The Case of the Tilted Pelvis (a.k.a The Leg Length Mystery)

Pretty much since I got off crutches I have had a tilted pelvis or a leg length difference.  Or a titled pelvis caused by a leg length difference.  Or a leg length difference that causes a tilted pelvis. Or something. The leg length difference, it should be noted, can be structural or functional.  And even if it is structural, many people have leg length differences and walk normally.

This seems to be the last hurdle to (at least) appearing to be back to 100%.  It is not completely noticeable to everyone but it bothers me and somewhat makes me walk with a strut.  Struts are cool if you are the strutting type but I am cool enough to strut.  I know I will have some ongoing aches and pains from this injury for a while but for some reason it is important to me to look healed and move around like a healthy person.  I want to feel solid.  Strutting makes me feel wobbly.

If I were in a black exploitation film, I would be cool - those guys had cool struts.  If I were in a music video for the KISS song "Strutter", I would be cool.  If I were Sherlock Holmes, I would be cool with a strut.  But Sherlock Holmes would be cool in wheelchair.  He is just plain cool.  Alas, I am not a revered detective.  I am not a doctor.  I am not a nurse.  Or a PT or a trainer.   I am not even a musician or an actor.

I am just me.  With a tilted pelvis.  And I would like to fix it.  And it appears this is easier said than done.  And not just for me, the approach to resolve it varies - so I am confused.  Internet research and the like reveals multitudes of resolutions, all of which are not definitive, to say the least.  Perhaps because of this my recovery is at an impasse.  Perhaps I am unsure of how to proceed.  Perhaps I am wondering if I will be like this all my life.  Perhaps I am worried.  Perhaps. Perhaps.

I think the best way to figure out what to do will be to take a Holmesian approach and use some deductive reasoning.  Maybe I, you might wonder, should have done this before.  Maybe a more astute person would have acted in this manner a long while ago.  As I said, I am not Holmes.  Just me.  With a titled pelvis. 

Well at least it will be healthy to lay it all out and stick with the facts.  Even then I am not sure we can solve it.  But some mysteries do go unsolved.  Some take time.  Some go away and come back.  Maybe the tilted pelvis is my Moriarty.  It is my nemesis.  Maybe it will help me get into acting.  Maybe it will be a source of fodder for years to come.  Maybe I start wearing makeup and singing songs like "Beth".  Well let's see.

As many may know, deductive reasoning has 3 steps:

• Premise
• Evidence
• Conclusion

I will try and focus on the facts and as much acute observation as I can.

Here is what I know.

Premise:

1. I don't have x-rays of my hip position prior to the accident.
2. It was caused by broken left hip, caused my a fall off a road bike onto some railroad tracks.
3. It hurt like hell.
4. There were 3 screws drilled into my left femur to reattach the hip socket.  The surgery was deemed a success.
5. The bones fused back together in about 8 weeks.
6. I was on crutches for 9 weeks, forced to put all my weight on my right leg
7. I walked with a cane for 2 more weeks where I still wobbled around with more weight on my right leg than my left.

Evidence:

1. I walk with a limp.  The limp is not as bad as before but nonetheless a limp.  Also known as the aforementioned strut.
2. My low back hurts sometimes.
3. The surgeon confirmed in the x-ray that my pelvis is slightly titled.  He noticed that one leg is longer than the other. 
4. A chiropractor did their version of the leg length test and confirmed one leg is shorter than the other - according to her test.
5. I can stand straight up with legs together and align the pelvis but it isn't a natural position as it once was.
6. Stretches, yoga, and mobility exercises help.  I think.  I think little by little there has been improvement.  I think.  Some positions are better.  Some are not.
7. Strength training helps.  There are brief moments after a session strengthening my legs that I feel normal.
8. Swimming helps.
9. Biking sometimes feels good.  Sometimes it doesn't.

Conclusion:

The results, I think, are inconclusive.  None of the tests are definitive, except the x-rays and the way I have received x-rays thus far are of a limited view.  The chiropractor test, by their own admission is also inconclusive.  I could get another set of x-rays to do a measurement of the femur.  But that may not even solve the problem.  Because what I don't know is when it got longer.  The accident could have caused it OR I have always had it.  In the case of the latter, my body should eventually know how to straighten itself out.  And I can, with some difficulty, even it out.

Well there you have it. 

A trained logician would probably cringe at the above analysis but that's it.  I was partially hoping that this exercise would reveal something new.  The process of writing these blog posts is an introspective task that often tells me something about myself.  Maybe this didn't reveal anything new.  Maybe it told me what I want it to tell me.  Maybe I need to get into acting.

So what do I do?

I suppose I keep doing what I am doing and give it time.  There is a theory among some body work practitioners that the body will go into certain states to protect itself.  My body leans onto the right leg because the left leg hurt and to some degree still hurts.  So the tilted pelvis has caused a leg length difference because my body is doing its best to avoid pain.  That is what it has known.  I can do as much as I can to change that but until the body feels it, I am going to have some tilting.

I could also try some PT.  After not ever getting PT, the surgeon finally recommended it at my last appointment a few weeks back.  He said the PT could, "Stretch you out."  That's a definitive conclusion, huh?  Aaah, surgeons, you have to love them.  Yes, I love them like I love a car mechanic.  Or the dentist.  I am beginning to view doctors like I view death and taxes.

I could also try some other body work like Rolfing or Feldenkais or Sourcepoint.  I for sure will do some of this because I have a friend who is a Sourcepoint practitioner.  But this goes to the above premise that when the body is ready, it will allow it to be reset to its original patterns.  I don't know when that will be.

In all likelihood, I am going keep doing what I am doing until the pain is gone.  If the titled pelvis is still there, then I need to try a new approach.  I may dabble with PT just to see what they say but I am pretty confident what I am doing is better than what any PT could give me.  My apologies to my PT friends out there but their hands are tied and many of their methods are dated.

So where do I go?  I guess I trust myself.  I know many readers have heard it before.  To that, I had a dream recently where I was in a boat with my personal trainer and we almost tipped over several times.  And then he righted the boat and we sailed along smoothly.  Does that mean he has the answers?  Is the boat my body and he can help me balance it out?  Is he my Dr. Watson?  Is my intuition talking to me?  God only knows.

So I guess the mystery continues until new facts surface.  Moriarty The Tilted Pelvis and I will play a ongoing game of cat and mouse.  The mystery will be solved in one way or another.  It is just a matter of when.  Until next time...

Check back soon for more of The Case of the Tilted Pelvis...

Thanks for reading...