Question
hi sharon, im a 42 year old woman from scotland united kingdom i was diagnosed with a fractured hip 4 years ago, i had a total hip replacement 3 years ago and have experienced cronic pain in my hip and back since my op i have been left with my operated leg being over an inch longer than my other one i have been back ab forth to docs and hospital but i seem to be hitting a brick wall with them my xrays say theres nowt wrong and yet im in more pain now than i ever was can you suggest what my next steps should be please thanks louise.

Answer
Hello Louise

I am truly sorry for the pain you are in and I do have a few suggestions.

The pain you are feeling in your back is probably due to the difference in your leg length.  When the legs are different lengths, you feel the pain in your back and hip because your gait is not correct.

Here are my suggestions:

1. Ask your doctor for a prescription for physical therapy
2. Go to a shoe-maker and ask for a 1/2 inch lift to be made to put into your shoe.  Also ask the shoemaker if he can either build up the heel of one shoe 1/2 inch, or cut down the heel of the other shoe 1/2 inch.  This will even out your leg length and most likely you will see an immediate reduction in the pain you are in.

I would push to have the shoemaker cut down the heel of one shoe rather than build up the shoe on the outside because it's less of an eyesore to have the one shoe cut down.

In the states, an insert cannot be made more than 1/2 inch because your foot will not fit the shoe properly, so you need to have both, the outside fixed to compensate for 1/2 inch and have an insert made too.  

Please let me know if these suggestions work

best of luck to you.
Sharon