The Mysterious Leg Length Discrepancy (LLD)

After I was incorrectly diagnosed (unaware at the time obviously) with a severe leg length discrepancy (LLD) based on standing x-ray that was taken, I had a few main issues with this diagnosis even though I went ahead with it because at the time I thought my doctor had finally discover the cause of my inability to run.  But how could an x-ray be refuted,  not to mention that the lift prescribed to me was 1 1/2 inches high--substantial (For more see My History tab)?  If you have been told you need to wear a lift and it isn't working for you, maybe these will help you too.  Here were some of my issue with the diagnosis: 

1.  I still couldn't run, hike, swim, or ride a stationary bike without pain, even once I started wearing the lift.  If the lift was the end-all-be-all solution, why couldn't I still run?  Even after 4 years of giving my body time to "adjust" to the lift, I still couldn't run, etc.

2.  I had run in high school, college, even a major relay race (Portland to Coast) with no problems whatsoever.  If I really had that big of a LLD, why hadn't it shown up before now?  They told me that LLDs of this size were there since birth.  If that was so, why had I been able to clock serious milage over several years without it manifesting? The answers I found on the net left me unsatisfied--they said that you can get away with it until you are in your 30s or 40s, at which point the body just can't take it anymore.

3.  Doctors were not in agreement on the actual LLD measurement, despite the x-ray.  One doctor said that I had an LLD, but not substantial enough to need a lift.  Another doctor told me that I did have an LLD, that he was more sure of it than anything in his whole life (seriously), and that he could give me a lift right now that would solve my problem immediately.  Other doctors said I had an LLD, but that much of the population has a slight LLD between both legs and that he wouldn't recommend wearing one.  Here was my issue:  how could 5+ doctors all be at odds?  This was a main factor in me vowing to never wear a lift again.  I would not let the one doctor who practically swore on his life (and was seriously upset that I wouldn't accept his recommendation) talk me into wearing another lift. 

This was the same doctor who, knowing I had a knee issue and pain with activity, would tell me to go warm-up on the stationary bike before each session with him.  Anyone who knows ANYTHING, you think, would be wiser than this with their patients.  Needless to say, he achieved no results, but instead agravated my knee with his prescribed strengthening exercises.  If you are suffering from ITBS, exercises designed to strengthen your quad are only going to make your condition worse.  My favorite (joking of course) was the 4-point standing single leg squats that I was told I should do twice a day.  Imagine my frustrating when the more I did them, the more my knee hurt.  At the time, I got really discouraged, thinking "how am I even going to be able to get better/run again when the exercises that are supposidly the solution are actually making my knee worse.  Great recipe for depression right there.