One leg shorter than the other

[Noitsnotteatimeyet]

Dd (14) has been complaining of lower back pain in the last couple of weeks. I took her to a physio who says she has one leg longer than the other which is putting her out of kilter - she's definitely tilted over to one side...

She's asked us to see the gp to get an orthotics referral - dd already has custom made insoles as she's got hyper mobile joints and they keep her ankles and knees from rolling in.

Does building up shoes help? Anything else work? And is she likely to even out again? She's apparently got another 18+ months of growing (is already 5'9" - mostly leg - and very slim)

Has the physio confirmed that her spine is straight? An orthopaedics referral might be good to check why one leg is shorter.

It is definitely worth getting her straight, whether this is with physio, orthotics or something else. Otherwise further strain is put on her back, hips, knees etc.

I would second a orthopaedic referral to look into why she has the discrepancy. If she's hyper mobile I was wondering about hip problems. I don't want to worry you but Hip dysplasia can present late and leg length discrepancy is a symptom.

I have this, so does my mum. We both have scoliosis of the spine. Mine is minor, hers is more severe. For her it's resulted in a visible hump at the top of the spine, twisting (kyphosis) in her spine, and related hip and knee problems. I have much less severe issues and really do need to go back to pilates for strengthening exercises to help stave off the issues.

Did the physio give an opinion on the cause of the difference in leg length? There may be many reasons, not all serious or requiring action.

My DD (9) wears a shoe rise for this and is likely to have relatively minor sounding surgery to stop the longer leg growing in a year or so, so her legs even up. That's only because her difference is already 3cm and seems to be getting wider though, otherwise they would simply leave her using shoe raises for a small difference. I'd also second a referral to orthopaedics since it is only a CT scan that can tell if it really is a leg difference and not something else (postural, back etc). All the best.

I agree with the other posters that it's important for you to find out if it is a true leg length discrepancy or if there is something else causing it. My daughter had a leg length discrepancy at 3 1/2 which caused her to walk on tiptoes on one side and we discovered that she had a high hip dislocation and needed surgery to correct it.

I have one leg longer than the other and am hypermobile, it isn't noticeable and doesn't cause me any problems other than some occasional foot pain and I have orthotics for my trainers. The best thing your DD can do is always try and stay fit and do plenty of exercise, especially anything that maintains strong leg muscles and flexibility like dancing, yoga, running and weight training. Particularly yoga if she has back pain now.

Thanks - we're going to the GP in the morning as dd's leg gave way underneath her when she stood up this evening - it wasn't painful but she couldn't walk for a while. After a bit she said it felt like it clicked back into place. She's gone to bed with a hot water bottle and says it's feeling sore but she can walk

PS I don't know if it's relevant but the muscles of her right leg are much less developed than on her left