Hip/Gait/Back Pain Due to Wearing Boot

[McCloud560]

In Sept 07 I was diagnosed with a RIGHT foot stress fracture and put into a boot.   After 4-5 weeks in the boot my LEFT hip hurt so bad I went to a super sturdy tennis shoe approved by podiatrist. My foot healed by 2/08 but my hip continues to hurt.  Can't walk or exercise much.  GP thought it was bursitis and gave me steroid shot, didn't help, went to physical therapy, ultrasound didn't help. Ortho surgeon said hip xray's show no arthritis, good hip/socket and sent me to acupuncture, which I will do next week.  I learned that acupuncture should be used in conjunction with some other type of treatment but my doc's have nothing else going for me.  Some google searches on boot/gait problems show that sometimes leg length can change due to wearing a boot. Also, can cause back/hip pain.  My symptoms are sort hip 24/7, by end of day pain sometimes moves to my lower left back.  It is not getting better and I'm wondering if anyone can suggest something else.  Also, I'm new to this forum, do the docs respond on these questions in addition to members sharing?  I'm wondering if anyone else has experience this type of situation.  Should I ask my docs to find out if my leg length is shorter now.  Any feedback or comments would be appreciated.  Thank you very much.  

[questioningmt30]

You posted about your hip in 2008 so I'm a little late! I hope you are doing better. Please tell me how things turned out. Thanks, Joe

[bcastellano]

See www.evenupcorp.com.  This is a very common problem and is caused by the rapid induction of a leg length discrepancy.  The Evenup device is made to prevent this problem

[manpt]

Physical therapy should take care of it, but they should be looking at your trunk and hip mobility and performing joint mobilization/stretching, etc. Not just ultrasound. Might try another therapist? Someone should be looking at whole-body functional movement to determine the biomechanical cause of the problem, not just treating the symptom (hip pain). Lumbar spine joint restrictions and associated movement asymmetries commonly occur following use of a boot (since you're effectively walking on legs of two drastically different lengths).

[LJBR]

I had to wear a right boot for 13 weeks (multiple bone spurs).  While it did help, a lot, I also got the left hip pain.  My Ortho referred me to a Chiropractor and the adjustments helped me 100%.