Training w. Leg Length Difference
by Lesley Powell
I have a question. I recently worked with a dancer with a significant leg length discrepancy — her left leg is 1.8 centimeters longer than her right (femur is .6 c longer and lower leg is 1.2 c longer) . The left side of her tailbone often hurts as does her left inner thigh. She dances quite intensively and is experiencing more and more subtle aches – especially across her sacrum.
Suggestions for working with her to address her leg length issue?????? thanks so much
smiles tara
Leg length difference can lead to a unique challenge for the client. There will be always imbalances dealing with this. How to train the imbalances to adapt to their specific needs?
A lot of times the leg length difference can cause the patterns of scoliosis. Working on lengthening tight muscles and strengthening the weaker ones would be one of the goals. Some clients feel more balance when you give a prop of a towel or small mat under the foot on the shorter leg such as in foot work.
I knew of a dancer who used a specific book under her shorter leg during class. She did her warmups at the barre and some of the class. Of course once there is locomotion, the book could not be used.
Since she is having problems with her sacrum, I would to a lot of pelvic shifts, forward (neutral bridge), lateral and single leg. I would use a prop under the shorter leg.
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Most cases of leg length difference are functional and not true bone length difference. It comes from muscular imbalances in the pelvic and torso and these imbalances can be corrected through postural therapy. The pain will disappear as the body becomes balanced again and dancing will obviously improve. The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion by Pete Egoscue is a wonderful resource to learn what is going on, why, and how to fix it. Also http://www.Egoscue.com and my blog have lots of useful information.
Blog: http://egoscueportland.wordpress.com/
Leg length difference and scoliosis: http://egoscueportland.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/scoliosis/
The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion: http://www.amazon.com/Egoscue-Method-Health-Through-Motion/dp/0060924306
Keep moving!
Matt Whitehead
This comment came from someone who teaching a dancer with a definite leg length difference. I agree some that some leg length difference comes from function. That is why I mentioned looking at finding better balance of tone, posture and neuromuscular retraining
thanks for the replies- as you may suspect, i did use a prop under the short leg – I will let her know about the book option for ballet class (wonder how that will go over!!) – and discovering for carefully which mm groups are less strong.
all for today
smiles
tara
I have a leg length discrepancy (1 inch/2.5 cm) that was discovered when I started having hip pain at age 30. With a lift in my shoes the pain goes away, and without it the pain comes back (within an hour of walking around with no lift). I *have to* use a lift in ballet class or suffer the painful consequences, so here’s what I do.
I put a lift in my ballet shoe. Yes, it really does fit and it really does work and I use the plain jane standard issue canvas ballet slippers, nothing special. I’ve tried different lifts, and the ones that fit best are these:
Amazon.com: Adjust-a-Lift Heel Lift – SMALL – Men to 7; Women to size 9 (2-1/8'' wide): Health & Personal Care
My feet are size 6.5 (37) and narrow, and the small size fits great. The height is adjustable, so she shouldn’t need the full height (I do, and it still fits in my shoe). Over time, after about 6 months or so, the lift begins to deform and I have to buy a new one, but it is a small price to pay for pain prevention and the ability to continue dancing. Since living 30 years without correcting the discrepancy has left me with minor scoliosis, pain (when it’s not addressed) and muscles and tendons in my hip that are “all out of alignment” according to my orthopedist, I would not recommend dancing without a lift if you have a true length difference.
Also, the fact that some leg differences are functional leads many to believe that all are, they are not. Every time I move and end up in the office of a new orthopedist they say “well, it’s probably just functional.” And then they do their test and examination and say “oh,.. yeah, that’s real.” Ultimately, the dancer should see a doctor trained to tell the difference and not make an assumption which could lead to wrong self-treatment.
Good luck to your dancer, and I hope she is able to find a workable solution as I have.
Holly
This is a great solution. I remember a dancer with an extreme leg length difference using a phone book to stand on when doing her warm-ups at the barre. She placed the phone book under the shorter leg.
I dance hula, which is done barefoot. I’m struggling to find a solution that allows me to use a lift and doesn’t impede my dancing or my feel of the floor, that isn’t hard and doesn’t make noise! Ballet shoes with a lift would be a last resort. My next experiment is using a soft heel cup kind of thing held in place by an ankle wrap. I don’t know exactly how much of a lift it will give me, which is critical… but if it works for more than 15 minutes in class, I’ll bring it to my D.O. or P.T. and see what they say.
By the way, I used to be a professional ballet dancer. The book solution in a serious class is, I’m sorry to say, not workable. You switch which foot you are standing on quite frequently, even at the bar. If a heel insert will suffice in terms of the height, I’d definitely suggest that route instead! (It would also carry into center work, which is important, and often most of the class.)