distortion in the body alignment. Correcting posture and balancing out the body will usually relieve and functional short leg. The most accurate way to evaluate leg length is to take an x-ray of the pelvis while you are standing....however... I will rarely order an x-ray for this purpose alone. Usually, I make a clinical decision.
The easiest method to then manage the leg length discrepancy is to add a shim... or heel lift to the shoe. A simple and inexpensive cork wedge might do the trick. A heel lift can also be added to custom foot orthotics which may be necessary and beneficial to control the mechanics of the foot and its effects on the ascending kinetic chain (check out the video below) . You can only add up to a 7 mm thick lift inside the shoe before the shoe becomes ill fitting and is prone to slipping. Larger leg length discrepancies require additional material to be added to the outside of the heel, usually by a shoe repair professional. Such external lifts are well tolerated and can only be seen when a person is looking for them.