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Showing results for tags 'imbalance'.
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ABSS has massively helped me explore and confirm some observations. I have two main questions relating to my leg length difference. I have a shorter right leg, after years with various issues/various professionals, i believe this is a genuine leg length difference plus my bodys adopted compensations on top. Currently about a 12mm difference. Many of the ABSS stretches to me felt uneven left vs right. 1. Is it OK for me to focus primarily on stretching the respective tight side and more or less ignore the OK/less tight side? I gather we should check each side for daily variation, but after a couple of years exploring hip/back pain, i’m confident of my main imbalances. I heard kit describing pain as not necessarily relating to a lack of flexibility, but an imbalance of flexibility. 2. Should i be doing more than this to address the hip/back pain? How does one actually go about equipping their body to deal with a 12mm leg length discrepancy? How do i know if this is even possible for me? Even if i manage to even out the left vs right flexibility, how do i stop my body carrying out activities in its habituated imbalanced ways? I started wearing a right shoe raise 4 months ago, I resisted at first and actually wore minimalist shoes for a while a year ago, but i think my body wasn’t ready for it and jacked everything up even tighter to protect. I feel it could be a long road before my body is ready for minimalist footwear and/or letting go of the pain, and i have no idea how to get there. Hence question 1 above - is it worth taking it slow on this long road head, and just focussing on evening out the tight side for now? A message of thanks: I’m tired of professionals swinging between denying that LLDs can exist and prescribing nothing but raises - neither appeas to have been helpful to me so far. I’m defeated and recognising that its only mine and no one elses to handle. I’m relieved to find a space where LLD is discussed constructively and with hope, and grateful for the relaxation audios which i can no longer deny being in need of. I’ve searched the ST forum and read extremely helpful posts on LLD - any further advice would be enormously appreciated. Bonus question 3: WTF to do about raises? Since wearing the raise, my right ankle is jammed up, stiff/achy, sometimes releases a little when i ‘pop’ it by flexing the foot. The whole shoe is raised, not just the heel (orthotist slices the sole lengthways, glues in a raise in the middle), which i thought would be better for posture than just a heel raise tilting me forward, but it means the shoe doesn’t flex properly. The timeline suggests the raise is somehow causing ankle to jam up. Or it could be an impingement thing as this right ankle hasnt flexed as well as the left for years. The right calf is tighter which obviously contributes to poor flexion, but it feels more than that. Could switching between minimalist and 12mm raise confuse the body and worsen the problem? I run in minimalist shoes once a month (5k max) because: i enjoy the sensation underfoot and that it likely helps keep my feet strong; it helps me remember to run light rather than heavy heel strike; and it took a few months to strengthen my achilles/calves to cope with barefoot running in the first place over a year ago and i basically never want to lose this. Additional info: *Pain - in the left lower back and bum/hip/back area generally, sometimes in the bum/?piriformis, specific pain points in the lumbar/tailbone/SIJ. *Tight/weak bits that i feel easily - very tight left QL, weak and incredibly tight left glute/piriformis. *Other tight/weak bits: right calf and hamstrings tighter than left. right hip pinching/blocking in flexion, weaker right quad, both adductors both weak and tight, poor hip external rotation especially the right. *Side bends - fine to the right, to the left i can’t lean far, everything just jams up around the hip/just above the pelvis, even with a raise. *Feet - think arches and pronation is OK, but havent honestly assessed them myself. Sincere apologies for lack of brevity and if i posted this in the wrong place! I am genuine absolute beginner!
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- imbalance
- leg length difference
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