According to a study by the US Army, approximately one out of ten people have an actual leg length difference. Additionally, about one out of one hundred people have pelvic bones which are smaller on one side than the other side.

According to myofascial (muscle and soft tissue) pain experts Drs. Travell and Simons, a leg length difference of 1/8 inch or more puts you at risk for pain and dysfunction.  Why?  Because your body does things automatically to try to correct or adapt or accommodate that difference such as tilt, twist or rotate.

There are two types of “short legs.”  Both can cause migraines.

One is an actual anatomical difference which could be caused by severe injury or polio or nature and is measurable on x-rays.  It could be either the upper or the lower leg bone.

The other type is a functional leg length difference.  That means the bones are all the same length but muscles in the body cause one hip to lift.  Your hips can move independently of each other so it is possible to have one hip that is higher or more forward than the other.

People with an anatomical leg length difference often have migraines because walking with a tilt puts a lot of strain on the muscles at the base of the skull.   It causes a rotation (slight turning) of the head.  That can affect the nerves and blood vessels which play a part in migraines.  Those people can have other pain, too, such as hip pain on the short leg side or low back pain pain or TMJ dysfunction.

What’s the fix?

Good news!  There is a relatively easy fix so you don’t have to go through life “out of balance” and with migraines.

Anatomical short leg: Lifting your entire foot on the short leg side enough to level your hips will go a long way in helping you feel better, have fewer migraines, and fewer problems with your neck and muscles.

This requires that you only wear certain shoes.  They must have a solid, thick hard rubber sole.  A shoemaker can split a firm rubber sole and add a layer of neoprene rubber to lift the short leg. This doesn’t work with air or gel type shoes.

Also, if you have a really skilled shoemaker or cobbler, he might be able to remove your whole sole and replace it with a new, thicker sole.

It may seem like a lot of work or you might not want to give up your stylish shoes but the benefits to your body are huge.

Functional short leg: A skilled massage therapist can help relax and release the tight out-of-balance muscles that are pulling your bones out of neutral.

How do you know if you have a leg length difference?

Perhaps one pant leg is always longer than the other.  That was the clue for my 91 year old client who had back pain and migraines for over 70 years.  His doctors never looked for or told him he had a leg length difference but he told me, “My tailor always told me I did!”  His anatomical leg length difference was about 2 inches.

Maybe when you look in the mirror you can see that one shoulder is higher than the other or that your head sits off the side instead of dead in the middle of your body.  That’s a clue, too.

Or, as you look in the mirror, does your belt line drop to one side?

How do you know how much lift you need?

A doctor can take x-rays of your legs and hips and measure for you.  Or, you can “guestimate” by placing notebooks or magazines under your short leg and adding or removing pages until you feel level and look level in the mirror.  Many neuromuscular massage therapists are trained in measuring leg length differences also.

When you get rid of an actual leg length difference and stop the tilting and twisting that your body does to try to make corrections, you can have fewer migraines.

What else can I do?

Until I get my own migraine self-help program completed, I will refer you to this program, Jaw Pain Natural Relief.

What is the tie-in between migraines and jaw pain?  Many of the causes come from the same tight muscles and distortions in posture.  TMJ pain–pain in the jaw–also comes from the muscles around the shoulders, back, neck and head just as migraines do.

There can be multiple causes for migraines but the more causes you can get rid of, the less pain you will have.

PLEASE NOTE: Always whenever you do movements for your neck, do them carefully, slowly and thoughtfully.  Pay close attention to what’s going on so you don’t aggravate your touchy neck and cause a migraine.

There are many things we can do to prevent migraines, at least a lot of the time.  In the meantime, if you have a migraine, or feel one coming on, here are some tips to help you feel better.

As you know, aspirin generally doesn’t do a thing for a migraine headache.  However, there are 2 over-the-counter remedies that might help.

1.  Aleve (or its’ generic, naproxin) may work for you if you take a dose (1 or 2 tablets) at the onset–follow the directions on the label.

2.  Alka Seltzer may work, because it gives you a fully-dissolved dose of aspirin all at once.  Follow directions on the label.

Here are some other simple pain relief remedies to try:

1.  If the muscles on the tops of your shoulders are all “jammed up,” try a heating pad or heated cloth bag filled with rice to relax your shoulders.

2.  Lie down with an ice pack or cold pack comfortably positioned under your neck and the base of your skull.  Place a cold, wet cloth over your eyes.  If the cloth warms up, keep a basin of cool water next to your bed to refresh it.

If the cloth is drippy, that’s fine.  It’s actually good, because the cold drips will affect more of the nerves and muscles on your head.  Just put a plastic bag and towel under your head and shoulders to catch the drips.

3.  Don’t be shy about pushing or pulling on the muscles around your ears, temples, forehead, back of your head, or anywhere you can reach.  Sometimes the migraine is from the inside out, and sometimes it’s from the outside in.

4.  Pull your hair.  The soft tissues around your whole head get tight with a migraine.  By clasping your fingers in your hair, close to your head, you can use your hair as little levers to help relax your scalp muscles.

5.  Try to straighten up.  Your heavy head pulls on the muscles around your neck and shoulders when it’s in front of your body and can cause head pain.  If you can lift your chest, your head will move back and be more over your body and take some of the strain off your muscles & nerves.  Do this when you DON’T have a headache or migraine, too.

Here’s hoping that at least one of these tips will help you have less migraine pain.