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Diagnosing Leg Length Discrepancy
hi, anyone had a leg length discrepancy diagnosed? i've heard of a few
people having to put spacers in one shoe's cleat to even out a leg discrepancy. i'm pretty sure one of mine is a few millimeters off......no matter what i do i can never get my cleats adjusted so that each leg stroke looks identical from above (one knee will move straight up and down, while the other floats in and out a bit). let me know if you have any idea how to get this diagnosed and get the specific length difference (x-rays ?). thanks much! |
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Diagnosing Leg Length Discrepancy
wrote: hi, anyone had a leg length discrepancy diagnosed? i've heard of a few people having to put spacers in one shoe's cleat to even out a leg discrepancy. i'm pretty sure one of mine is a few millimeters off......no matter what i do i can never get my cleats adjusted so that each leg stroke looks identical from above (one knee will move straight up and down, while the other floats in and out a bit). let me know if you have any idea how to get this diagnosed and get the specific length difference (x-rays ?). thanks much! X-rays are the definitive method. Otherwise, differences in joint flexibility and geometry can affect the external appearance. AFAIK, "a few millimeters" is not particularly significant. If the stroke "looks" different side-to-side, I'd guess that you might have a muscle imbalance or something equally soft-tissue related. FWIW: my right leg is about 1/2" shorter than my left, and my right foot points outward at about a ten-degree angle. Aside from getting my cleats' rotational adjustment set correctly, I haven't done anything to compensate for this. I'd like to, but my riding partner (wife) isn't pushing me fast enough to make it matter. Jeff |
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Diagnosing Leg Length Discrepancy
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Diagnosing Leg Length Discrepancy
hi, anyone had a leg length discrepancy diagnosed? yes, I have for years had doctors say, "Has anyone ever told you one leg is shorter than the other?" This was always after the basic test. You lie on your back with your legs out straight. Then, you bend your knees and lift your buttocks off of the table/floor/whatever. You straighten your legs out again and they look at your feet to see if your legs are the same length. But, they never did anything about it other than say, "I thought so!" Finally, one doctor said, "Let's take an x-ray." and, sure enough a standing x-ray showed that my pelvis was tilted! One leg is 3/8" shorter than the other and when a pad of that length was added to my foot, my pelvis tips were horizontal again. Now, he didn't do this all at once. First, he put in a 1/16th" pad in and I walked around on it for 2 weeks. Then, he took that out and put in a 1/8th" pad for two weeks and so on. At the end of the time, he x-rayed me sitting and standing. And, voila! The result? I no longer have a lower back pain on the left side that I have had for years and years. One of my vertebrae was tilted and cramping the space between two of the vertebras. However, I haven't used the pads in my cycling shoes. I haven't messed around with shims, either. What he did was put a pad on my saddle to keep the pelvis in proper position. Until you asked, I wasn't aware that I wasn't using the pads in my cycling shoes. Hmmm. I'll have to ask about that. Maybe it is because the heel position isn't as crucial when wearing cleats? But, I do know that one foot tracks with my toes straight ahead and the other, the shorter leg, likes for the toes to point outward a bit. Maybe you don't have a leg length discrepancy at all--maybe you just have a foot that goes differently from the other foot. I suspect my right foot toes out because of the knee operation.... |
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Diagnosing Leg Length Discrepancy
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Diagnosing Leg Length Discrepancy
yeah, i have tried doing all kinds of angles with the cleat wedges, but
nothing seems to help. my left leg looks perfect, while my right leg floats in and out a bit regardless of how i angle or move the cleats. i've never really had any injuries that would cause this, and i'm pretty young so no joint problems yet. it did seem to get a bit better when i added about 2mm of spacers to the total right side height. just didn't know how to figure out exactly what would make my legs perfectly equal length. seems like x-ray would be the only way. i do know that the chiropractor has told me i have a pelvic tilt, which is probably most of the problem that makes one leg 'seem' shorter. likewise, when running i always seem to be more comfortable on the left side of the road than the right due to the road angle tilt. guess i'll have to look at getting some x-rays.........thanks much |
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Diagnosing Leg Length Discrepancy
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