That's Fit

What's the name of a person with one leg shorter than the other? Eileen. Sorry, couldn't resist. A chiropractor I visited several years ago stated I had uneven legs, and after a few back cracks and hip stretches they returned to their proper alignment a moment later.

Interestingly uneven legs are usually not the result of one leg bone shorter than the other. Commonly the problem emerges due to a tight hamstring (back of the upper leg) or iliotibial band -- the fascial sheath extending from the upper thigh down the side of the femur, attaching around the area of the knee joint. Runners suffering from muscle/tissue imbalance often overcompensate by favoring their longer leg, and this can lead to injury. However regularly adopting specific stretches can solve the problem and prevent future injuries.

Here's the test to see if your legs are uneven:

• Lie on your back on a flat surface with bare feet and legs together. A friend should place their palms on your hipbones (one hand per hipbone) and gently rock your hips back and forth by pressing left, then right, etc ... for one minute.
• After you're relaxed have your friend check if your anklebones are even. If they are uneven, do these 15 range-of-motion exercises offered by Runners World. Then immediately repeat the buddy stretch above.

If your legs are now even, an imbalance of muscles/tissues is the culprit, not a leg-length discrepancy. Keep up the exercises! If you're still uneven, you might want to seek further help from a sports medicine or orthopedic specialist to confirm and treat a true leg-length discrepancy.