Daily Mobility Exercises by Dr. Kelly Starrett › Forums › General › Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! › Re: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years!

04/04/2014 at 11:19 pm #74444
AvatarRyan Cloutier
Member

Another thing to consider for my case is that my symptoms are unilateral. My knee pain is on one side. Its on my right side. The only thing different between my 2 sides found so far is:

1) My right glute medius is weaker and/or isnt being activated (whereas my left glute medius is being activated)–> positive trendelenburg sign during 3-D gait analysis, their was a pelvic drove only on my left side indicating right glute medius isnt firing. Also during assesment from physiotherapist he noticed my right glute medius wasn’t firing when performing the clamshell and that I was compesating
2) I got a tight right hip capsule with limited external range of motion (my left hip capsule isn’t tight and my external ROM is fine on my left)
3) I have an anatomical leg length discrepancy (right leg is shorter than left by 1.1 cm)–>confirmed via x-ray. 
4) Pelvic rotation with the right side tilted anteriorally–>adaptation to the leg length discrepancy
Note:  Tight IT band is on both sides (but I think its tighter on my right side)

My physiotherapist thinks by addressing the first 2 points will help resolve my case. Whereas my osteopath thinks I also need to address the 3rd point (the leg length discrepancy). She even went so far in saying that she thinks I can fix my case just by addressing the 3rd point. She said if I put a full length foot lift, my body will rebalance itself. She thinks that my right glute is weak because my right leg is shorter causing my knee pain. And by adding the lift, my glute will start to fire again, and my knee pain will go away. 

Is their any evidence, articles, or links that may suggest that a short leg can lead to glute medius weakness?