I Don't Want To Be Rude, But....

Robdude wrote: »

The existence of confirmation bias doesn't preclude a hypothesis from being true.

True but you need more than just personal observation to give a hypothesis any weight.

I've a degenerative condition in my back.. This often causes me to limp, sometimes quite badly..

cocoshovel wrote: »

90% of the Irish population are inbred. FACT!!

Well seeing as there are 5+ million people on the island who'd claim to be Irish, then yes, it's probably true that most Irish people are inbred with Irish people.

Temptamperu wrote: »

Ive a limp if my backs hurting, I got sciatica.

I had a problem with sciatica also, a right pain in the arse that continues down along the leg. I was told that I had one leg shorter than the other apparently it's very common, which would also explain a limp.

Robdude wrote: »

I know this sounds bad, but I'm not trying to troll (I swear). I just don't know where else to ask this, as bad as it sounds.

I've noticed a lot of people walking with a limp in Dublin, including a fairly high percentage of my coworkers (at least compared to what I'm used to seeing in other countries).

I'm afraid that asking them directly would seem rude or insensitive or whatever; but I'm really curious - is there a disease or something that is more common in Ireland than in other places that explain this?

Obviously, yes, there are people with limps all over the world; but it really seems like a higher rate that what I'm used to. Am I simply crazy - or is there an explanation for this?

(Again, I really don't mean any offence).

i wouldnt think the way you phrased the OP a rude question at all, far less ignorant than being referred to as "hopalong cassidy", "did ya git stabbed in da lig or wha?" (i live in limerick, draw your own conclusions! ), but no, actually the reason i limp is because i was born with what many posters will be familiar with called a "click hip", or it's medical definition- "congenital hip dysplasia", which wasnt detected at birth.

if it had been, my hips would have been realigned with a method that is still in use today, 35 years later- simply plaster the hips up for six months til the joints form properly. my parents actually thought i was bow legged, so they had a metal bar put in between my shoes, (think like a prisoner on death row kinda movement!), and for 18 years i limped, but there was the assumption i was "putting it on" to get attention because my father also had problems with his hips (he had replacement surgery done, and then suggested i see the same specialist).

at 22 i had a procedure done called a ganz osteotomy, because i was too young for a full hip replacement op, which have to be changed every ten years or so hence they were reluctant to go down this route. a ganz osteotomy is basically an op to cut into the pelvis, bend it down over the head of the hip bone, and use long steel pins to keep it in place, then the bone re-grows around the pins.

but because the click hip had been so late in being detected, it had already gone arthritic, and there is nothing that can be done in that respect. so basically what it comes down to is that i have to keep my weight down in order to decrease the wear and tear on my joints, (its a bit late now as my knees too are already shot to shít), so now im due to go visit a consultant again to determine the next course of action.

i know already the first thing i'll be told is to lose weight, (karma's a bitch, how we used laugh at my old man 20 years ago who was used to his big dinners suddenly being reduced to nibbling on ryvita to lose weight before they'd operate on him! ). so that's what im concentrating on at the moment, and in this weather aswel, my joints freeze and lock up to the point where im either walking like robocop (interesting coincidence your username being robodude and all! :eek:), or simply not being able to walk at all, without the aid of a crutch at least!

so there you go OP, hope that might explain somewhat what you are seeing, overweight people too put extra strain not just on their organs but also on their skeletal system so you'll probably find it more common amongst overweight people that they limp too.

and just while i think of it actually, and this might actually be an explanation worth considering than my particular anecdotal case-

it's very common in human beings that one side of the body develops more than the other, hence one leg will be longer than the other, and actually in tests done, if you blindfold a person and set them walking in the snow, they will walk around in a complete circle!

found a link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17658-we-cant-help-walking-in-circles.html

interesting one alright, i'd love to hear other's explanations too! oh, another one that i just remembered- scolisis, even ever so slight, can throw you off balance so much that it looks like you're limping, especially lateral scoliosis, i saw a lot of young kids up in the cappagh that suffered with this, who had to have metal frames inserted in their backs and body casts fitted to actually try and help straighten their spinal column!