Have you asked your doctor why one of your hips seem to be higher than the other?

Have you looked in a full-length mirror and your dress hem seems higher on one side versus the other, and you know that the dress has equal length?

Have you noticed that your hip hugger jeans are somewhat slanted to one side and make you feel different?

Ok, lets look into the bones and muscles of the lower torso. Please remember that one must keep a simple understanding of the structure and not make this too complex. Picture in your mind that the pelvis is made of three large bones that connect together and shape somewhat like a large bowl.

These three bones are known collectively as the pelvic girdle. They are called the left and right Ilium and the sacrum. The Ilium is about the size of your hand.

Next is the sacrum, again a little smaller than the palm of your hand, but shaped like a “C”, spade. Sitting on the back part of the bowl is the sacrum/spine. The sacrum is the foundation of the spine and moves very little with the other two larger bones.

Moving forward to the sides of the bowl are the right and left Iliums. Attached to the Iliums are the hip sockets (acetabulum). As you know, attached into the acetabulum are the “thigh” bones (femur).

Please see the picture at the top of this post.

There is a muscle that attaches from the front of the lower spine (lumbar) to the inside of the femur and parts of the back of the Ilium. This muscle is called the psoas and it is considered the lower spine stabilizer. It also performs other actions, but to keep it simple we will leave it in this fashion.

In scoliosis, short-leg syndromes arise from the psoas imbalance. This psoas imbalance is caused by the spinal curve. As the spine curves, the psoas muscle begins to be pulled by the curving spine.

As the psoas pulls over, the pelvic girdle is pulled by the psoas causing an elevation in the iliac crests of the ilium attached to that muscle.

Since the femoral head attaches within the hip socket, which is part of the pelvis, when the pelvis is shifted to an uneven level, so are the legs.

Additional factors may cause short leg syndrome but the above information is considered the primary cause.

What should one do to counter this scolotic problem and additional causes of short leg syndrome will be discussed in a future blog post.

We Take the Fear and Worry Out of Scoliosis

Dr. Art Copes