Developments

"Callas" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So, last time I posted, I was experimenting with cleat plates to provide leg length adjustment.

To start with, on the 12th, I have an appointment at a local hospital with a specialist. I'm
hoping something can be done - a brace, excercises, etc - to level my pelvis.

I'm very interested in what's happening to you on this front. I've developed an inequality in my leg
length over the last year/18 months and I'm going for my 1st X ray tomorrow. While I've found little
problem cycling, I've been uncomfortable walking recently and find standing up very uncomfortable
unless I can find a bit of uneven floor to use.

That said, I'm a leisure cyclist, but I had been wondering how best to protect my knees
from the load.

Ambrose

Quoted message said:

"Callas" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

To start with, on the 12th, I have an appointment at a local hospital with a specialist. I'm
hoping something can be done - a brace, excercises, etc - to level my pelvis.

I'm very interested in what's happening to you on this front. I've developed an inequality in my
leg length over the last year/18 months and I'm going for my 1st X ray tomorrow. While I've found
little problem cycling, I've been uncomfortable walking recently and find standing up very
uncomfortable unless I can find a bit of uneven floor to use.

Interesting. How much inequality? I've only recently started to notice the difference when walking;
I feel that my right leg (right pelvis side is high, left is low) straights out fully, or almost
fully, when walking, while the left leg does not.

I'm not actually sure now how much inequality I have; it probably is considerable, since my pelvis
is very tilted. I do know that the legs are of equal length - my GP measured them with me laying
down; the differences derive entirely from the tilt.

I also have a "click" in the right hip socket. As the knee bends and the leg comes forward from
being straight below me, something in or around the socket clicks. It's quite audiable if I'm
laying down and the leg is being moved back and forth (as the GP did), but if I'm walking (perhaps
because there is weight on the socket) there is no sound, but I can feel a "bump" if I press my
hand against my hip.

I've recently taken to performing a pelvis leveling excercise I came across on-line. It's very
simple (and safe) - perform a squat. By this I mean put your feet flat on the ground, a reasonable
distance apart, lower yourself down so that your bottom is just a little way off the floor, your
torso now begin between your now folded legs. You'll find you have to put your arms forward. This
seems to do a great job in the morning of sorting the lower back muscles out and getting the pelvis
into a more normal position. I particularly notice the effect first thing in the morning, after
getting up.

The first squat, in the morning, seems to need about 30 seconds for the muscles to finish moving and
complaining a bit, and then I feel quite a lot better. I find when I stand up, I perceive myself as
standing with a lean - but I think in reality, I'm more level than I was before. I usually do a
couple more during the day because I think it helps.

Quoted message said:

That said, I'm a leisure cyclist, but I had been wondering how best to protect my knees from
the load.

The only knee loading problem I've had is that the length difference means that without cleat shims,
when one leg is correctly positioned the other is not, and if a leg is improperly positioned then
the knee is often consequently improperly loaded.

--
Callas

Callas said:

Quoted message said:

"Callas" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

To start with, on the 12th, I have an appointment at a local hospital with a specialist. I'm
hoping something can be done - a brace, excercises, etc - to level my pelvis.

I'm very interested in what's happening to you on this front. I've developed an inequality in my
leg length over the last year/18 months and I'm going for my 1st X ray tomorrow. While I've found
little problem cycling, I've been uncomfortable walking recently and find standing up very
uncomfortable unless I can find a bit of uneven floor to use.

Interesting. How much inequality? I've only recently started to notice the difference when
walking; I feel that my right leg (right pelvis side is high, left is low) straights out fully, or
almost fully, when walking, while the left leg does not.

You may not notice it in the legs at all, I managed to displace my left hip by about an inch and a
half, the doctor told me it was a muscle strain twice. 8 months later when I finally got someone in
the medical profession with a clue the spine had developed a quite a large curvature, but eventually
with manipulation and physio things are mainly fixed now. I never even noticed the legs were
massively different lengths!, I only noticed the back ache.

There seems to be two schools of medical thought on these kind of problems, the hack and slash
surgeons and the push and twist mob, I would try and keep away from the former where ever possible.

Steve

Ambrose Nankivell said:

"Callas" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:MPG.1a64008bf78a9ab5989e3d@news-
east.giganews.com...

Quoted message said:

So, last time I posted, I was experimenting with cleat plates to provide leg length adjustment.

To start with, on the 12th, I have an appointment at a local hospital with a specialist. I'm
hoping something can be done - a brace, excercises, etc - to level my pelvis.

I'm very interested in what's happening to you on this front. I've developed an inequality in my
leg length over the last year/18 months and I'm going for my 1st X ray tomorrow. While I've found
little problem cycling, I've been uncomfortable walking recently and find standing up very
uncomfortable unless I can find a bit of uneven floor to use.

I've had unequal length legs since I had osteomylitis when I was eleven. The inequality isn't very
great (about half an inch). It may be that because I've had it for so long I've just adjusted to it,
but I can honestly say I'm never aware of it when cycling, and only aware of it when walking if I'm
very tired.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗ ;; Sending your money to
someone just because they've erected ;; a barrier of obscurity and secrets around the tools you ;;
need to use your data does not help the economy or spur ;; innovation. - Waffle Iron Slashdot, June
16th, 2002

Quoted message said:

"Ambrose Nankivell" <[email hidden]> writes:

Quoted message said:

I've had unequal length legs since I had osteomylitis when I was eleven. The inequality isn't very
great (about half an inch). It may be that because I've had it for so long I've just adjusted to
it, but I can honestly say I'm never aware of it when cycling, and only aware of it when walking
if I'm very tired.

If you've not tried cleat shims, you may not be aware of the difference it's making to your riding.

Consider; I have a 2.5 inch height difference between the left and right sides of my pelvis. That's
an enourmous difference - and I never noticed it, I only noticed that I couldn't get my cleats
comfortable. Now that I'm doing something about the issue, I have most certainly noticed how much
improvement there has been.

--
Callas

Quoted message said:

You may not notice it in the legs at all, I managed to displace my left hip by about an inch and a
half, the doctor told me it was a muscle strain twice. 8 months later when I finally got someone
in the medical profession with a clue the spine had developed a quite a large curvature, but
eventually with manipulation and physio things are mainly fixed now. I never even noticed the legs
were massively different lengths!, I only noticed the back ache.

Indeed - I always noticed the back ache; lower back, above the hips, those muscles could really
get unhappy.

Quoted message said:

There seems to be two schools of medical thought on these kind of problems, the hack and slash
surgeons and the push and twist mob, I would try and keep away from the former where ever
possible.

Indeed so. I look back at the decision to operate on me, which was made *entirely* without talking
to me - *at all*. A nurse came out of the room with the doctor in and told me they'd have to
operate. No one had even *mentioned* surgury till then. Not well done, and I wonder if someone else
would have tried a brace and a non-surgical approach instead.

--
Callas