From Greg Oden’s Report of Findings September 24, 2008:
Based upon the analysis, our recommendation is the following:
• Increase Overall Hamstring Strength
• Increase R hamstring and Glute Strength
• Improve R leg explosiveness
• Increase L Gastroc, Soleus, Glute, Hamstring and Quad Flexibility
•Consider a more efficient shoe designed to lift the entire foot to improve normal leg stride.
In Greg’s case, every exercise or target area needing improvement on his list required slow, yet focused repetitions. If Greg was asked to walk, run, squat or jump, he placed more of the load on his left leg than his weaker right leg. I informed the medical staff that this overload would put Greg at risk for a major acute injury to his left leg. Greg’s imbalance was so distinct that I even advised that staff that if he didn’t improve the weaknesses in the short-term and continue some of the rehab-like exercises for the entire season, his career could be at risk.
And you can believe it or not, but the medical staff laughed off my recommendations. In fact, we spent nearly two hours at dinner with the medical staff questioning my results and looking for reasons to discredit the results rather than search for solutions to keep the team’s multimillion dollar athlete on the court. At one point, one member of the medical staff informed me that Greg suffered from a true anatomical leg length shortness on the right side. As a result of that diagnosis, Greg had been prescribed, by physicians, to wear a heel lift in his right shoe. Well doc, I hate to be the one to tell you again, but the heel lift actually increases the load and the amount of anterior/posterior shear (forward/backward sliding) on Greg’s right knee, contributing to his need to undergo several micro-fracture surgeries.
The results of Greg’s biomechanics assessments created doubt in my mind about the leg length claims. However, I suggested an alternative to a heel lift if they truly believed that a shorter right leg was a contributing factor to his knee injuries. The solution, for an athlete with Greg’s height and leg length, an entire shoe lift (orthopedic shoe on the right side) would reduce the sheer forces in the joint and keep Greg healthy while he continued the rehab.
You can imagine the laughter that filled the restaurant from the table. “No one wears a shoe lift,” one staffer replied. “That’s crazy. Where would we get one?” To which I replied, “Hey Nike is Greg’s shoe sponsor and they are right down the street. I’m sure they could customize a shoe lift for one of their star athletes if it keeps him healthy.” To my knowledge, no shoe lift was ordered for Greg.
