As we go down from the kinetic chain, it is possible that patients would have uneven hips level horizontally. Some would also refer to that as lateral pelvic tilt since one side is higher or lower than another side.
Similar to uneven shoulders, this could be due to varied reasons. The structural cause can be scoliosis and leg length discrepancy. There could also be habits leading to bad posture and so on. All that was mentioned could possibly result in muscular imbalance. The side that hikes up could have relative weak glute medius and tight quadratus Lumborum and hip adductors.
So how can we know if I got lateral pelvic tilt or not? Have yourself stand straight up and put your hands on the top of your pelvis each. Make your palms parallel to the ground. Compare the height difference between two hands in front of the mirror.
The Trendelenburg test can also confirm weakness in the hip abductors. Have yourself standing straight up again but this time you will lift one leg off the ground. Compare it on both sides. If there is a drop on the standing leg, which means it is a positive test. It shows that there is weakness and possibly a lack of control of the hip abductors.
Stay tuned for exercises to fix lateral pelvic tilt!
Comments