Question
Dear Dr. Paul Newhart,

I have been searching for answers to my flank pain and discovered this post below, written two years ago (I have the exact pain):
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Question
I'm a 27 year old male with no substantial injury of note.  I have been experiencing lower-mid back pain for nearly 18 months now.  This has progressed into pain more in the region of my left side around my floating ribs and the space between my ribs and hips (the end of the first floating rib is often sore to the touch).  I constantly feel uncomfortable, especially while driving (perhaps my posture in cars or the stiffness of car seats in general lead to this).  Occasionally I feel a sharp pain in the my left chest, just below my nipple region.  I often feel like my shoulder and left neck is quite tight as well.  While cracking my own back temporarily relieves the pain, it comes back shortly after.  I have tried not to crack my back recently as it has caused spasms that lock up my lower back in a well defined line (I am thinking I pinch a specific nerve that shoots out both ways on my back).  I was referred to a chiropractor, which I went to see for about 3-4 months.  He either kept the symptoms the same or actually made them worse which led me to discontinue seeing him and has left me quite discouraged about a resolution.  The only thing that I have learned from seeing him is that my back is aligned well, my right hip is lower than my left hip, and my right leg is shorter than my left leg.

I have had 2 CT scans done (one upper torso & one lower torso), none showing anything abnormal.  Also, my chiropractor did a chest x-ray that showed good spinal alignment and bad hip alignment, but nothing else of note.

My main question is, could realigning my hips & adding a heel lift to compensate for the shorter leg help to alleviate the pain?

Would you recommend seeing a different chiropractor?

Are there any exercises to realign my hips myself?

Also, another small thing that I think may be relevant.  I own a Sleep Number bed w/pillow top, which I am not sure has helped or worsened my condition.

Thank you in advance for your time.
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Is there any way you still have this person's email address? I would like to know what he did to solve his problem and if he got rid of his sleep number bed.  I believe it has to be the bed that is causing my chronic pain.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Namita
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Answer
When you saw your chiropractor, did he address any of the muscular component, or just adjust?  Elec. musc. stim, ultrasound, myofascial release, etc. can all help considerably.  As far as a heel lift, I would suggest you have a leg length xray to determine the actual short leg and actual amount.  This can then be addressed by a lift, or orthotics.  As far as the sleep number bed, I would try a different number on it, just in case what feels good at first is not what is proper for you