Question
Hi. I'm a 30 yr woman, I work in the PT field.

Almost 2 years ago, I started noticing that my right pant leg seemed shorter than the left pant leg, which led me to deduce that my right leg was longer than the left. I have a habit of sitting with my right leg crossed over my left, which possibly has resulted in a looser piriformis on the right... could that result in a leg length discrepancy?

Also, about a year ago, I was reaching for something behind my nightstand & I overstretched my left arm & it resulted in a terrible dull pain & tightness in my left shoulder blade area. I must note here that in childhood I would often feel sore over inferio-medial scapula (left & right on & off) & as an adult I have often woken up with a sore neck from terrible posture at night. So when I overstretched my left arm, I didn't really feel much until after that night or the night after when I woke up with a really sore neck & shoulder blade area that just wouldn't resolve like before.

Its been about a year now & on & off the shoulder blade & neck pain will keep coming back. There is a vertical band of tightness from the shoulder down to the medial aspect of the scapula - possibly lev scap? It just wont loosen up. I'm not sure if my Rhomboids & Serratus are also affected. My scapular movement on the left has a lot of crepitus. Any specific exercises I could do to strengthen up this area & get rid of scar tissue so my scapula will move more smoothly?

Other info - I tend to supinate my feet, especially when I have to stand on my feet for a while, like when I'm doing dishes, I've noticed I tend to stand on the outer edge of my feet & I've noticed myself doing this for abt 15 years. Of course I do a lot less of it now than when I was in my teens. I've also sprained my right ankle abt 3 times.

I guess my main question is I'm wondering if an LLD or weak lateral ankle ligaments on my right side can affect the health of upper back, shoulder & neck musculature on the left side?

Please help. I would much appreciate it.

Thanks :-)

Answer
Hi Smita,

As your bodies base of support, the positioning of your feet and ankles can affect the way the muscles and joints in your back move. When you have a weak lateral ligament on your right ankle, this can result in stretching of the muscles on the right side of your back the and tightening of the muscles on the left side of your back due to the associated pelvic tilt.

Although your ankles are a possible cause, a more likely cause of your recurring upper back, neck and shoulder pain is poor posture and muscle imbalance. This imbalance could have been created by an unresolved previous injury.

I would recommend that you have some custom orthotics made to improve your biomechanics and it might just help with your back pain as well.  Also, you should visit a Chiropractic doctor to determine the cause of your pain and to see what forms of therapy can help relieve your complaints long-term.

I hope this helps!


Dr. Liza