Help me somebody!!! I know I have seen posts by Cinderella, Plymouth & Bikerchick regarding this problem and I'd like to see if any of you or any others can help me out. One orthopedic dr. told me that my right leg is shorter than the left by 1 1/2 in. and a second orthopedic said it was more like just 1 inch.

Well, I had a simple 1/2 in. heel lift made that I wear in my shoe and I have been using it for about a month. It's the kind that is only for under my heel; it does not go to the base of my toes like Plymouth said (in a different thread) a heel lift should. I have had just some relief of the pain in my entire right leg because before the lift it was starting to get real bad but the pain isn't completely gone or even gone enough to not need medication. And the pain around my knee, hip, buttocks and right quadrant area is still just as bad as before.

I read that a member said something about her pain is like a dagger stuck in her SI joint and I guess that's what my right quad. pain feels like (only I'm not real positive where the SI joint is??). I've always told drs that it feels like a knife is in that area. I have found things on the internet that have shown pictures of the pain zones for problems with Iliopsoas and Quadratus Lumborum and these are some of the areas where I hurt.

I've been trying to get to Physical Therapy. At my last appt. they used the Tens machine, I believe is what it's called, where they put those sticker things on your pain areas and then turn on the stimulator machine. Well, I think the PT put the stickers on the exact areas because as I was laying on my left side and the stickers were on my right, my whole right hip would totally move forward when the machine got to the highest level. My exact side pain was replicated for a couple seconds as it was on it's highest level and I would think, "I can't take this" but then it would drop back down and I'd be fine til the next "contraction".

PT is having me do stomach tightening exercises and stretches since my right leg is extremely tight. After I stretch it I have to slowly get it back to a resting position because it hurts too much. I also have to do this after I've been sitting Indian style for any length of time...I have to get up and straighten my leg real slow because it's so stiff. I used to be very limber and this whole situation with my leg is so different to me.

The PT also told me that my pelvis keeps being rotated but even after they try to correct it, by my next appt. it's back to being crooked again. A chiropractor told me that I have mild scoliosis and I don't know for me, which came first. I've also been told that I was born with this weird thing in my right hip area (forget what he called it) and the chiro thought that could be the reason for the leg difference.

If I stand in front of a mirror naked, I can totally see the difference in, excuse me here, my vagina and from behind, my butt cheeks. My right side for front & back are lower! If I put a shoe on with the heel lift then look in the mirror, it's pretty close to being normal. But right now I still have the 1/2 in. lift and I'm waiting to get the full 1 in. lift made so with that one it should be perfectly even.

I get more pain when I sit for longer periods of time...like now, I keep having to change my postion from right buttcheek to left buttcheek, and also if I stand for long periods of time my leg will start throbbing and aching or burning and I will feel the right side pain more pronounced. And I absolutely cannot lay or sleep on my right side.

Anyway, what I would like to know from any of you, is this:

1. Am I messing myself up by not having the heel lift that goes to my toes?
2. Do you think I could be having myofascial pain in my right quad. area?
3. What can be done to keep my pelvis in the proper place?
4. Is there anything else that Phys. Therapy should be having me do?
5. What if I wear the correct shape & size heel lift but still don't get better?
Is there other tests that can be done or should I just go back to the super
nice orthopedic dr?

Basically, if anyone has any input for me, I will appreciate it. I don't know why it took til I was 40 to find all this out...I never had any problems or pain as I was growing up & playing sports! I do walk with an exaggerated wiggle though...the boys in school used to always tease me about it! I want to thank those who read this super long (boring) post of mine and hopefully down the road now that I'll be posting here, I can be of some help to someone also.

Take care and thanks again! ddanna

Ddanna,
Hi. I have a discrepency of an 1/8 of an inch which used to be an inch and a half. Mine was from tight muscles and not from bone. Are you sure that yours is from bone and not muscle? But it does sound like it is from bone (your spine) or (hip) since you walked different since when you were young.
Did you get x-rays of your spine/hips or any MRI's yet? Scoliosis could definitely give you a discrepency. A hip problem could as well. I think a full heel lift done by a professional orthotist would help significantly.
I think what they are doing in therapy sounds about right. Are they doing any pulling of your leg that is shorter. My therapist called it a shotgun where they pull the leg hard and quick. I know this sound bad but actually it helped lengthen my leg and I felt so good afterwards. As far as your leg returning back to the shorten position upon your next PT visit, I think you have to give it more time. Mine took a few months. I also was very good about doing the stretches at home (quadraceps, illopsoas, back muscles, calf muscles). This is very important. Also, they could do ultrasound on the illopsoas and quadracep to help with the stretching and pain.
You probably do have myofascial pain. That usually comes along with tight muscles.
The therapist should be doing some manual therapy on you like what I mentioned before about pulling your leg. Also, laying on your back with your knees bent, the therapist puts his arm between your legs and you squeeze your legs together and the opposite (the therapist tries to close your legs and you resist him or her by trying to open your legs. This is all part of trying to get your pelvic in correct allignment.
Sounds like the doc, therapist, and chiropractor all are telling you good bits of info. concerning your problem.
If you don't like the current ortho., go to another and get an second opinion. If you only knew how many docs I have seen in the past few months. But it was all worth it for me because so far I have avoid surgery.
Good luck. Let me know if I can answer any other questions for you.
MPT

Thank you so much, MPT!!! I can't write back to you right now but tomorrow I will have more to say to you and some questions regarding you fixing your discrepancy. Talk to you tomorrow, ddanna

Hello MPT,

Thanks again for your informative post...I am going to copy it for the physical therapist because I can never remember how to explain things the way they were explained to me!! I want to check into the tight muscles being the cause of my pain...when I stretch my legs, the right one hurts a lot while the left one feels like a nice, good stretch. I've had them tell me in the past that the muscles around the lower right quadrant area of my stomach are really tight. I have cried during the therapy when they have to push in on that area of my stomach.

When I walk, I do have a wiggle but no limp; even before I started wearing the heel lift I never had a limp. I guess the heel lift eased some of the right leg pain but not the right quadrant area pain. If I stand for too long though, my right leg will start bothering me no matter if I am wearing the lift.

I have only had an MRI of my back in 1999. That just showed a bulging disc at L5-S1. I do some stretches at home but not as often as I guess I should. They have only showed me a few so far. If I do have any myofascial pain, how would it be diagnosed? I believe my referral to PT was supposed to include massaging but no one has offered it; I will be asking at my next appt tho.

I have had the therapist pull my leg during treatment. At my last appt I got the feeling that the therapist was scratching her head about why I have this problem. She noticed there was clicking noises coming from my right hip area but didn't say what it could be or anything, just seemed concerned. I guess I need to get your post and a bunch of questions together to bring to my next appt.

Can you explain to me in further detail how your leg disc. was discovered and all you went thru to get it back to being pretty close to your other leg length? I've been to a ton of dr. appts as well, so I do know what you mean about that. What do you think was the cause of your muscles on the one side to become sooo tight that it would change your leg lengths?

Well, I hope you have time to answer my questions. I look forward to hearing what you have to say. Have a good day!

Ddanna

I have had back pain for 8 years and still trying to find out why. I have a mild rotation of the spine and my left hip is about 8mm higher in xray, however no one thinks this is the cause of my pain. I have had physio, chiro, osteopath, massage, podiatrist and 2 back surgeons. The podiatrist said my right leg is the same length as the left but functions shorter, she doesnt want to give me a lift as she says my body will have compensated, but i say it hasnt because of the pain, chronic muscle tightness and now my spine is tilting more and has bulging discs, bone dessication etc etc. I cant get anyone to help me. The surgeons insult me by saying my xrays look ok. My right shoulder is also lower. I have tried stretching for years but nothing works. I am now trying a shoe lift, I am starting with a low one as I dont really know what the difference is. I too have spent a lot of time on the internet looking up short leg stuff, there are different opinions on it, some say the body can cope with a shorter leg and others say a small difference can cause a lot of pain. I wish you good luck, I have spent a LOT of money and have no results, I am pretty angry about it.

I have read that when having heel lifts it is best to have only half the amount of discrepancy as the body does compensate partially.

Hi Cinderella,

I'm sorry that you are also having to struggle with getting some answers to what exactly is causing your pain. This is just driving me crazy! I'm hoping MPT will post again and tell us more about what they went thru to get their legs pretty close in length.

I stopped wearing my heel lift for a few days cuz I just don't know if it's helping or not. It gets so confusing...sometimes I think it is helping and then there's times I think it's not. I figured I would have some extra pain once I started wearing the lift but I would think that I'm well past that time frame now and I just don't have any real positive things to say. I thought my leg was feeling better with the lift but the last 2 days didn't feel any worse without it.

Maybe MPT was correct in wondering if my problem is muscular...from muscles that are tight!! But what causes a certain muscle in a particular area to be so tight? What am I doing wrong? I go to PT this week so I am totally going to get into all this. I will post whatever I find out too. I was pushing my fingers in my lower right quadrant area where I get my deep pain and I could feel this long, hard thing. I wonder if you can feel when muscles are real tight?

I also get pain in the area where the upper leg meets the pelvis/hip area...does anyone know the area I'm talking about...is there a name for this area so I can read about it? It seems like a pretty sensitive area and I have no idea what could be there. It's the worst kind of aching though. And my buttcheek has pain in it.

Well, I better get ready for bed. I feel lucky that I can pretty much sleep thru the night. My husband says that I do toss and turn and moan a lot so I'm probably not getting the real good sleep but at least I don't have to get up to take any medicine.

If anyone has any ideas about what muscles are connected and could be the cause of all these areas, I would so love to hear them. Thank you much.

Ddanna

Hi Danna, really wish I could help you with your questions! I have alot of the same pains you're talking about, but don't know what's causing it either! I'd be equally interested in the answer! I'm sure someone will come along shortly that knows, take care!!

out2lunch

Hi Out2lunch,

I like your name! What are your exact symptoms and have you had any tests done? Do you have the leg length discrepancy? I'm hoping MPT will come along and post more about their experience...it sounded like they had made some big strides.

Well, hopefully we can keep this thread going until those of us with this problem can get info on correcting it.

Talk to you later,

Ddanna

Morning,

Does anyone have any updates on this subject? I went to physical therapy one more time where they also did traction on me...it was my first time. I'm not real happy with this place though and will not be going back for pt until I can find a better one. I don't like the way this one is run and since this is the only one I've ever been to, I don't know if the things I don't like about it are normal for a pt office? Also, the pt seems so unpleasant; like she's always mad about something and I don't like to see someone wear their problems on their sleeve EVERYTIME I go in there. The dr that filled out my referral specified for me to have some type of massage but when I inquired about it at the pt office, the therapist told me it's up to them to determine if I would need that or not. I feel that it could be possible, like a previous member had posted, that I have some myofascial issues. I was doing some reading on the subject and I have most of the symptoms...but who knows, I've been searching for years so I'm not real optimistic about that being the answer.

Can anyone tell me how a physical therapy appt should go? Is there always a lot of time waiting in between exercises for the next instruction? My longest appt lasted 1 1/2 hrs due to this. The therapist did say that I am very tight in my psoas area. I don't know if it's due to the leg discrepancy or not. Does anyone know if muscles can be tight because they are protecting something that could be wrong internally???? Just trying to leave no stone unturned here. :rolleyes:

Lately, besides all the other pain areas I have, my hip has really been bothering me. It hurts ALL the time. Does anyone know if it would be acceptable for me to ask my dr for a referral to get an MRI of the hip area? I did have xrays but nothing showed up...but then again, the people reading these xrays didn't even catch the leg discrepancy so I guess I'm not real convinced.

I'd love to hear from anyone that can answer my questions or that is going through similar problems. Does anyone out there with a leg discrepancy have any updates to report???? Hope to hear from you soon.

Take care, Ddanna

dd,

Did you have a leg length xray done, they should xray your leg bone from hip joint (femur) down. My husband has ended up with an inch difference because
he broke it badly, and his neurologist has definatley stated it WILL cause back problems due to a thing called gait mechanics. I.E. he walks like a penguin, he had since goofed up his back bad, had surgery, and needs more and is now a life long chronic pain sufferer. Please see someone who will give you a full shoe lift that is attached on the sole. After you get it they should lay this thing like a level across your hips and see if their level. I personally think all that exercise is a waste if you have a documented bone length discrepancy (for that part) you NEED a proper shoe lift ASAP. Hope I've helped you...

Hi Boaz,

Thank you for giving me this information about your husband. Does he have pain in his hip/upper buttocks/thigh/knee/lower right quadrant of abdomen? That's pretty much where mine is concentrated at. I tried doing some stretches yesterday and I wanted to cry like a baby!!! I cannot believe how tight my right leg is. It's not even a good stretch, it's just painful...like my tendons are too short.

I pretty much feel the way you do about the exercises at physical therapy...I know I haven't given it enough time but to be honest, when I'm there, I always feel that it isn't going to permanently correct my problem and that's what I'm looking for. I don't want to be going to pt for the rest of my life...too much money!!!

I have no idea what orthodics are but I'll do a search on the internet to check it out...I know that my ins. wouldn't cover the cost ($30.) for this simple heel lift I wear but supposedly they will if it's a lift that attaches to my leg or something like that. Is that what orthodics are?

I don't believe my xray was done from hip on down so I want to check into this as well. Did you say that your husband broke his leg and the short leg is a result from that? I haven't had any broken bones; the chiro says it was something I was born with...I need to have him write down for me exactly what it is. I hadn't been bothered by it until approx. 2-3 yrs. ago. Never growing up did I complain of any pain.

So your husband wears the full heel lift, right? Please tell me this does give him some relief!!! I don't want to be a chronic pain patient for the rest of my life!! I want this fixed.

Well, thanks again for the info and I hope you can answer these last few questions I have.

Have a good day, Ddanna

Ddanna,

Hi there, well to start my husband does have hip pain and leg pain, but it's from his back...pinched nerves that all started with the inital leg injury and just snowballed. I've dug out his records to tell you what all his doctor says about this kind of thing...his leg doctor that treated his break (put in a plate with nine screws that eventually had to be removed at a years point) his break was right at the end of his femur at the joint area where it looks like a knuckle...like two knuckles..it was split right up the middle and off to one side and then spiraled in another spot. Apparently it was bad enough that they put it together the best they could, and when it healed it was shorter than the other. His leg doctor notes an inch discrepancy. O.k. take this and couple it with his doctor not getting him a lift in time, while he's sent back to work to walk like a duck, and then add a lift injury because he can no longer do the "proper squatting technique" to lift he finished off his back on that lift of a 30 lb. object.
So he finished his back off waiting for the appointment to get the leg bone length study. They had to use special xray films that they hardly use anymore cause their so long, I think they ended up using two together. They sent him to PT, also it's called "consertative therapy" or bull crap in his case. No amount of exercise or stretching is gonna change a bones length or a disc that is ruptured and pinching nerves at the root (that's where they come out between your vertebra to go out to specific spots in your body. I can't tell you what to do, but if you can find out for sure that your leg bone is shorter on one side, get some doctor to give you a scrip for those shoes. Yes it's called orthotics, you can take a favorite pair in or order some from their books. They just take them and glue the piece on the one you need lifted . Put they told us some shoe soles...what their made of doesn't hold the glue good, so you'll have to check with them. My husbands neurosurgeon has written two depositions stating the facts about his leg length discrepancy causing his back problems.
It's all just according to if your actual bone is shorter, if it's twisted in position someway, that would cause other muscles and ligaments to give you problems, even to the Sacro Iliac joint,there's your hamstring, ect. They tried to stretch him out and it hurt him worse. He's had a laminectomy where those nerve roots I was talking about, they basically go in and "bore out" those openings so the nerve running out of it has more room. Then you get into bone spurs which develope because of the rubbing of bones and all that's out of alignment. I can't tell you how much those orthotics cost cause workers comp picked it up, but it's cheaper than back surgery and life long back pain and problems, that's what I'd tell your insurance if they balk at the cost, but try to find some doc that will prescribe them for you....


let me know how it goes and if I can help more...

Happy Holidays!!

Boaz



p.s. yes ddanna it is a full coverage of the shoe, his boots look kinda like a Herman Munster, but his dress shoes aren't that noticable. He doesn't hurt in his abdomen any, just hip, buttock and runs down his legs, mainly right, try to find out what that is you have specifically, I'll try to help by looking in my orthopedics books. and relief....no his back problems are beyond any shoe lift relieving it, it just staves off worse damage now, he's in a pain clinic treatment who their recommending thos electrode implants to "block pain signals" they don't work for everyone, and his other option is a full back fusion, complete removal of his discs and put in rods and screws to hold his vertebra in place, so please get yourself some help, maybe an orthopedic doctor would be better that a chiro?

I have the same thing from mild Scoliosis. My right leg is longer than the left and points outwards. I use to have a lot of thing burning and stinging and Sciatica type pain. Mine has gone away with PT though. It won't happen over night, that's for sure. I'm sure your PT told you that. Your body has probably been out of alignment for so long that it is going to take awhile to get back to normal.

I think the shoe heel lift is a good idea honestly. I'm not trying to scare you, but also you could develop quite a few foot problems from this as well! I have a lot of pain in my right foot now due to it getting the brunt of my weight all the time.

Good luck ~ Katt

Hi Boaz,
Sorry it's taken me awhile to get back here. I so appreciate the details of your husbands ordeal...and what an ordeal! That is really such a shame that he now has an ongoing problem due to his break! Maybe he will be a good candidate for the pain pump hopefully.
After the first of the year, I will make an appt to see the orthopedic dr that was the only one to really notice the length discrepancy. I want to tell her about the things that haven't worked, about the things that you have said and ask all the questions I have thought of.
I know the lift should be holding me off for futher damage and pain but I didn't want to stay at this pain level...I want to end some of it. I will try to get someone to tell me exactly what my leg problem is from. But I totally agree that if it is a short bone issue then why would I want to waste the money on pt?
Xavier mentioned in the above post that foot problems could arise and I don't know if this has anything to do with my leg or not but I have been getting right foot pain and I have a bunion I guess, on my right foot by the big toe that has been just starting to bother me. I never wear any shoes but flip flops and slip on types so I know it's not from squeezing into any shoes like when I used to work. But it pretty much looks ugly and throbs every day.
Well, I better go get breakfast started. Thank you so much for communicating with me on this issue. I hope your husband gets his leg problem figured out so he can get relief!
Talk to you after I get some more answers. So, look for this thread if you can, after the first of the year. Have a good day! Ddanna

Hi Ddanna, me too. I have suffered for over 25 yrs with back problems. myleft leg is about an inch shorter. When I was younger I wore an insert when I did aerobics, but still had severe pain, without the lift I don't think I could have done aerobics at all. My shorts are so noticeable when I wear them, always trying to adjust them. I too have scloiosis now. My neuro sd not to worry about the leg length, my body has adjusted to it? no way, I believe, thats why I have had all these problems! Now since my l5/s1 is collapsed I feel the difference is much greater. My feet,the tops and ankles are pins and needles, also get alot of leg cramps and foot cramps, hell when your driving and you can't put your foot down to stop! Where can I get a good set of support lifts?????????
I hope you have better days to come!!! :bouncing:

Hi Cardinal!

Wow, it sounds as if you have it worse than me!! I'm sorry. I think I want to have another MRI done soon (last one was around 3 yrs. ago) because my right side is just so much worse than it was at that time. My bulging disc showed at L5 S1. What kind of pain do you feel from the short leg? Is most of your pain on the side of the short leg? Also, what does the pain feel like from the collapsed disc? I'm assuming worse than what you had before! I used to get a lot of pins & needles feelings in my right leg but not really much anymore...it's just mostly the throbbing pain. And I guess I would say it is mostly focused in the hip area right now. Like, if I bend my body to the left...OMG! That hurts so bad and I can't even go very far at all. When I'm sitting and I lean forward, that really hurts the hip area too. It is such a different pain that I keep wondering "what did I do?" And when I say hip area, it's not just the side, it's like the upper part of my right buttocks or low back...I can even feel a hard knot there and it's not on the other side. The knot is the width of two fingers making the peace sign. When I push on it, it does cause pain as well. Does anyone know what that area would be considered? Are these knots just really tight muscles???

I'm sorry to go on & on about all this but I would like to hear from as many people as I can that have this problem. Thanks a lot to anyone that can offer help to me & the other people with this problem!!!

Take care, Ddanna

Hi,

Just bumping for Cardinal and the others to see how everyone is doing!! Cinderella ~ did you get the shoe lift & is it helping? MPT ~ I had some questions for you in a previous post here...could you see if you could answer them? Out2lunch ~ How are you doing? Boaz ~ How is your husband? Is he closer to getting that pain pump?

I'm still doing bad. Pain is still there and I can't even get relief from the pain medication. Haven't gone back to physical therapy because I didn't like the one I was going to. With the holidays being so hectic, I didn't have time to locate another one yet. Soon though.

Does anyone have any updates or anything they'd like to add to this thread? I hope everyone is getting closer to a resolution to this problem.

Talk to you guys soon I hope,
Ddanna

Hi Ddanna, how are you doing? I bought some shoe inserts and put them only in my shorter leg shoe. I've been trying to wear only one slipper around the house to compensate. This seems to help alittle. I'm trying the acupuncture on the 6th. Hope you all are feeling better! :wave:

Hi ddanna,

A heel lift will correct LLD but should not be used because it also creates rotation and torque in the pelvis and the spine. In the long run this can deteriorate vertebral discs. This is the reason for the full shoe lift to evenly lift the entire foot.

A lift will usually relieve at least some problems but usually the muscles have been in trouble for a while trying to accomodate so will need therapy to recover. So don't except a lift to be a cure all.

A fair trial period for a lift is about a month. Once you decide to go, stay with it every day so you are not confusing the balance system by switching back and forth from lift to no-lift. Unless the lift makes you worse - then you should stop because something is wrong.

And it is true a lift of half the LLD is a good way to go especially with large differences.

The half inch lift is quite large to go inside the shoe. But if it fits and is comfortable that's okay. Usually about 3/16 inch is the biggest that will fit inside the shoe. Larger lifts need to be built into the shoe between the sole and the upper. Yes, this is expensive, about $60, and it is difficult to find shoes that can be modified. Most modern shoes are molded not sewn and don't come apart for the modification. Rockport makes shoes and sells the parts dyed to match.

The correct way to diagnose LLD is by an xray of the femoral heads, the top of the leg bone. The patient is standing and careful not to sway or bend at the knees or pelvis. If the film is square in the tray when the image is taken it is a simple matter to draw horizontal lines at the top of each femoral head on the image. The distance between them is the LLD. The procedure is described in Travell's Trigger Point Manual Volume 2, Part 1, Chapter 4. Be wary of practitioners who check LLD by checking only the heels or by using tape measures. Xraying the whole leg is not necessary. Travell's protocol is much simpler and accurate if the patient is standing correctly.

If you have in your area a massage or physical therapist certified in St. John Method Neuromuscular Therapy they have a good system to evaluate and estimate LLD. A series of measurements of bony landmarks drawn on a chart will distinguish between pelvic tilt due to LLD, hemipelvis or muscular imbalance. The xray is the definitive diagnostic tool.

If your therapy provides only temporary relief the LLD may be perpetuating the problems. Fix the posture first, then treat the muscles. Stop chasing symptoms!

take care,

~p

Hi Ddanna,

We go see the pain doc this week and will discuss things further. Workers comp somehow found out about his aneurysm...the reason we wanted to keep it to ourselves is for hopes of a buyout (settlement) to end the weekly payments that their ordered to do, sometimes they'll buy you out for a lesser lump sum than what they'd eventually payout to you over the course. But they may think he's "not gonna be around long" and as he says wait til he croaks. If they have any glimmer of hope that they can outlast him they will, and with that info they may just do that?? But anyway, we have to seek info from his brain neuro to see if these implants was even fesible at this time, they may not want him to be under any surgery...I don't know yet. And he's not fully convinced yet, we need more discussions and all from other people who've experienced it also. Talking about the shoe thing, he still walks like a "penguin" when his pain hits, like today he just walked across the yard to our storage building and he was walking like that from the pain and fatigue in his hips and legs, right leg esp.

Hope you all have a better year, and find relief...:)

ddanna-
Sorry for not responding right away. Usually, I get a messsage that tells me that someone has responded to my message but this time I didn't.
I think I know what your problem is. I, too have a problem at the L5-S1 level. A year and a half ago, I was diagnosed with a right paracentral herniated disc there. I have been to hell and back. Been out of work a year. Also, have a tear in my L4-L5 disc. Hard to sit for long periods of time. Also, can barely carry my handbag with increased discomfort. I have pain in my mid/low back. Have tightness in my right buttock, side of my thigh, front of the beginning of my thigh. I also have occasional tingling in the side of my thigh, front of my thigh, side of my calf and foot. It appears that you have similar signs as me. If I were you, I would get another MRI. It may be possible that your bulge has gotten bigger and is now a herniated disc. You can also get this kind of tightness with a bulge. YOu also may have another bulge in another level (don't mean to scare you). If it were me, I would rather want to know what is going on in there than not know.
My left foot is shorter because the right muscles around the hip region are shorter and tight. The therapist should be doing some massage on you to get rid of the spasms which is the tightness you are experiencing. I don't know why they don't want to do massage. Fascia is connective tissue that surrounds all the skeletal muscles in our bodies. Myofascial pain syndrome is when it tightens up because of any injury to an area like a herniated disc. There is a way to relax this with massage.
Currently, I am going to a chiropractor that specializes in active release to treat the tight muscles. After he is done, my legs are the same length so I know in my case, it is muscular and not skeletal meaning my bones. YOu also have to do a lot of stretching as I stated in my last message. I had two epidural injections and one facet block injection that helped a lot with the tightness. I don't know if you would be a candidate for that.
In my case, the disc is out of it's normal position and is touching a nerve root. This is causing my tightness and pain. I think that the herniation has gotten better but the chronic spasms have been left behind. So hopefully they will relax by the chiropractic services.
I hope this has helped you. Sounds like you need to get to a good practioner who can really do some hands on stuff with you.
MPT

ddanna,
OOPs. I meant my left [/B]leg[B] is shorter than my right!

Thank you all for responding with the updates & new info! I need to run some errands but thought I'd take a peak here real quick...I will write back later today as I am real excited about some of these posts. Thanks guys!
Ddanna

Hi Guys,

Well, I'm a day late getting back here...but I thank all of you for keeping me informed of how it's going for you. I print out all the information you guys give me so I can use them for reference at dr appts. I'm calling my family dr today to make an appt with him so I can get a referral for another MRI. I think MPT is correct and that should be my next step.

MPT ~ Everything you said makes a lot of sense! Now I'm on a mission to find an extremely good physical therapy center that will not have a problem doing the necessary treatments on me. I may not get ins. to cover the cost but I am so sick of being treated by people that either don't care or don't seem to know what they are doing. Your situation has given me a lot of hope and I'm happy some things have gotten better for you.

Boaz ~ I'm sorry your husband is having such a hard time. I didn't know he had an aneurysm!! Wow, how does he continue to go out in the yard and work? My dad is like that though; he will be hurting but will still do his yard work and hobbies all the while feeling pain. Maybe it's a guy thing? I pretty much give up with my pain. I hope he gets some kind of medication from the pain clinic that will help him to feel better. Good luck with the insurance issue...did you hear back?

Plymouth ~ Thanks for the informative post! I have been wearing my heel lift for much over a month with very little exception and I don't notice that much of an improvement. I have stopped wearing it for a few days here & there, like yesterday, but something weird happens when I do. I feel a real sharp and pinching type of pain to the right side of my low back...maybe in the L5 S1 area where my bulging disc was dx 3 yrs ago?????? So, that's another reason why I want to get a current MRI done. Is 1 inch LLD pretty large or not? I was going to go get the 1 inch heel lift made to see if I will feel better with that but I think I will wait til after the MRI. I have been told that my pelvis is tilted so I'm kind of worried that the heel lift I use is making things worse. I do have more pain in my hip area & the crease area where the leg meets the pelvis, than I did before. I haven't been dx with the LLD by the correct way you stated...they used measure tapes! I will check with my dr on the xrays though. And I'm going to call around to find some place that knows the St. John Method of therapy that you talked about. I have always wondered if the location where I live lacks the correct treatment and knowledge. I'm in Riverside County, CA.

Well, thanks again for all the great information. I will start making my calls today and will post when I find out anything helpful. Keep in touch if you all have anything else come up also.

Take care, Ddanna

Hi Ddanna,

Well actually he wasn't doing yard work just walking to the building to get something....he's about beyond doing alot...it's so hard for us both to accept..but I'm sure everyone that faces that feels the same. He was approved for SS disability so hopefully that will just kick in in time for medicare ins, after COBRA runs out.
Today the pain doc gave him Neurontin to take....I'm about leery of anything new since that annie rupture (annie is what they call them on the aneurysm boards). I've got to get all our medical stuff together for reimbursement to send to them......oh joy!!!! Wished they'd just set up a charge account or give us a card (regarding workers comp).

Hope your doing better....everyone....

p.s. if anyone wants to chime in on the Neurotonin let me know?

Thanks

Ddanna,
When you get a chance, I want you to check out the website [removed]. This is what the chiro is doing to me. It is really helping with the tightness in my right leg and buttock. On the website, you can click on an icon to find practioners that are certified in your area. This is definitely worth looking into. It is not manipulation. It is a form of stretching out the muscles. Keep me posted. I do feel for you as I have been there and back. But I am much looser than I was a month ago.
MPT

Hello,

MPT ~ Thank you for all the info on Active Release...I already checked into it on the internet and was able to find 3 doctors in my area!!! It sounds really good. I just got the okay to get my 2nd MRI. If that comes out fine and the L5S1 bulging disc hasn't herniated, I am making an appt. with one of those guys...I'm very hopeful! Please check in every now & then and let me know how the active release is working for you, okay? I'm sure you'll get everything resolved...you are so close already! Oh, and I'm going to go to the bookstore and buy the book that was advertised on the AR site...you know the one right? (I don't know if I'm allowed to state the name here.)

Boaz ~ Has your husband started taking the Neurontin yet? I was prescribed that about a year ago but after 2 weeks of feeling really weird in the morning, like fuzzy & hungover, I stopped taking it. I'm glad now because I had heard about a news story where they were saying it was being pushed on everyone for every ailment. Do a search about it and this article may come up. But also, through my internet searches, I have read where some people have been helped by it. So I guess it's just "each to his own". I hope he is doing better. That charge account for workers comp sounds like a great idea...too bad they don't have that, would be so much easier on you guys.

Well, I'll check in after I've had the MRI and please, if you guys ever have any new info come up, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks for all the help!

Ddanna

Ddanna,
Your welcome. Definitely let us know when you get the results from the MRI. But even if you do have a herniation, you can still get the active release technique done. It is not manipulation so it won't do anything to the disc- not to worry. Another website I forgot to tell you about is [removed]. This is another treatment performed by chiropractors that can help with the spasms and tightness in your muscles. What I did is I found a chiropractor that was certified in both the active release and graston technique. That way I could get both treatments so if one doesn't work for some reason, they could try the other one.
I have already had the graston done and it helps as well.
As you have done, it is unfortunate, but we all must take control of our own health and do the research in order to get the best treatment for recovery. You, as I, and so many others have done this. Continue to be positive and persevere. I congratulate you!
MPT

Is 1 inch LLD pretty large or not?

Yes, one inch is pretty large.

The St. John Insitute is in Pinellas Park, Florida. They will respond to requests for referrals and provide the name(s) of certified practitioners in your state. The board rules only allow name, city and state for doctors and clinics. I'm sure you can do the rest. :)

Hi again!

Oops MPT, I guess we shouldn't have been discussing websites. The mods were quick in removing the 2nd site you wanted me to go to but I was able to find the website by the technique you mentioned. I looked up providers and there are 4 in my area...I'm going to call them after we get back from a short trip we're going on tomorrow. Now I'm even MORE excited with this info and the technique Plymouth mentioned. I found the toll free # to call the St. John Inst. and I will request a list of providers in my area for this as well.

Yea!!! :bouncing: Thank you Plymouth & MPT for the info. I'm just going to have good thoughts that these could be the answers to my problems. Oh, Plymouth...I specifically asked the orthopedic if my 1 inch difference was large enough to be concerned about and he said "no, not really"! I really don't have any faith in him but luckily I won't need to see him anymore now that I've got the okay to get the MRI...anyway, it didn't seem like they wanted to see me either! Also, when I read off some info from some of the posts you guys had written, he told me to be careful what I read on the internet. I told him if I hadn't read this stuff I wouldn't have known to be requesting the MRI and of course, learning about the alternative techniques!! Geez!

Well thanks for all the help! I'll check in later.

Ddanna