People are constantly being told that the pain they are experiencing in the hip region is from being bone on bone and that the indicator of this fact is that one leg is shorter than the other. Without the ability to understand whether this information has any validity or not, you are susceptible to being manipulated into getting a surgery you never needed and worst, could make you pain much worse. You must look to the Yass method and this website as a way of getting purely logical and scientifically based information to make judgements about what is happening with you and what your symptoms truly represent.
First of all, the phrase bone on bone is played by the medical establishment so much so that they are running out of people to do hip surgeries on. Let’s make this simple, if you have full range of motion at the hip joint, you cannot be bone on bone. Period!!!! It doesn’t matter how many practitioners tell you you are. It doesn’t matter how many x-rays are shown. You have a decrease in joint space that was there for 10 to 20 years before you ever had pain in the hip region and will be there long after you have the pain. The simple identification of the decreased joint space is no reason to have an intervention performed to correct it. Think of these structural variations like wrinkles and you will be better off.
Next, unless you press directly on the hip joint to elicit the pain you are experiencing, there is no way it could be coming from the hip joint itself. I would suggest you learn to identify the hip joint which is about 5 inches below the top of the pelvic rim. This is the place that most people think is the hip. When somebody says put your hands on your hips, you are really putting your hands on the pelvic rim. You technically can’t put your hands on your hips as the end of the thigh bone that forms the part of the hip joint you can touch protrudes to the side. Again this is about 5 inches below the pelvic rim. So run your hands down the pelvic rim through the indent below the rim and you will reach the hip joint. Other than pressing directly on the hip joint, pain anywhere else could not be from a structural variation in the hip.
Now let’s talk about the leg length discrepancy issue. The length of your legs from the hip joint to the lateral ankle bone. So if you want to see if your legs are different lengths, you must measure from the hip joint to the lateral ankle. You will find that almost everybody being told that they have a leg length discrepancy, does not. The lengths are roughly the same. What you are experiencing when you feel like one leg is short than the other is a difference in height of the two sides of the pelvis. Let’s go back to putting your hands on the top of the pelvis. When looking in the mirror you might find that one hand is higher or lower than the other. This means that your pelvis is tilted to one side or the other. This has absolutely nothing to do with the lengths of your legs.
If has to do with the fact that the muscles that are responsible for keeping the pelvis level are not balanced or that one may have strained. The muscles are called the gluteus medius muscles. They are responsible for keeping the pelvis level especially when single leg standing such as when walking. If one of these muscles does not have the force to keep the pelvis level, the pelvis will drop on the opposite side. This can make there be less room for the leg swinging through when walking to pass above the floor. This would cause a person to trip. To prevent this from happening the lower back muscle on the opposite side of the strained gluteus medius muscle will contract to try to raise the opposite hip. Because of the lower back muscle’s attachment from the rib cage to the pelvis it can elevate the pelvis on the opposite side of the strained gluteus medius and try to keep the pelvis level. Eventually the lower back muscle strains and shortens. This pulls the pelvis higher on the opposite side from the strained hip muscle, the gluteus medius muscle and you now present with one side of the pelvis being higher than the other.
THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE LENGTHS OF YOUR LEGS. YOU LEGS ARE EXACTLY THE SAME LENGTH AS THEY WERE WHEN THE PELVIS WAS LEVEL. YOU DO NOT NEED A HIP REPLACEMENT AND NO MEDICAL PRACTITIONER CAN EVEN THE HEIGHTS OF THE PELVIS. ONLY THROUGH ESTABLISHING WHICH GLUTEUS MEDIUS MUSCLE HAS STRAINED AND STRENGTHENING IT APPROPRIATELY CAN YOU ACHIEVE A LEVEL PELVIS AND END PAIN IN THE HIP REGION.
I would strongly recommend sharing this post with any body you know who is being told that they have a leg length discrepancy or that a leg length discrepancy indicates that they are bone on bone and requires hip replacement. You must seek quality information to make the best decisions about how you are to be treated. The existing model is a complete failure and uses invalid methods and tests to lead to surgeries and procedures that cannot resolve your symptoms. The Yass method is your only path to getting the right information so the right tissue is treated and your symptoms can be quickly and effectively resolved allowing you to life the fully functional lifestyle you deserve.
Remember, the existing system will not change for you. You will have to change the system.