Expert: Dr. J. Shawn Leatherman - 3/25/2009

Question
Hi,

I have been having pain in my right hip off and on for a couple years now. The first time I ever really noticed it was about five years ago while I was in a car, the pain was inside my upper thigh and gradually shot down my leg. I went to the doctor for this but nothing ever came of it. Since then I have joined the military, completed bootcamp with no problems and then I started working out a few years ago. Over the past few years I have noticed that the entire right side of my body has problems. For example, doing any shoulder exercises affect my left shoulder only and neck shrugs only affect my left trap, my shirts fit funny because of this. Moving down to my ribs/hip/and leg...I have the same problem! My left ribcage sticks out further than my right and its much harder to develop the muscles on the right side. My hip is causing me the most pain and frustration, its hard for me to explain this but here we go. Instead of my entire leg absorbing the impact, it feels like just the forward part of my hip absorbs it all along with pain while sitting or sleeping. It comes and goes but I can feel something is wrong. If I do any leg exercises my left leg reaps all the results and the right leg is kind of just there. My waist and butt on the right side is bigger, basically it feels like I have no glute on the right side and that my leg is not properly connected. I am extremely frustrated with this because I love being active and it seems to severely hinder my results in the gym. I am also terrified of what might be wrong with me, I've never had any problems or broke any bones. I wouldn't think it would be scoliosis because I've been tested all my life and when I entered the military. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks for your time!

Ryan Harvey

Answer
Dear Ryan,

You seem to have a "hodge podge" of symptoms here that go from one side to the other without any central connection. The fact that you have imbalances from one side to the other could be the result of a developmental, skeletal or neurological issue.  Most of the time when a patient has weakness on one side of their body it is due to neurological compromise which inhibits the function and size of the musculature.  However, this is not always the case, and can be due to repetitive motion/work which favors one side of the body over the other.

For instance if you are athletically involved in a sport for a period of time, or your work require repetitive muscular effort, the dominant side of the body may actually be smaller than the other side.  This is because the dominant side is usually involved in the precision work and the non-dominant side is utilized for stability...this would be a case of fine motor skill vs. gross motor skill...gross motor usually requires more strength.

Bottom line here is that you need to get a function examination which should include posture, range of motion, strength testing, orthopedic testing, and neurological testing.  The only doctors who are likely to perform this type of exam are chiropractors, physiatrists, or orthopedists who are trained and specialize in sports injury.  I would suggest that you do some local research to find a doctor such as this and schedule for an examination.  This is truly the only way to determine what is the cause.  If the exam doesn't turn up anything, then it would be appropriate to pursue blood tests and advanced imaging techniques.

Respectfully,
Dr. J. Shawn Leatherman
www.suncoasthealthcare.net