Re: new thought about leg length

[Guest guest]

Hey Alan,

In my own case it was a disease that left the femoral head

necrotic. And my left leg was shorter by about 3 mm before the

surgery. I also figured the hip went bad following all the years of

liberal bias on the west coast. We do tend to lean left....

C+

> Hey, Hippies...(docs especially, please chime in)

>

> My question of all who now find post-op leg length disparity: Is

it

> possible that the problem that got you to the point of needing a

> resurf was an undetected or undiagnosed developmental/congenital

> disparity in leg length.

>

> It's fairly commonly known that bodies do not develop

symmetrically,

> so what's to say that our two legs didn't develop at slight

different

> lengths as we grew, and that the resurf actually returns the leg

to

> the real length it was before the physical problem that required

> surgery. It may seem perverse (and I certainly could be wrong),

but

> wouldn't it be remarkable if the surgery, in restoring the hip,

> actually also returned us to the problem that caused the hip to

fail

> in the first place?

>

> Hobble on Hippies...

> Alan

[Guest guest]

Thanks Chris. I now understand why it was my right hip that went

bad. I often thought about the reasons why my hips went bad. I

have OA from years of sports. I had five major knee operations and

I have often thought my hip condition was due to my bad gait and

compensating consistently and relying on one leg or the other

depending on which side was operated last and returning to a high

level of competition too soon. Go figure, I have never had any pain

ever in either knee. I will need my left hip done in the future (I

blame my parents for their misguided political perspective during my

impressionable years for this side). As it relates to leg length, I

wonder if my need for a future resurface on the other side was taken

into consideration. Too much for me to take in now as I am really

enjoying life with this new hip. This thing works great. Hang in

there buddy.

Best.... C+ Dr. Amstutz 5/04/04

> > Hey, Hippies...(docs especially, please chime in)

> >

> > My question of all who now find post-op leg length disparity:

Is

> it

> > possible that the problem that got you to the point of needing a

> > resurf was an undetected or undiagnosed developmental/congenital

> > disparity in leg length.

> >

> > It's fairly commonly known that bodies do not develop

> symmetrically,

> > so what's to say that our two legs didn't develop at slight

> different

> > lengths as we grew, and that the resurf actually returns the leg

> to

> > the real length it was before the physical problem that required

> > surgery. It may seem perverse (and I certainly could be wrong),

> but

> > wouldn't it be remarkable if the surgery, in restoring the hip,

> > actually also returned us to the problem that caused the hip to

> fail

> > in the first place?

> >

> > Hobble on Hippies...

> > Alan