My 5 y/o has one leg longer than the other & I didn't know!

[Dustyblue]

...Until a physio pointed it out, and now it seems obvious. The left is 12mm longer, and thinner.

DS5 has a clumsy gait & is generally a tad uncoordinated. So as not to drip feed, he's recently been diagnosed with NF1, which may or may not be the cause of this (long story there, possibly irrelevant).

I'll be seeing a Paed OT soon for help (orthotic perhaps), but I'm just amazed I didn't clock on to the problem! I could see his foot was splaying outwards whilst his ankle was rolling inwards, and a GP said he is Pigeon Toed but couldn't offer any cause or cure.

Anyone else had something like this pointed out, where you instantly think "OMFG, worst Mum ever, how did I not notice that?"

My Mum told me off for years for ignoring the doorbell, phone, etc, turns out I have partial deafness. Bad mother

I'm 48 and only found out I had one leg significantly longer than the other a month ago when having a bike fit. It explained a lot!

It's absolutely fine not to notice, especially when they're still wee! When DS2 was 3, he fell off a tiny wall and broke his foot, and I didn't notice until he couldn't weight bear after his nap.
Are you getting support for the NF1? DS1 (now 13) has it. If you're not on the Childhood Tumour Trust Facebook page, they are a fantastic organisation and very very supportive. DS1 has his issues but is generally pretty healthy and doing well at school.

12mm sounds a lot when you say it like that but really 1cm difference, how on earth would you spot that unless you were specifically looking and measuring?

good for the physio to spot it!

in many cases children just grow asymetrically and it will grow itself out.

try to avoid one-sided activities (like going on a scooter) and if that can't be avoided ask the physio show complementary exercises.

A friend's son (and the friend) found this out when he ended up at a physio at 14 with back pain. Orthotics sorted the back pain instantly and improved his sporting performance all round.
He is now doing a masters in something to do with orthotics ( not sure exactly what) because he has never forgotten that life changing discovery.

@weebarra

It's absolutely fine not to notice, especially when they're still wee! When DS2 was 3, he fell off a tiny wall and broke his foot, and I didn't notice until he couldn't weight bear after his nap. Are you getting support for the NF1? DS1 (now 13) has it. If you're not on the Childhood Tumour Trust Facebook page, they are a fantastic organisation and very very supportive. DS1 has his issues but is generally pretty healthy and doing well at school.

Thanks for that. It's a recent diagnosis and I'm just looking into support. We're in Oz and I know there's a Child Tumour group here, and another based at the hospital we'll be going to. All very new, and somewhat scary :)

@Scarby9

A friend's son (and the friend) found this out when he ended up at a physio at 14 with back pain. Orthotics sorted the back pain instantly and improved his sporting performance all round. He is now doing a masters in something to do with orthotics ( not sure exactly what) because he has never forgotten that life changing discovery.

That's lovely to hear. We'll look into an orthotic, although he spends most of his time running around in bare feet. He won't like being forced to wear shoes all the time but I used to wear orthotics, so I know it's a bit all or nothing.

Then again the other one might catch up. Poor clumsy boy!