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

xsiborg

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!

cloptrop

Its a very racist thing to do.
When there is a foreigner amongst some Irish people, or job robber as they call them they all pretend to walk with a limp , its their secret joke where they pretend to be impaired to see if you "steal" their job as well.
I think its disgraceful this is still going on , you should report them to your boss.

treborflynn

well i have a titanium knee

Son Of A Vidic

cocoshovel wrote: »

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

100% of this post is utter bullshít. FACT!!

WolfForager

More than likely what your seeing is a load of Boardsies who have just shaved their nether regions after reading that thread a while ago.

cocoshovel

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

100% of this post is utter bullshít. FACT!!

I smell an imbred!

Archeron

don ramo wrote: »

vasectomies were half price last tuesday:D

i know a few people whove gotten them in the last year, its what all the cool daddys are doing these days,

First glance I thought that said velociraptors.

al28283

DevilsBreath wrote: »

Crap you got a point, i was about to go of on one about Adem and Eve but you got me, even if were talking about evolution were all incestual to a point were there can only be so many points of start.
On that though, We've had enough time that no one should ever even be touching a 100Th cousin.
If she has the same second name as you that's the first clue to run a mile.

I believe it's much closer than that. If you go back about 200 years, only a few generations, all our ancestors were doing it

hattoncracker

treborflynn wrote: »

well i have a titanium knee

I have screws and pins in both knees!

al28283

hattoncracker wrote: »

I have screws and pins in both knees!

Let me guess... Arrow??

hattoncracker

al28283 wrote: »

hattoncracker wrote: »

I have screws and pins in both knees!

Let me guess... Arrow??

Dislocations.. I do have a friend who drunkenly shot himself in the head with a crossbow once!

Kitty-kitty

If you haven't lived in Dublin all your life / moved recently, be aware that you pass by a much wider variety of people in a day than you would in a small town. If you used to live in a town there's roughly, what, 2000 people who have the potential to pass you on a daily basis in that town? In Dublin, there's a million, and that's a lot more people who could have a limp. You're just seeing a lot more people in a day, and noticing gaits.

Capt'n Midnight

http://spinabifida.ie/about-us/did-you-know.html

Spina Bifida affects about one in every 1000 children born per year in Ireland. For reasons yet unknown, Ireland has the highest incidences of Spina Bifida in the world!

Liam Byrne

DevilsBreath wrote: »

Its all to do with the new water filtration system. there's this strange bug going round that making one leg minutely bigger then the other. Now its only like half a centre meter or so but its enough to trough you slightly off. Be kind dude its not something to bring up with the person.

:eek: Visions of X-men rejects waking endlessly in circles!

Or, given that the metre is in the centre.....

Badgermonkey

It's hard to drive through a small town in rural Ireland without spotting a limpy aul lad.

He goes to the trouble of donning a suit, but invariably accessorizes with a cloth cap, plastic bag (in each hand), jumper under the suit and the aforementioned dud appendage, dragging along beside him.

So, to answer, Polio.

How he made it all the way to Dublin is truly a mystery though.

sheesh

little known fact: OP lives near a sports injury specialists