Shoe lifts? Where to get them? What kind to get? One shorter leg.?
My right leg is about an inch shorter… its throwing my whole body off. My pelvis, spine, and shoulders are not even. It’s about an inch off. I am a 20 something female. I want a lift in only one shoe, a normal shoe… I don’t usually wear openned toed shoes or "heels".
Where can I find lifts? Are there any places where I can try them on at the store? How do I get it to stay in place in my shoe? What materials should I look out for or avoid? Any other tips? 
Tagged with: pelvis • shoulders • spine • toed shoes
Filed under: Shoe Lifts
Susan Yarrawonga (279)
First of all, have you determined if it’s an anatomically short leg (meaning one of your bones is shorter, in my case it’s my left femur), or a functionally short leg? If you don’t know the difference, you can find a lot of information on the web, just be sure it’s from a reputable source, not someone who’s trying to sell you a heel lift.
Have you spoken to your doctor about this?
If your leg is anatomically short, I would start out gradually by putting a small lift inside the heel of your shoe (choose one of your shoes or boots that has some depth to it). That’s because your body is currently used to having a short leg, and anything too drastic in the other direction can be hard on it, too…conventional wisdom suggests that you stop when you’ve built up about half of the difference, but since most of us can only accommodate about 1/4 inch discrepancy with no problem, you may want to have a bigger boost than 1/2 inch.
I have found that an external lift is more stable and less noticeable to me as I walk and stand–but I’m vain enough that I usually just go for the lift inside my shoe. Plus, with an internal lift you don’t have to spend the same $$$ and you can swap your lift from one pair of shoes to another. Or, to answer your question, some heel lifts come with a strip of adhesive which helps them stay in place. I’ve never found that necessary, although it depends on the shoe, because if I put a full lift inside some of my loafers which are not deep enough, my foot kind of flops out of the shoe
and my leg isn’t quite as short as yours.
One of my friends has a slightly short leg, and she likes tall high heels–I never noticed that one was "taller" than the other, until she pointed it out to me.
As for material, I’d just go to a local shoe repair shop and ask for their input. Tell them you want to start out with a lift inside your shoe to see how you like it–and while you’re there, ask them what it would cost and look like to have a shoe built up on the outside. Or, for starters, you could just go to your local drug store and buy some Dr. Scholl heel lifts. I buy a generic brand, and double up on them, putting both lifts of the pair in one shoe. Again, you’ll want to start out with just one though…then increase it gradually until you know you’ve got the right amount. You’ll know because you’ll see you’ve got a straight posture looking in the mirror–both sides of your pelvis and both shoulders will be even. It’s a good feeling after years of being lopsided!
Good luck!