Short Leg Syndrome

A short leg syndrome can be the underlying contributing factor with many structural problems, such as hip pain, knee pain, low back pain, sciatica, neck pain, muscle pulls, etc.

The most important consideration when looking at a short leg syndrome is to determine if it is functional or anatomical. Functional means that the two legs are basically even in length but appear different due to some other contributing factor (i.e. rotated pelvis). And anatomical short leg means that one leg is actually shorter than the other leg. In many cases, there will be a combination of both functional and anatomical and proper recommendations need to take that into consideration.

The way to determine the type of short leg is to simply measure from the center point of the greater trochanter (large hip bone on side of body) to the outside ankle bone with the patient lying on stomach.

If there is a difference in measurement, then a lift can be considered. The lift should typically equal about 50% of the difference between the leg lengths. When there is a functional difference, a Structural Fingerprint Exam should be done to determine why the leg appears short.