ITBS and Leg Lengh



C

Chris J

Guest
I understand that leg length descrepency is a contributing cause of IT band syndrome.

But which leg does the ITBS typically appear in? The short leg or the long leg? Anyone know?

(I ask only after having already tried searching the web and rec.running archives on google
with no luck.)

Thanks, Chris
 
In article <[email protected]>, Chris J
<[email protected]> wrote:

> I understand that leg length descrepency is a contributing cause of IT band syndrome.
>
> But which leg does the ITBS typically appear in? The short leg or the long leg? Anyone know?
>
> (I ask only after having already tried searching the web and rec.running archives on google with
> no luck.)
>
> Thanks, Chris

Can also be the tilt of the pelvis or the tightening of the quad and/or hamstring. Also can be due
to the posterior tibialis not holding up the arch and therefore the flattening of the arch.

Y ou can lose length at the ankle, knee, and the pelvis.

You can cause some of the problem by not using he muscles when standing on one leg, sort of letting
your musculature not do its work.

Also poor posture, and/or leaning on one elbow all the time

And finally carrying a brief case or a backpack on one shoulder all the time (the same side).

Look at someone to do some fascial release, a la Rolfing, or some deep tissue massage.

Check out at http://www.abe.com Mensendieck and the book is Look Better Feel Better. Great exercises
to get you back to good posture.

In health and on the run,

Ozzie
 
On 4 Mar 2004 18:21:03 -0800, [email protected] (Chris J) wrote:

>I understand that leg length descrepency is a contributing cause of IT band syndrome.
>
>But which leg does the ITBS typically appear in? The short leg or the long leg? Anyone know?

The effect of leg length discrepency is a lateral pelvic tilt resulting in a tightening of the ITB
in the shorter leg and a higher risk of irritation.

--
"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all
its contents." - H.P. Lovecraft
 
Johnny Bravo <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> On 4 Mar 2004 18:21:03 -0800, [email protected] (Chris J) wrote:
>
> >I understand that leg length descrepency is a contributing cause of IT band syndrome.
> >
> >But which leg does the ITBS typically appear in? The short leg or the long leg? Anyone know?
>
> The effect of leg length discrepency is a lateral pelvic tilt resulting in a tightening of the ITB
> in the shorter leg and a higher risk of irritation.

Interesting, because this is counter to what I was expecting to hear. Wouldn't the pelvis tilt
downward on the "short leg" side and upward on the "long leg" side, resulting in the tightening of
the ITB in the *long* leg? That's what I would have thought anyway.

Also, after posting my question, I found these two articles: http://www.drkiper.com/LegLength.asp
and on the same web site, http://www.drkiper.com/itbs.asp

If what they say is true, wouldn the increased pronation of the ankle in the long leg tend to stress
the ITBS (in the long leg)?

BTW, I found the picture at the bottom of http://www.drkiper.com/LegLength.asp interesting, as this
is the same pattern that I see forming on the back of my heels. But unforunately it doesn't say
which shoe corresponds to the short leg...
 
Ozzie Gontang <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<040320042135100657%[email protected]>...

>
> Can also be the tilt of the pelvis or the tightening of the quad and/or hamstring. Also can be due
> to the posterior tibialis not holding up the arch and therefore the flattening of the arch.
>
> Y ou can lose length at the ankle, knee, and the pelvis.
>
> You can cause some of the problem by not using he muscles when standing on one leg, sort of
> letting your musculature not do its work.
>
> Also poor posture, and/or leaning on one elbow all the time
>
> And finally carrying a brief case or a backpack on one shoulder all the time (the same side).
>
> Look at someone to do some fascial release, a la Rolfing, or some deep tissue massage.
>
> Check out at http://www.abe.com Mensendieck and the book is Look Better Feel Better. Great
> exercises to get you back to good posture.
>
> In health and on the run,
>
> Ozzie

I'm guilty of some of these things. I'll have to get M Mensendieck's book. Are her recommended
exercises similar to Egoscue's ("The Egoscue Method" etc.)?

By the way, when can we get *your* book?

Chris
 
On 5 Mar 2004 12:06:39 -0800, [email protected] (Chris J) wrote:

>Interesting, because this is counter to what I was expecting to hear. Wouldn't
>the pelvis tilt downward on the "short leg" side and upward on the "long leg"
>side, resulting in the tightening of the ITB in the *long* leg? That's what I
>would have thought anyway.

Being that way all the time the slight over stretch is not a problem, much like
a cheerleader can do the splits but doesn't have any trouble when not doing the
splits. Being slightly under stretched, on the other hand, is like a regular
person trying to do the splits. :)

>Also, after posting my question, I found these two articles:
>http://www.drkiper.com/LegLength.asp and on the same web site,
>http://www.drkiper.com/itbs.asp
>
>If what they say is true, wouldn the increased pronation of the ankle in the
>long leg tend to stress the ITBS (in the long leg)?

Possible, but these are lesser irritations compared to a big enough pelvic
tilt. The source I gave didn't give any specific length difference though, it
is likely that a small enough difference isn't much of a problem.

>BTW, I found the picture at the bottom of
>http://www.drkiper.com/LegLength.asp interesting, as this is the same pattern
>that I see forming on the back of my heels. But unforunately it doesn't say
>which shoe corresponds to the short leg...

Easy enough for a second person to determine, lay flat on your back with
another person at your feet, they can turn your feet outward slightly, pressing
your heels together, and should be able to spot which leg is longer without any
trouble, unless the difference is incredibly small.

--
"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human
mind to correlate all its contents." - H.P. Lovecraft
 
From what I've found on the web, it seems that ITBS can
appear in either leg. For example, according to this page,
http://www.roadrunnersclub.org.uk/advice.htm , the
distribution of ITBS is 50-50 between the shorter and longer
leg. The same web page notes that most problems (such knee,
hip pain, etc.) usually appear first in the longer leg.

Other web sites of interest:

http://www.drkiper.com/LegLength.asp (Also see the ITBS link
on the same page.)

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/podiatry/Limblengthdiscrepancy.ht-
ml

http://www.opma.on.ca/Miltchin%20Footcare%201097-2-2.htm

http://www.podiatry.curtin.edu.au/encyclopedia/lld_edit.html

FWIW, the two main terms of art (useful for google
searching) seem to be "limb length discrepancy" and "leg
length inequality". There is also some stuff under "leg
length discrepancy".