Functional Leg Discrepancy and Muscle Pain
Test something out for us - sit with both of your legs fully extended in front of you. Do you notice one foot extends slightly past the other? You may have a leg discrepancy, which may be causing your back, hip, or knee pain. However, the truth is, it’s pretty unlikely that your legs are actually different lengths.
If you’ve been diagnosed with a leg discrepancy by a medical doctor or chiropractor, there’s a good chance the problem is the result of muscular imbalances. Don’t worry – your leg bones probably aren’t different lengths. You simply just need some rehabilitative exercises to even out your left and right or your front and back.
In this article, our Muscle Activation Technique specialist, Maurice Harden, explains what can cause a functional leg discrepancy, why it can lead to muscle pain, and steps you can take to even out.
The Road to Functional Leg Discrepancy
The majority of people have a dominant side, using their hand or leg on one side of the body more frequently. Maybe you are right-handed and kick a soccer ball with your left foot, or perhaps you chop veggies with your left hand while sinking into your right hip.
If you aren’t properly engaging your core and other muscles and stand or sit for long periods of time, you may find yourself hiking up one hip. This can lead to overly tight obliques and iliopsoas muscles (as well as a host of other issues) on one side of the body.
Associated Conditions & Symptoms
When we are chronically unknowingly adjusting our posture and movement to make up for a leg discrepancy, it can lead to many uncomfortable conditions and symptoms including:
Hip issues, including pain, tendinitis, bursitis, and osteoarthritis
Iliopsoas syndrome
Snapping hip syndromes
Knee issues, including pain, tendinitis, bursitis, osteoarthritis, and frequent injuries
Iliotibial band (IT band) syndrome
Stress fractures
Ankle issues, including pain, tendinitis and recurring injuries
Bunions
Foot pronation or supination
Idiopathic scoliosis
Sciatica
Disc degeneration
Tightness and pain in the neck and shoulders
The Anatomy Behind Functional Leg Discrepancy
A functional leg length discrepancy, versus an anatomical leg discrepancy, is a structural result of how you’re using your body instead of unequal bone lengths. It can also be diagnosed as a kind of pelvic tilt, which may have multiple contributing factors.
Lateral Issues
Chronic tightness in one or more of the following three muscles is likely the root of your issue:
Quadratus lumborum (deep back muscles)
Internal and external obliques (the side of your abs)
Iliopsoas (deep muscles connecting the spine to the hips & legs)
All of these core muscles are responsible for laterally tilting the pelvis as well as providing spinal stability. We use these muscles almost constantly, so it’s easy for them to become tight if we aren’t using them properly. Since the entire musculoskeletal system acts as a kind of pulley system, misalignments in one area will lead to compensation and pain throughout the body.
Rotational Issues
While lateral imbalances are likely a major contributing cause to your pain, there is possibly also a rotational element to the dysfunction. It’s quite common for there to be some rotational compensation of the hips, pelvis, and spine.
Rotational issues can make a proper diagnosis slightly more complicated since there are several planes on which the pelvis can be rotated. One hip may be internally rotated.
Another scenario may involve one hip being tilted forward while the other is tilted back, known as pelvic torsion. A rotation on the transverse plane is when one hip is jutting forward while the other is pulled backward.
Rotational issues at the pelvis will cascade up the spine, leading to issues within our vertebrae and compensation in our shoulders or head position.
Collapsed Arch
An additional problem that may lead to a functional leg discrepancy is a collapsed arch. This can lead the individual to place more of their weight on the leg with the collapsed foot, resulting in a lateral imbalance.
You can see that there are many contributing factors to a functional leg discrepancy. That’s why it’s important to not assume you know what the problem is and see a trained professional, such as one of our functional movement experts at Dynamic Fitness & Rehabilitation.
Learn More > Why Are My Muscles Always Tight?
How Do We Develop Chronic Muscle Tightness that Causes Issues?
You may be wondering how this occurred in your body in the first place. Or why it’s happened to you and not your coworker who sits at their desk for the same hours you do.
First of all, it’s important to note that the contraction of our muscles is directed by our nervous system. As we repeat actions over and over, the nervous system learns and responds by making the movements habitual.
This “muscle memory” allows us to move through life on autopilot, but unfortunately, our neuromuscular learning ability can’t differentiate between what’s healthy and harmful for us. It simply learns from the sensory information we provide it with.
The nervous system can’t differentiate between healthy and harmful actions- it simply learns and develops automatic habits from the information we provide it.
If you carry a backpack on one shoulder, hold your child on one hip, roller skate with one leading leg, or sit at your desk with your weight in one side for hours on end, chances are you are going to develop muscle imbalances and, therefore, leg length discrepancies.
Evening Out the Imbalance
The good news is, we can retrain our learned muscular patterns and proprioception, how our body determines whether we feel balanced or not. It’s the brain’s way of telling us we are balanced, even though we aren’t.
The key is to send accurate feedback to the nervous system about the level of tension in our muscles so that we can prevent the buildup of these issues. After you understand which side of the body is holding chronic tightness, you can implement exercises to stretch, stabilize, and strengthen.
Balance Your Body at Our Tampa Fitness Rehab Center
Muscle tightness in any part of your body can become incredibly painful and lead to a variety of other issues. When your body is under the constant stress of chronic pain, your immune system or other functions of your body may weaken as an indirect result.
You don’t deserve to deal with pain! At Dynamic Fitness & Rehabilitation, we will do everything in our power to help you return to your highest functioning and thriving self. If you think you’re suffering from a leg discrepancy, schedule your evaluation today.