Driving to the Core of Short Right Leg Syndrome Treatment - Simon Crittenden

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Twice in recent years I faced the prospect of retirement from active life...January 2021 and January 2022. At the first of these dates I commenced self treatment for Short Right Leg Syndrome and inserted a 5mm heel lift. Dramatic enduring benefits that played out over ten months but did not resolve crippling right leg pain. At January 2022 the right sided symptoms had escalated to the point that I was again facing retirement.

Many clues over the years brought me to realise the short leg effect on the right hip was responsible for meridian pain, tightening and thickening in the leg. The proximal block at the hip having a distal effect through the limb. I clear the Bladder meridian block along the meridian’s convoluted passage through the lumbro-sacral region and within minutes symptoms of pain, thickening and tightening are cleared from the leg. It was dramatic. This proved to be a deep seated condition that ultimately required an increased heel lift size and considerable physical therapy to fully resolve.

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It should be noted a Medical Doctor consulted had nothing to offer. 3yrs Chiropractic and 2yrs TCM treatment had failed to resolve the right lower limb pain. Neither addressed the underlying causation of pelvic distortion and strain impacting the Bladder meridian. I suspect Chiropractic efforts were stymied by a degree of entrenched fascial rigidity about the lumbar spine and sacrum that defied manipulation. This rigidity generated by five decades of leg length discrepancy distorting pelvic posture, a long athletic history and three decades working on my feet. While neck and thoracic spine were easily manipulated, lumbar spine did not budge, did not crack once...not that it would resolve the leg length discrepancy if it had. It has taken several years of an adjusting heel lift combined with mobility exercises to make change.

This is not the full story of treatment and recovery from an advanced state of Short Right Leg Syndrome compounded by acute lumbro-sacral injury but it does drive to the core of my issues. Not until beginning these practices have I felt able to proceed with some confidence:

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Heel Lift Treatment;
Reclining Windshield Wiper exercise;
Standing Spinal Rotation exercise;
Collagen supplementation; and,
Seven Star seated Dao meditation.

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Added to the above is walking and a raft of basic yoga like floor exercises and stretches that only had limited effect until addressing the core requirement.

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Note that chronic Kidney yin deficiency is part of my story and accounts for the dramatic effect experienced from the Seven Star meditation. Afflicted by chronic Kidney deficiency since the late teenage years and treated by the Chinese since age 23, however, underlying causation of the short leg not identified until age 66. Hence, despite treatment to boost kidneys, the gradual decline of kidney vitality was inexorable. Kidney deficiency is not uncommon as we age, to be afflicted by it from youth is unusual...related to the presence of a 21mm leg length discrepancy and much physical training since age 8. Had it not been for TCM herbal treatment it is probable I would no longer be here.

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My life might have been quite different had I been screened and fitted with a heel lift as a teenager. Alternatively, screened and encouraged to carryout the requisite physical training to manage the condition effectively. In practical terms, this second option is not easily achieved and does leave one vulnerable to injury. Avoidance of the long term effects could have been a good motivator but SRLS is unknown in the medical and therapeutic community. No screening took place. No coach, therapist or medico examined leg length. I was never told I had a high range discrepancy.