Limb Lengthening Forum

Limb Lengthening Surgery => Limb Lengthening Discussions => Topic started by: Del on July 05, 2015, 06:34:45 AM

Title: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Del on July 05, 2015, 06:34:45 AM
I know there'll be a lot.

1) What will be the most painful?
2) Is physiotherapy done while you're wearing those rings and growing?
3) Is it few months of constant agony, or is it moderate pain with intense pain only during physiotherapy?
4) After you're done growing and start therapy to get back to normal, does the pain still last or is it very little by then?

Thank you, I'd really appreciate answers. I'll be taking 1 year off for this surgery so time is not an issue.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Medium Drink Of Water on July 05, 2015, 07:38:56 PM
1. Moving my legs was the most painful part of LL.  That's why I didn't move very much.
2. It can be, but you don't have to do physical therapy if you don't want to.  I didn't, and it worked out fine in the end.
3. It was constant discomfort, but not constant agony.  As long as I lay still, the pain wasn't bad.
4. For me, the frames were the source of pain.  Once I got them off I had very little pain.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: microman on July 05, 2015, 08:04:32 PM
I didn't know you could get away without doing any stretching exercises during LL, are you sure that that's the case, could I avoid stretching exercises with a monorail device?
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Medium Drink Of Water on July 05, 2015, 08:30:45 PM
Standing and sandbagging (putting heavy sandbags on your knees to make them go straight) were enough for me.  The only real concern is doing a standing x-ray at the end to make sure everything is in alignment, and for that, you only have to be able to straighten your legs.  You can exercise and recover after the frames are off.  It's much less painful then.

It didn't take me long to catch up to the people who worked really hard with physical therapy the whole time.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Del on July 05, 2015, 09:24:02 PM
Standing and sandbagging (putting heavy sandbags on your knees to make them go straight) were enough for me.  The only real concern is doing a standing x-ray at the end to make sure everything is in alignment, and for that, you only have to be able to straighten your legs.  You can exercise and recover after the frames are off.  It's much less painful then.

It didn't take me long to catch up to the people who worked really hard with physical therapy the whole time.

That's great news. Why have (almost?) all people on this forum seem to have not had a scary experience full of anguish with their LL? Not that I won't be expecting it. Since I'm mostly worried about those damn frames with needles sticking into my bones, I'll opt for the nail. @KiloKAHN said Dr. Parihar who's in my city does it and Precice too. I just hope he's great at it.

Does the nail hurt lesser than the frames? If I do 6cms, how long do you think it'll be before the frames come out?
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Medium Drink Of Water on July 05, 2015, 09:44:43 PM
I think if you can afford internal methods, that's probably better since you won't have as much pain and discomfort.  Dr. Parihar, from what I've read, is a good surgeon.  He would've been on my list of doctors to consider if I'd known about him in 2007.

I don't know how long 6cm would take you if you did external-only.  It all depends on how fast your bone consolidates, and that's difficult to predict.  Kilokahn spent a long time in his frames.  With LON, you would probably only need about 4 months in the frames to lengthen 6cm.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Del on July 05, 2015, 09:52:24 PM
I think if you can afford internal methods, that's probably better since you won't have as much pain and discomfort.  Dr. Parihar, from what I've read, is a good surgeon.  He would've been on my list of doctors to consider if I'd known about him in 2007.

I don't know how long 6cm would take you if you did external-only.  It all depends on how fast your bone consolidates, and that's difficult to predict.  Kilokahn spent a long time in his frames.  With LON, you would probably only need about 4 months in the frames to lengthen 6cm.

If Dr. Parihar is great with LON (or Precice..unless it costs $100K) it's a clear choice. I'm hoping this will toughen me up but try imagining a guy scared of needles having pins stuck into his bones for a year.

Is there any reason, besides money, why external is better than LON?
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Medium Drink Of Water on July 05, 2015, 09:53:23 PM
External is less invasive, so it's less trauma on your body.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Del on July 05, 2015, 09:56:37 PM
But doesn't the trauma happen while you're asleep in the surgery room? So I'm assuming you mean side effects of trauma like fat embolism or weak knees..
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Medium Drink Of Water on July 05, 2015, 10:43:39 PM
When I say trauma I mean damage to the body in general.  It's not about whether you'll feel it while it's happening or not.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Del on July 06, 2015, 03:39:47 AM
Fair enough. Did your LON leave behind any permanent damages? I saw a post about you saying your knees were f'ed up and a couple weeks later they were almost fine.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Medium Drink Of Water on July 06, 2015, 03:52:01 AM
I suspect that the surgery to insert and remove the internal nail caused some stiffness and sensitivity in the patellar tendon.  This gradually got better, then got worse, then started getting better again.  It puzzles me as to why.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: KiloKAHN on July 06, 2015, 04:02:55 AM
If Dr. Parihar is great with LON (or Precice..unless it costs $100K) it's a clear choice.

Precice is around $30,000 for the cost of the nails which are paid directly to the manufacturer. Then the rest is the surgeon and hospital fees, which is 900,000 INR. The surgeon fees might be less for you though because you are an India national. I never discussed with Dr Parihar if he has different fees for locals, but it seems the case that many surgeons charge international patients more. Then again I could be wrong and his price may be the same for everyone.

If you can afford Precice, that would be a good opportunity for femur lengthening. Imo, I wouldn't go with purely internal methods for tibias if LON is an option. Simply because of cost.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Del on July 06, 2015, 04:30:30 AM
If you can afford Precice, that would be a good opportunity for femur lengthening. Imo, I wouldn't go with purely internal methods for tibias if LON is an option. Simply because of cost.

Do you mean put the Precice nails in my femur, or that I can go back a few years later for thigh lengthening too? I highly doubt I'll go for femurs, ever.

$30K doesn't that sound bad at all. I'm sure my parents will get it for me if they think it's significantly more comfortable. My concern was seeing $100K listed on some sites for Precice and that's wayyy too pricey. Has this forum had a Precice nail story? I could be the first one next year if not.  8)
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: KiloKAHN on July 06, 2015, 04:41:47 AM
Do you mean put the Precice nails in my femur, or that I can go back a few years later for thigh lengthening too? I highly doubt I'll go for femurs, ever.

$30K doesn't that sound bad at all. I'm sure my parents will get it for me if they think it's significantly more comfortable. My concern was seeing $100K listed on some sites for Precice and that's wayyy too pricey. Has this forum had a Precice nail story? I could be the first one next year if not.  8)

You can use Precice for femurs or tibias. The only reason I think it makes more sense to do it on femurs if you do one lengthening is that you can usually get away with lengthening more on femurs than you can tibias, and internal lengthening for femurs is the only option that makes sense whereas you can lengthen tibias reliably with a number of methods.

Permission to use Precice in India has only been around for 1 year, so there are no Precice cases as of yet. One user was planning Precice with Dr Shah but cancelled the surgery.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Del on July 06, 2015, 05:20:18 AM
Permission to use Precice in India has only been around for 1 year, so there are no Precice cases as of yet. One user was planning Precice with Dr Shah but cancelled the surgery.

That's not good.. but if Parihar is confident about Precice, I think I'll do it. Can I lengthen 8cms with femur?
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: KiloKAHN on July 06, 2015, 05:35:41 AM
That's not good.. but if Parihar is confident about Precice, I think I'll do it. Can I lengthen 8cms with femur?

Dr Parihar said insertion of the nail is rather standard and not a huge deal. I don't doubt his ability to use the nail properly, considering he inserts nails all the time, just not the Precice as of yet.

Precice can lengthen up to 8 cm.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Del on July 06, 2015, 06:59:21 AM
Dr Parihar said insertion of the nail is rather standard and not a huge deal. I don't doubt his ability to use the nail properly, considering he inserts nails all the time, just not the Precice as of yet.

Precice can lengthen up to 8 cm.

8cms only for femur or tibia too?

If he's not confident about Precice, I'll go for LON. But I won't do it until March '16 so maybe he should have some experience with Precice by then.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: KiloKAHN on July 06, 2015, 07:19:18 AM
8cms only for femur or tibia too?

If he's not confident about Precice, I'll go for LON. But I won't do it until March '16 so maybe he should have some experience with Precice by then.

He's confident about using the nail. If you e-mail him asking about it then he'll tell you that they can lengthen with it. He does tibia lengthening with the Precice as well. In fact, he told a prospective patient whose tibias were too curved for LON that he could lengthen tibias with the Precice nail because it's longer.

I think the Precice nail is the same for femurs or tibias (any Precice users know for sure?), so you should be able to lengthen 8 cm with it. Although if you're going to go the full 8 cm, femurs would be better than tibias because you'll recover much quicker.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: crimsontide on July 06, 2015, 08:23:53 AM
I know all Drs must have their first patient  for a particulAr procedure


It just wouldn't be me

I'd think twice about getting a procedure done   When performed for the first time by the dr. This applies to any dr
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Del on July 06, 2015, 10:52:59 AM
He's confident about using the nail. If you e-mail him asking about it then he'll tell you that they can lengthen with it. He does tibia lengthening with the Precice as well. In fact, he told a prospective patient whose tibias were too curved for LON that he could lengthen tibias with the Precice nail because it's longer.

I think the Precice nail is the same for femurs or tibias (any Precice users know for sure?), so you should be able to lengthen 8 cm with it. Although if you're going to go the full 8 cm, femurs would be better than tibias because you'll recover much quicker.

Thanks for the advice! Precice sounds like the best option if it's $30K with the only problem being that I'm sure I'll be the first Precice patient under him. But if the procedure is not much different from LON I think I'll trust him with it.

Also, I don't know how I'd feel about having 8cm longer thighs :/ My tibia and femur is the same length and I have small hands, so I'm going to ask if it'd look too weird. The idea of growing 8cm gave me a boner though.

EDIT: I just measured and I'd say my thighs are 15 inches long with femurs being 12 inches long. (Did not measure the knee area) If I went for lengthening it'd mostly be the tibia. I'll lengthen a centimeter less if I have to.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: KiloKAHN on July 06, 2015, 11:48:36 AM
Thanks for the advice! Precice sounds like the best option if it's $30K with the only problem being that I'm sure I'll be the first Precice patient under him. But if the procedure is not much different from LON I think I'll trust him with it.

Also, I don't know how I'd feel about having 8cm longer thighs :/ My tibia and femur is the same length and I have small hands, so I'm going to ask if it'd look too weird. The idea of growing 8cm gave me a boner though.

EDIT: I just measured and I'd say my thighs are 15 inches long with femurs being 12 inches long. (Did not measure the knee area) If I went for lengthening it'd mostly be the tibia. I'll lengthen a centimeter less if I have to.

Well it's roughly $30,000 just for the nails. You still have to factor in what Dr Parihar charges you. It could be around $45,000 - $50,000 when all is said and done. Of course your surgical fee might be less. It's worth asking. I'm sure Dr Parihar will discuss your ratios with you after x-ray and help you decide which makes the most sense to lengthen.
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Del on July 06, 2015, 12:08:06 PM
Well it's roughly $30,000 just for the nails. You still have to factor in what Dr Parihar charges you. It could be around $45,000 - $50,000 when all is said and done. Of course your surgical fee might be less. It's worth asking. I'm sure Dr Parihar will discuss your ratios with you after x-ray and help you decide which makes the most sense to lengthen.

mangalparihar@gmail.com, right? I've emailed him but no reply yet.

But I'm sold on Precice if it takes you around 6.5-8cms. Remember that I won't be paying the $5K - $7.5K people pay on hotel stay, cause it's my city.

Out of curiosity, would you ever consider doing another limb lengthening with Parihar? Let's say your parents offered to sponsor Precice nails for your thighs, would you get them?
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: KiloKAHN on July 06, 2015, 12:45:15 PM
mangalparihar@gmail.com, right? I've emailed him but no reply yet.

But I'm sold on Precice if it takes you around 6.5-8cms. Remember that I won't be paying the $5K - $7.5K people pay on hotel stay, cause it's my city.

Out of curiosity, would you ever consider doing another limb lengthening with Parihar? Let's say your parents offered to sponsor Precice nails for your thighs, would you get them?

You can also try mangalparihar@parihar.net and cc his assistant Dr Ahuja at divya@parihar.net

If I were to do another limb lengthening it would have to be my arms. I simply think I can't do my femurs without looking "off".
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Del on July 06, 2015, 12:57:02 PM
You can also try mangalparihar@parihar.net and cc his assistant Dr Ahuja at divya@parihar.net

If I were to do another limb lengthening it would have to be my arms. I simply think I can't do my femurs without looking "off".

Wow, imagine what people that lengthen arms go through.

Is there anything wrong with Precice being used for tibia? I definitely want Precice in tibias from Parihar (from what I've seen so far). If he refuses Precice for tibias I'll go for LON. No way I'm wearing those deadly cages around my legs for a year!
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: KiloKAHN on July 06, 2015, 01:34:44 PM
Wow, imagine what people that lengthen arms go through.

Is there anything wrong with Precice being used for tibia? I definitely want Precice in tibias from Parihar (from what I've seen so far). If he refuses Precice for tibias I'll go for LON. No way I'm wearing those deadly cages around my legs for a year!

I don't think there's anything wrong with using Precice for tibia lengthening. Dr Paley only lengthens cosmetically with Precice, although I think a patient of his said female patients seemed to have more issues with lengthening tibias with Precice than men. 
Title: Re: Questions about pain during LL
Post by: Del on July 06, 2015, 03:28:38 PM
I don't think there's anything wrong with using Precice for tibia lengthening. Dr Paley only lengthens cosmetically with Precice, although I think a patient of his said female patients seemed to have more issues with lengthening tibias with Precice than men.

Well then, there's a very high chance next year will see my diary about Precice with Dr. Parihar. I'll go into detail but one thing I'm great at is whiling away time doing absolutely nothing remotely productive, so boredom will never be an issue for me. Let's see how humourous I can be while my legs are broken and put together.  8)