Has anyone ever had a hip replacement and one leg is shorter then the other after surgery?
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Actually it is more common than you think. It could be a measurement problem when ordering the original prosthesis. It could be they ran into trouble due to stress cracks in the femur that it needed to be placed down a little further than anticipated. The more important part is to get you through the surgery ... extra delays is more time under anesthesia and difficulty with the heart or possible infections. If the one leg is slightly off then the shoe sole is thickened on one shoe to make up the difference. Another possibility is the insertion of an insole into only one shoe for aesthetics. (depending on the amount of adjustment needed)
By the way, this happens as a natural occurrence without the benefit of surgery as well. There are many people with congential defects that make one leg shorter than the other. The same thing is done for them.
It isn't unusual for a hip replacement patient to have a perceived leg length difference [LLD] following THR. It also isn't unusual for this perceived difference to resolve itself with time & as muscles regain tone. However there are also times when there is an actual difference in length.
I've had both of my hips replaced several years ago. I have a difference of about 1/4-3/8". It isn't a lot but it's enough that I risk tripping or stumbling esp. when I wear rubber soled shoes. For that reason I keep a small lift in all my sneakers and shoes that I walk in a lot. Works great.
For a more detailed discussion of LLD by an ortho surgeon:
http://totaljoints.info/long_leg_th.htm...
BTW, I order my lifts online from this vendor:
http://gwheellift.com/
They stock many different styles. I like the cork & vinyl and the "clearly adjustable" lift can be separated into 2 lifts. They all work best if you can place them under the sock liner of your shoe. Most sneakers have a removable sock liner but some dressier/cheaper shoes have the liner glued in which means that you either have to peel it off or use the lift on top of the liner.
Also - if your LLD is too great, use of an in-shoe lift doesn't work because it lifts your heel too high and the shoe will not stay on. In this case the patient has to have the shoe built up on the outside by a qualified shop.
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