I have a student, who has one leg shorter than the other. She opened up about this during her first yin yoga session and perhaps because I was asking her to pay attention to what she was feeling in her body. At the moment I teach few people online (only friends and for free) to gain teaching experience.
The conversation started when she was in half butterfly folding over one leg and described tugging of her "dodgy" tailbone. So I enquired further. She said she had some imbalance there and went onto tell me the story:
This had been only discovered a few years ago after her arrival in the UK. Previously she had surgery to fuse her big toe joints due to arthritis from skiing. Before arriving in the UK, she was living in Switzerland where she was fitted with shoe insoles to help her feet (due to the surgery). The difference in leg length was discovered when she arrived in the UK and needed replacement insoles. So she was also given a wedge to boost the shorter leg....
She went to say, that since using this wedge, she felt quite off-kilter in her posture and gait and said she couldn't run (anymore). She actually found the tugging in half butterfly "a good sensation", albeit different between the two sides. This came as no surprise and I did reassure her, that differences in sensation are to be expected as none of us are truly symmetrical.
Is there a possibility, that in making her legs "equal" by means of a wedge, has thrown her pelvis and tailbone out of neutral? And how should she proceed with wearing / not wearing this wedge? I would be interested to check, if she wants to try walking without and see if that makes her feel more balanced. But am I wrong? I definitely don't want to cause harm, but it seems that the wedge could be a cause.
Any advice for further reading for myself and my friend will be gratefully appreciated.
Are there any specific questions she needs to ask from her doctor / physiotherapist?
N.B. This was my first attempt at teaching a yin class - it was actually the beginner sequence in the book, which Bernie was encouraging us to try with real life students.