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CuriousLoner's avatar

My left leg is stronger than my right leg what should I do?

Asked by CuriousLoner (1812points) September 10th, 2011

I will try to make this short as possible.But I feel most of the details will help explain why I am worried about this and how I got to this point.

Almost 1 year ago I had surgery on my right knee for an ACL replacement(I had one, but it was torn and shot out badly from a football injury) the doctor told me if I was interested in doing sports again or joining the military I would need a new one. If I don’t do the surgery I am at a much higher risk for twisting or re injuring that knee and the military was pretty much unlikely.

I proceed with the surgery. It went great and the recovery sucked ,but went good too. I was able to walk sooner then I thought. Did the rehab and once I could start working out and running I did and built myself back up slowly.

Anyways cut now to almost a year later and after 4 months of PT to get ready for BCT I feel great and I finally passed the 2–2-2.

However I am noticing that my left leg is much more toned and muscular. And in the past month or so when I run hard or do sprints it feels like my left leg is taking much more load then it should. I also had a nasty cramp/strain in my left quad a while back.

Yet my right knee and leg feel fine…Go figure….Also my right hamstring looks puny and much “thinner” than my left. I am worried this could become more worse later on.

Any suggestions? Should I just do more exercises for my right leg? Will this just correct itself over time?

The doctor suggested steroid injections once before on my right leg/knee. Is this a good idea?

You all have been very helpful in the past and hope you can give me some advice again.

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8 Answers

Zaku's avatar

I would ask the doctor to explain all of the pros and cons of steroid injections. If it would help re-grow elements other than muscles, I would think limited steroids could be reasonable.

Otherwise, I would just go to a gym and find some good one-leg exercises. That and just hike around a lot and swim, which are some of my favorite exercises anyway.

Coloma's avatar

Our bodies are not perfectly symetrical and having discrepancies in the “parts” is not uncommon.

For years, when I was working out a lot my left arm ( I am left handed ) and the left chest wall surrounding my arm and left breast was more defined than the right side. It was not extremely noticeable, but, it was there, and it was very noticeable to me.

It’s natural, don;t sweat it.

marinelife's avatar

I would ask the orthopedist who did the surgery.

Coloma's avatar

Oops, I missed the surgery part…sorry, never mind. ;-)

zenvelo's avatar

Did you have a Physical Therapist during your recovery? Ask a PT about specific exercise to strengthen the right leg.

I’ve had friends that have had knee issues of various sorts that were given weight exercise for the one leg to get it up to par with the other leg.

The exercises are designed for the specific problem, so get professional guidance.

Ltryptophan's avatar

I think you need physical therapy.

snowberry's avatar

I’d do everything I possibly could before I went under the knife. Try thinking outside the box, but do take care, and let us know what you end up doing, please!

CuriousLoner's avatar

@snowberry I already had surgery though..? Not sure what you mean.

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