Do Asymmetrical Legs Mean ALS?

Are you panicking about ALS because your legs are uneven or not symmetrical?

The body is NOT symmetrical. This applies to more than shape and muscles. Examine the moles on your lower leg.

Do you have the exact same pattern of moles on your other leg? One calf is probably bigger than the other, too.

Gee, I see this ALL the time in someone walking ahead of me wearing shorts.

Like you have a dominant arm, you also have a dominant leg. There is no reason to worry about ALS.

The dominant leg may have more dents in the calf, reflecting slightly more toned muscles and/or less fat (not atrophy!).

As a former personal trainer, I’d see this all the time in my clients as well as other gym patrons.

If your less dominant calf has more dents, this does not mean muscle atrophy.

Don’t panic over ALS. It means natural asymmetry, which may be the result of maybe a little less fat there.

(The less fat between skin and muscle, the more muscle definition you’ll have.)

Assurance if You’re Worried About ALS

“Mild muscle asymmetry is usually not of concern, especially without associated weakness,” says John Whyte, MD, board certified internist in Washington, DC, and author of “Is This Normal? The Essential Guide to Middle Age and Beyond.” 

Or maybe your “non-dominant” leg is more dominant than you think!

For example, suppose your right leg is stronger than your left, as far as push-power.

This, however, does not mean that your left leg can’t be superior in some other aspect, such as balancing on one foot or taking off in a leap.

“Our bodies are not bilaterally symmetrical,” says Marc I. Leavey, MD, a primary care physician with 40+ years of experience.

He continues, “An old trick from the pre-Photoshop days was to take a straight-on photograph of someone’s face, cut it down the middle, reverse one side and put the two versions of one side together, producing an image which did not resemble the original person. Even identical twins have subtle differences.”

Though Dr. Leavey references the face here, keep in mind that the face is full of muscles.

He adds, “If you are right handed, your right arm will be a bit more developed from the increased use over years.  Similar changes are in the legs.”

If you’ve been panicking over ALS, you may want to monitor your blood pressure, as anxiety can raise it.

Dr. Whyte is the chief medical officer of webmd.com. Prior, he was the chief medical expert for almost a decade at Discovery Channel.

Dr. Leavey was formerly with Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, MD, where his focus was primary care and internal medicine. He has a blog, STRING OF MEDICAL PEARLS.

Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.

 

.

Source: webmd.com/brain/tc/amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis-als-topic-overview?page=2