Limb Lengthening Forum
Limb Lengthening Surgery => Limb Lengthening Patients Experiences => Topic started by: chasing_higher_dream on February 14, 2021, 08:18:19 PM
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Hello everyone :)
I would like to contribute to this forum by sharing my journey of limb lengthening.
Starting height: 170 cm
Desired increase: 10 cm
Desired final height: 180 cm
Wingspan: 174 cm
Tibia to femur percentage: 86%
Gender: Male
Age: 29 years
Weight: 75 kg
I had an initial consultation with Dr. Betz around start of Feb 2021 (Consultation cost is 500€). We had a 4 to 5 hour thorough conversation about the procedure and regarding all of its technicalities. Dr. Betz was very patient and explained all of the questions very diligently. Overall I had a positive impression of Dr. Betz. At the end of the conversation, I decided that I would go for femur lengthening since my tibia to femur ratio (0.86) is more than the average. Also, Dr Betz said that he would most likely use 11mm Betzbone nail for me. I am planning to have the surgery in May 2021. Since I have roughly around 2 months, I have started with daily 30 minutes of stretching.
I will update this diary whenever I have made some progress. Also do share your thoughts/ideas if any, if you would like to share with me :)
Thank you.
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Did you already pay for the procedure and the nails?
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Re: hanshi
No not yet. I am awaiting for the further instructions from Dr. Betz.
Are you also a patient of Dr. Betz?
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Good luck. How much was the surgery?
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Good luck with the procedure bro😁
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All the best mate, I am considering Dr Betz in April. I might potentially see you there in Germany if our dates overlap.
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Good luck! Did you also talk about the Precice Stryde nail?
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Good luck mate.
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@ ghkid2021: The surgery costs around €53,000 for femur lengthening (for taking out rods after 1 or 2 years you would have to pay extra € 6,700).
@ Limbfan2020: We did had a talk regarding Stryde, but Dr. Betz showed great confidence in Betzbone. Also he said in recent years, he has greatly improved the quality of his nail, thus there are no bending issues anymore with Betzbone. Also, Stryde with him would cost more (I do not know the exact amount). Hence, I decided to go ahead with Betzbone nail.
Thanks for the well wishes.
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@ ghkid2021: The surgery costs around €53,000 for femur lengthening (for taking out rods after 1 or 2 years you would have to pay extra € 6,700).
@ Limbfan2020: We did had a talk regarding Stryde, but Dr. Betz showed great confidence in Betzbone. Also he said in recent years, he has greatly improved the quality of his nail, thus there are no bending issues anymore with Betzbone. Also, Stryde with him would cost more (I do not know the exact amount). Hence, I decided to go ahead with Betzbone nail.
Thanks for the well wishes.
500 euro for consultation, 53000 for betzbone, and 6700 for nail removal is unnecessarily expensive, imo. Many problems with Betzbone failures as Betz apparently admitted "...in recent years, he has greatly improved the quality of his nail, thus there are no bending issues anymore with Betzbone...".
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@ ghkid2021: The surgery costs around €53,000 for femur lengthening (for taking out rods after 1 or 2 years you would have to pay extra € 6,700).
@ Limbfan2020: We did had a talk regarding Stryde, but Dr. Betz showed great confidence in Betzbone. Also he said in recent years, he has greatly improved the quality of his nail, thus there are no bending issues anymore with Betzbone. Also, Stryde with him would cost more (I do not know the exact amount). Hence, I decided to go ahead with Betzbone nail.
Thanks for the well wishes.
Tnx and good luck I recommend stretching the hamstring leik crazy for these upcoming months
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double post sorry
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Hello everyone :)
I would like to contribute to this forum by sharing my journey of limb lengthening.
Starting height: 170 cm
Desired increase: 10 cm
Desired final height: 180 cm
Wingspan: 174 cm
Tibia to femur percentage: 86%
Gender: Male
Age: 29 years
Weight: 75 kg
I had an initial consultation with Dr. Betz around start of Feb 2021 (Consultation cost is 500€). We had a 4 to 5 hour thorough conversation about the procedure and regarding all of its technicalities. Dr. Betz was very patient and explained all of the questions very diligently. Overall I had a positive impression of Dr. Betz. At the end of the conversation, I decided that I would go for femur lengthening since my tibia to femur ratio (0.86) is more than the average. Also, Dr Betz said that he would most likely use 11mm Betzbone nail for me. I am planning to have the surgery in May 2021. Since I have roughly around 2 months, I have started with daily 30 minutes of stretching.
I will update this diary whenever I have made some progress. Also do share your thoughts/ideas if any, if you would like to share with me :)
Thank you.
Hi, best of luck!
Did you get to see the place where most people stay after the clinic (I guess it's called the residential center)? Is it good enough?
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Just an update:
After thorough consideration, I have decided to reduce my lengthening goal to 8 cm, since I would prefer function over length. After lengthening 8 cm, I would stand at 178 cm which I guess is a pinch below average in Germany but I would be more than happy with this height. This decision has been made after talking to previous patients from Dr. Betz on this forum.
Also, I am regularly doing all the stretches to prepare myself for the surgery. Very much excited for the upcoming surgery day on the 3rd of May.
@ pownzorgeek: No I did not get to see the clinic due to corona restrictions.
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Wow. Did I read that right? 4-5 hour long consultation? That's crazy long! I can't believe he gave you that much time. Did you have a lot to talk about or lots of questions? Or did you get the sense that was the norm? Most doctor's consults are 20-30 min max. Congrats on making a commitment and good luck when your day comes!
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@maximize Yes, my consultation started at 3 pm and it lasted till 7.30 pm. I presume this much amount of time is normal with his consultation.
During this consultation below points were covered:
- X-rays were taken
- Height and wingspan were measured
- With help of software simulation images were shown how I would like at 4 cm, 6 cm, 8 cm, and 10 cm lengthening.
- Explanation of how the femur and tibia bone looks like along with the surrounding tissues.
- Explanation of how my bone looks in X-rays and also the ratio between tibia and femur.
- Explanation of femur vs tibia lengthening
- Different nails in the market and the differences between them (of course Dr. Betz was showing great confidence in Betzbone). According to Dr. Betz, the only competitor he sees to Betzbone nail is Stryde. He also said that Betzbone has a very high resistance to rusting and he did not have any case of rusting on his nails till now.
- Size of the nail which would be suitable for my bones. Dr. Betz said he does not like to ream the bone canal too much with bigger diameters.
- Short overview of how the surgery would look like on the femur.
- Stories from his past patients who lengthened 7 cm, 8 cm, 10 cm, and one guy even lengthened 12 cm (the max you can go with Betzbone)!!! He did say that he does not recommend lengthening to this amount and he recommends his patients to stay under 8 cm. Max 10 cm.
- Gist of how the lengthening phase would look like. He said he is available for all his patients via Whatsapp whenever possible.
- I also asked Dr. Betz whether he does IT band release? And he said he does not do IT band release. When I asked him the reason for not doing it, it was along the lines that it may cause problems in long run. He said that with proper PT, the IT band should stretch over the period of months, though this make take a considerable amount of time.
- And lastly, all the complications which may occur and all the preemptive measures he takes to prevent them.
We may have discussed more, but right now I do not recall everything.
At the end of the consultation, I was almost out of questions but Dr. Betz was like take your time and think if you want to ask something more.
But finally, I decided that this was all I had to ask, I thanked him, and then exited his clinic.
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@maximize Yes, my consultation started at 3 pm and it lasted till 7.30 pm.
During this consultation below points were covered:
- X-rays were taken
- Height and wingspan were measured
- With help of software simulation images were shown how I would like at 4 cm, 6 cm, 8 cm, and 10 cm lengthening.
- Explanation of how the femur and tibia bone looks like along with the surrounding tissues.
- Explanation of how my bone looks in X-rays and also the ratio between tibia and femur.
- Explanation of femur vs tibia lengthening
- Different nails in the market and the differences between them (of course Dr. Betz was showing great confidence in Betzbone). According to Dr. Betz, the only competitor he sees to Betzbone nail is Stryde. He also said that Betzbone has a very high resistance to rusting and he did not have any case of rusting on his nails till now.
- Size of the nail which would be suitable for my bones. Dr. Betz said he does not like to ream the bone canal too much with bigger diameters.
- Short overview of how the surgery would look like on the femur.
- Stories from his past patients who lengthened 7 cm, 8 cm, 10 cm, and one guy even lengthened 12 cm (the max you can go with Betzbone)!!! He did say that he does not recommend lengthening to this amount and he recommends his patients to stay under 8 cm. Max 10 cm.
- Gist of how the lengthening phase would look like. He said he is available for all his patients via Whatsapp whenever possible.
- I also asked Dr. Betz whether he does IT band release? And he said he does not do IT band release. When I asked him the reason for not doing it, it was along the lines that it may cause problems in long run. He said that with proper PT, the IT band should stretch over the period of months, though this make take a considerable amount of time.
- And lastly, all the complications which may occur and all the preemptive measures he takes to prevent them.
We may have discussed more, but right now I do not recall everything.
At the end of the consultation, I was almost out of questions but Dr. Betz was like take your time and think if you want to ask something more.
But finally, I decided that this was all I had to ask, I thanked him, and then exited his clinic.
Wish you good luck on your journey.
Your in good hands. Betz is one of the best out there.
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@maximize Yes, my consultation started at 3 pm and it lasted till 7.30 pm. I presume this much amount of time is normal with his consultation.
During this consultation below points were covered:
- X-rays were taken
- Height and wingspan were measured
- With help of software simulation images were shown how I would like at 4 cm, 6 cm, 8 cm, and 10 cm lengthening.
- Explanation of how the femur and tibia bone looks like along with the surrounding tissues.
- Explanation of how my bone looks in X-rays and also the ratio between tibia and femur.
- Explanation of femur vs tibia lengthening
- Different nails in the market and the differences between them (of course Dr. Betz was showing great confidence in Betzbone). According to Dr. Betz, the only competitor he sees to Betzbone nail is Stryde. He also said that Betzbone has a very high resistance to rusting and he did not have any case of rusting on his nails till now.
- Size of the nail which would be suitable for my bones. Dr. Betz said he does not like to ream the bone canal too much with bigger diameters.
- Short overview of how the surgery would look like on the femur.
- Stories from his past patients who lengthened 7 cm, 8 cm, 10 cm, and one guy even lengthened 12 cm (the max you can go with Betzbone)!!! He did say that he does not recommend lengthening to this amount and he recommends his patients to stay under 8 cm. Max 10 cm.
- Gist of how the lengthening phase would look like. He said he is available for all his patients via Whatsapp whenever possible.
- I also asked Dr. Betz whether he does IT band release? And he said he does not do IT band release. When I asked him the reason for not doing it, it was along the lines that it may cause problems in long run. He said that with proper PT, the IT band should stretch over the period of months, though this make take a considerable amount of time.
- And lastly, all the complications which may occur and all the preemptive measures he takes to prevent them.
We may have discussed more, but right now I do not recall everything.
At the end of the consultation, I was almost out of questions but Dr. Betz was like take your time and think if you want to ask something more.
But finally, I decided that this was all I had to ask, I thanked him, and then exited his clinic.
Wow that is really great that he is so thorough with you. And thanks for the long answer. I think I would really like a consult with him, if nothing else just to pick his brain. I personally agree with him 100% about IT band releases and not reaming too much. If you ream too aggressively you will weaken the bone. And I have always been leery about unnecessary soft tissue releases. I agree everything should stretch over time.
I just read through some of the negative threads about Betz and most of them seem to be about nonunions. I summarized my perspective here:
http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=66343.msg190462#msg190462
In short, we know there is a risk with ratcheting nails like Betz/Guichet's, because they cannot close down if you open them too quickly. But as I see it, this risk should be controllable just by going slower with careful xray monitoring to ensure callus is forming or bridging is maintained in the gap. As long as you always see that there should be no significant risk.
Did you get to talk to Betz about how he tries to avoid nonunion or what he aims for in terms of x-ray monitoring through the distraction phase? ie. How often x-rays? What is he looking for? How much of a gap is he comfortable with when there is no visible callus? etc.
If not, I expect you will have to review that either way before you go home and I'd appreciate you letting us know what he says. Thanks again.
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Wow. Did I read that right? 4-5 hour long consultation? That's crazy long! I can't believe he gave you that much time. Did you have a lot to talk about or lots of questions? Or did you get the sense that was the norm? Most doctor's consults are 20-30 min max. Congrats on making a commitment and good luck when your day comes!
My virtual consult with Paley was also about 1 and a half hours long or so. I could ask everything that came to my mind and from the notes, I have taken beforehand. I am surprised how you could go on for 5 hours, even if they do measurements and stuff.
@chasing_higher_dream what did he say when measuring the wingspan. What was his opinion on arm-length proportions? Paley told me 99% of people don't do arm lengthening and most people don't even need it since it is a problem primarily with how you view yourself.
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I can also confirm that this seems a typical length for a Betz consultation. My consult went for roughly 3-4 hours. I think it is just the thoroughness and different style of Betz that causes it to be this long.
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@VeteranLL: Thanks
@RealDamagedLostSoul: I did not have a conversation with Dr. Betz regarding arm lengthening since my wingspan was on a good side (174 cm). IMO, its not noticeable until you have wingspan 10cm less than your target height. But if its less beyond that (like 15 cm less and so on), then some people (who have keen eye on proportions) would be able to tell that something is off.
@RB: I just saw you diary, all the best. I wish that you reach your target height with breeze :)
@maximize: Thanks for sharing your article, it is insightful.
Risk of nonunions
Yes and you are right, Dr. Betz also said along the same lines that the first 3 cm he recommends to lengthen 1mm per day and after that 0.75mm per day for the rest of the lengthening. If this rate of lengthening is followed, most of the patients do relatively well. But incase if there is a delayed bone formation he recommends to not click at all for few days or reduce the amount of lengthening per day to even less further.
Frequency of x-rays
He recommends to post X rays every 2-3 weeks.
But I guess I will have X rays every 10 days and send it to him, I do not want to take any risk and its better to shell out some extra money and be on safer side.
Regarding your questions:
- What he aims for in terms of x-ray monitoring through the distraction phase?
- How much of a gap is he comfortable with when there is no visible callus?
I cannot answer these at the moment since we did not talk about this. Though I will try to ask this in my next consultation before the surgery.
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Update:
I got an email from Betz institute stating that all the surgeries till end of May have been cancelled and have been postponed. So, I had to book a new surgery date in June (almost 1 month ahead postponed). When I asked the reason for cancellation of the appointment till end of May, I just got the reply that "Prof. Betz is not allowed to perform any surgeries until end of May". There was not any reason on why! I presume this is because of worsening Corona situation in Germany. Anyway, I will still have to wait till June to get this surgery done.
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As an FYI: I have seen hanshi on this forum for years bashing Dr. Betz. I don’t know why he/she does this, but it seems to be his life’s goal to bash Betz. I would be skeptical of him. I am a former Betz patient and am very happy with the results, and I’ve personally met several people who feel the same way.
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I think Betz got sued and that's why he can't perform surgery. OR he got covid. I don't think its bc the current Corona situation in Germany since other doctors can perform surgery as well.
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So how did this dude just do his surgery a few days ago : http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=66558.0
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I think Betz got sued and that's why he can't perform surgery. OR he got covid. I don't think its bc the current Corona situation in Germany since other doctors can perform surgery as well.
Actually Betz underwent a surgery on his back.
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You're full of it. I know for a fact that he had back surgery, not COVID. I am a betz patient. Ate you hanshi? What is your purpose in life?
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You're full of it. I know for a fact that he had back surgery, not COVID. I am a betz patient. Ate you hanshi? What is your purpose in life?
I can also confirm that Betz underwent back surgery while I was in Germany. People will say anything to discredit someone.
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Brief update: Upcoming surgery in 1 day.
Arrival
I came to Sankt Ingbert 3 to 4 days before, it's a small town from where Dr. Betz operates. I have booked an Airbnb for 4 days now. Sankt Ingbert is well connected via train to a nearby main city called Saarbrücken.
Appointment with physiotherapist Peter Woll
The reason I came a few days earlier is that I had an appointment with physiotherapist Peter Woll. He has been the PT instructor for all of the Betz patients who stay back in Germany, his practice is in a town called "Wadern" which is around 50 km away from Dr. Betz's office. It takes roughly 2 hours via public transportation to reach his practice. I would recommend staying at Elke's place since Peter Woll's practice is close by to her. I had been in contact with him via video call 1 month before, he had given me some stretching exercises to do, so as to prepare me as well as to make me comfortable with the stretching exercises which I need to perform during the lengthening phase. At his practice, during face-to-face consultation, he further explained various stretches, the importance of proper posture, with which posture to sleep, past patient experiences, and the journey I should expect. Also, he highly advocates to not sit more post the surgery, since sitting shortens the hip flexor muscles, thus leading to duck ass. He has given me few exercises to avoid/minimize duck ass and widening of legs. I will be staying in contact with him via video call during my lengthening phase. I would highly recommend Peter if anyone wants some advice on stretches or gait improvement.
Covid check and signing documents in hospital
When I went to the hospital "Kreiskrankenhaus St. Ingbert", I had a covid test on the 1st floor. Also, one important point is that you have to pay €182 in cash for the Covid test (sadly the Mastercard is not accepted). So please take cash with you, since there is no ATM nearby the hospital. The hospital seems to be okay, I was not impressed with the hospital, but what's important to me is the surgeon who would operate on me. So, I will overlook this aspect.
Also, I met with the anesthesiologist, she explained to me the pros and cons of various anesthesia, I choose "General anesthesia" and had to sign few documents. Also, most of the staff speaks German, since I understand (most of it) and speak (a little bit) German, it was easier for me to navigate around the hospital. But, you can request the staff to speak in English if necessary. The anesthesiologist spoke with me in complete English.
Appointment with Dr. Betz
Daniela who is the assistant of Dr. Betz picked me from the hospital and drove to Dr. Betz's office. She is a lovely lady who is jovial and tries to assist every now and then. One interesting fact is that she had a discrepancy in one of her legs in past and she too had one of her legs lengthened with Dr. Betz and she seemed to walk now perfectly fine and fast.
After meeting Dr. Betz, I was a little bit surprised, I was expecting his energy to be a bit low, since he had surgery on his back past month. But it was completely the opposite. He seemed to be full of energy and enthusiasm, the same person I had met in February 2021. This made me happy. It seems that having back surgery did not affect him in a big way.
Dr. Betz and I again went through the process of how the surgery would look like, he gave me few documents to sign and also explained the content of those documents.
I asked a few questions to Dr. Betz which I saw on this forum:
1. Will Dr. Betz retire soon?
--> He said he does not plan to retire anytime soon, atleast not for 3 more years.
2. What will happen to Betzbone nail after he retires?
--> He has been giving training to few doctors who are willing to inherit Betzbone. He said particularly he is giving training to "Dr. Baker" (I may have pronounced this wrong) who is a plastic surgeon located in "Freiburg im Breisgau" (southern part of Germany). He may most likely inherit Betzbone nail too and probably would be the successor to Dr. Betz.
Miscellaneous
In my free time, I am strolling around the nearby "Saarbrücken" city. I loved the city so far, since the city seemed lively, lots of eateries and a big park with the Saar river around. I will definitely visit this place more often, once I recover from the surgery!
I have my surgery now on upcoming Monday (just 1 day remaining) at 6.30 am in the morning. I will probably not update this diary anytime soon. I will write once I feel okay and have the energy to write since the initial few days after surgery would surely be tough. With all this said, I am determined to go through this surgery and to get rid of my height neurosis once and for all.
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Great post, brings back the memories of the pre-surgery days for me! Wishing you all the best mate. It will be a tough 3-4 weeks but just keep in mind that it does get easier and before you know it you will be taller and free of height neurosis ;D. Good luck!
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Thanks, RB. Will keep it in mind. Appreciate it.
I am too following your diary closely. Great progress so far!
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Some really good advice here, I will get in touch with Peter Woll as well :)
Best of luck for the surgery!
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I am glad it helps you.
Thanks for luck @DonBones
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chasing_higher_dream
Thanks for asking Dr Betz about the future of Betzbone and his successor.
What's his strategy to prevent fat embolism? Did he mention something during the frst appointment?
I wish you the best for tomorrow! See you on the bright side of life!
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Thanks for the wishes @Limbfan2020
As far as I recall, he did say that bone reaming increases intramedullary pressure and may cause fat embolism. To counteract this Dr. Betz vents holes through the other side of the femur, so when the reaming process starts through the hip area, the excess fat and liquid get taken out automatically from the opposite vented hole due to the pressure.
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Are you nervous?
Hope you have a smooth operation on Monday
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Hope all went well 🤞
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Brief Update: Surgery successfully done
Initial gap: 6 mm
Going to hospital
On Monday I got up early at 5:30 AM in the morning and I packed all my stuff and exited the Airbnb and started walking towards the hospital. It took me 15 minutes to reach the hospital, upon arrival I was taken into a room where I had to wait for 30 minutes before I had once again a Covid test.
Surgery
I was taken into a room and was asked to change into surgery clothes, post that the nurse came and shaved the hairs from my thighs. After this I was asked to lie down on the bed and then I was rolled to the surgical room. I saw Dr. Betz, Dr. Backer, anesthesiologist, Daniela and 2 more hospital staff. On my left arm they put a device to continuously measure my blood pressure and on my right arm they put a syringe and the anesthesiologist said you will soon go to sleep. Within 5 seconds, I started to feel dizzy. They put a mask on my face and I was deep asleep. The next memory I had was, I was outside the surgical room and Dr. Betz came and said the surgery was successful. He said that he had used 11 mm Betzbone nails and the initial gap is 6 mm.
Post surgery
After surgery I was taken to a private room having a bed, a TV and a big window with lots of natural light. Most of the time I was asleep, I woke up at 1p.m. when Dr. Betz and Dr. Backer came to visit me. They helped me to get out of my bed and helped me to walk a few steps. It was tough, but manageable. The pain was not so strong, maybe 3 / 10. After that for the entire day I slept and in the evening I had some light snacks, then I took my medication and again I went back to sleep. I had a good nights sleep, I did not wake up due to any pain.
Next day
I woke up at 7 am in the morning, the pain was still relatively low. I must say the pain is lesser than I anticipated, I hope it remains the same. For pissing, I was given a container to piss in. The breakfast and lunch on the second day was considerably better. Also the nurses are good, within just one click of a button, they come by and help. I also spend some time chitchatting with nurses to get rid of my boredom. Physiotherapist attended me at around 11 am and we did a few exercises and practiced walking on crutches. In the late afternoon, Dr. Betz and Daniela also visited me. Daniela helped me to get out of the bed and we did one more round of walking practice with crutches. The most difficult part is to get out of bed by yourself, it feels like my legs weigh 100 kg. But once out of bed I am able to walk with crutches. There is some pain on the right side of the leg above the knee when I try to put pressure on it while walking. Apart from this, so far everything seems to be going well.
I will not update this diary daily but once I have made some significant progress.
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Brief Update: Surgery successfully done
Initial gap: 6 mm
Going to hospital
On Monday I got up early at 5:30 AM in the morning and I packed all my stuff and exited the Airbnb and started walking towards the hospital. It took me 15 minutes to reach the hospital, upon arrival I was taken into a room where I had to wait for 30 minutes before I had once again a Covid test.
Surgery
I was taken into a room and was asked to change into surgery clothes, post that the nurse came and shaved the hairs from my thighs. After this I was asked to lie down on the bed and then I was rolled to the surgical room. I saw Dr. Betz, Dr. Backer, anesthesiologist, Daniela and 2 more hospital staff. On my left arm they put a device to continuously measure my blood pressure and on my right arm they put a syringe and the anesthesiologist said you will soon go to sleep. Within 5 seconds, I started to feel dizzy. They put a mask on my face and I was deep asleep. The next memory I had was, I was outside the surgical room and Dr. Betz came and said the surgery was successful. He said that he had used 11 mm Betzbone nails and the initial gap is 6 mm.
Post surgery
After surgery I was taken to a private room having a bed, a TV and a big window with lots of natural light. Most of the time I was asleep, I woke up at 1p.m. when Dr. Betz and Dr. Backer came to visit me. They helped me to get out of my bed and helped me to walk a few steps. It was tough, but manageable. The pain was not so strong, maybe 3 / 10. After that for the entire day I slept and in the evening I had some light snacks, then I took my medication and again I went back to sleep. I had a good nights sleep, I did not wake up due to any pain.
Next day
I woke up at 7 am in the morning, the pain was still relatively low. I must say the pain is lesser than I anticipated, I hope it remains the same. For pissing, I was given a container to piss in. The breakfast and lunch on the second day was considerably better. Also the nurses are good, within just one click of a button, they come by and help. I also spend some time chitchatting with nurses to get rid of my boredom. Physiotherapist attended me at around 11 am and we did a few exercises and practiced walking on crutches. In the late afternoon, Dr. Betz and Daniela also visited me. Daniela helped me to get out of the bed and we did one more round of walking practice with crutches. The most difficult part is to get out of bed by yourself, it feels like my legs weigh 100 kg. But once out of bed I am able to walk with crutches. There is some pain on the right side of the leg above the knee when I try to put pressure on it while walking. Apart from this, so far everything seems to be going well.
I will not update this diary daily but once I have made some significant progress.
Glad you are doing well! Hope there will be no more severe pain indeed. I am looking forward to reading your next update :)
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Pain management in Betz's practice seems incredible. Really happy about your relatively pain-free experience. Congratulations, and good luck on the long journey ahead!
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5 days post-surgery
Things are going incredibly well. I am surprised at how our body copes with setbacks and I am amazed by the incredible healing power of our body! The pain is now almost non-existent. I am able to get out of bed on my own, I am able to sit/stand up on a chair/toilet seat on my own. My legs do not feel super heavy anymore. I had PT session to climb up and down the stairs, I am able to climb the stairs without any assistance, though the pace is very slow.
Regarding walk, I still need my crutches, my muscles tremble when I put more weight on it, as they lack the required power and flexibility. The speed of my walk is still slow, but I can see the gradual progress. Regarding flexibility, my quads are still stiff, but I am trying my best to stretch them. Regarding sleep, I am able to sleep 5-6 hours at night.
Dr. Betz and Daniela visit me every day. Every time Dr. Betz visits me, coincidentally I am in bed, and this made me a little embarrassed, since each time he tells me to walk and stretch more often. I am walking and stretching for 1 hour every 2 hours in a day.
I will start my clicking from Monday, I have heard it's painful and I am embracing myself for the pain. Let's see how it goes!
After my hospital stay, I have decided to stay at caretaker Elke's house till the end of June and will be continuing my physiotherapy with Peter Woll.
@DonBones:
Thanks for the wishes
@PerfectBody:
Yes, pain management seems to be incredible at Dr. Betz practice, I am happy about this aspect!
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5 days post-surgery
Things are going incredibly well. I am surprised at how our body copes with setbacks and I am amazed by the incredible healing power of our body! The pain is now almost non-existent. I am able to get out of bed on my own, I am able to sit/stand up on a chair/toilet seat on my own. My legs do not feel super heavy anymore. I had PT session to climb up and down the stairs, I am able to climb the stairs without any assistant, though the pace is very slow.
Regarding walk, I still need my crutches, my muscles tremble when I put more weight on it, as they lack the required power and flexibility. The speed of my walk is still slow, but I can see the gradual progress. Regarding flexibility, my quads are still stiff, but I am trying my best to stretch them. Regarding sleep, I am able to sleep 5-6 hours at night.
Dr. Betz and Daniela visit me every day. Every time Dr. Betz visits me, coincidentally I am in bed, and this made me a little embarrassed, since each time he tells me to walk and stretch more often. I am walking and stretching for 1 hour every 2 hours in a day.
I will start my clicking from Monday, I have heard it's painful and I am embracing myself for the pain. Let's see how it goes!
After my hospital stay, I have decided to stay at caretaker Elke's house till the end of June and will be continuing my physiotherapy with Peter Woll.
@DonBones:
Thanks for the wishes
@PerfectBody:
Yes, pain management is incredible at Dr. Betz practice, I am happy about this aspect!
So glad to hear you are doing well! :) By the sounds of it you already sleep more than I do before I have even done the surgery.. Perhaps you are simply a very good healer. I am sincerely happy for you that you have a good start and I wish you a painless clicking.
I will be staying at Elke's too, by the way. By the looks of it I will be at Elke's even before I see Betz as I have to quarantine somewhere! If you can, please post a few pictures of her hotel. I would be interested to know if there are TVs that are suitable for my PS5.. ;)
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7 days post-surgery --- 0.63 cm lengthened
Big update: Clicking started!
Daniela as well as Dr. Betz came today at around 12.30 pm, I was anticipating their presence since I was going to start clicking from today. Daniela showed me the technique on how to click. I tried first with my right leg, and then I heard the first sounds of clicking! It was very easygoing and no pain at all! I tried clicking with the left, and the experience was the same. No pain, very easy to click. I was done with 6 clicks for both legs in about 10 minutes. I am very happy that the clicking has been such an awesome experience for me. My tip to clicking would be to warm up your muscles by walking and stretching before clicking. During clicking keep your legs relaxed and let your hands guide the leg into the clicking direction.
Also, I have intensified my walking and stretching. My muscles are now more flexible compared to a few days before. Though in the morning, when I get up, they are very stiff, I need to walk and stretch to loosen my muscles. Regarding food in the hospital, now I am getting bored of the lackluster food. I am craving to eat something different, something tastier. I have also made good contacts with other Dr. Betz patients at the hospital, we walk around and stretch together.
I will continue to increase the number of clicks each day, until I reach 20 clicks for a leg in a day, which amounts to 1.04 mm (1 click = 0.052mm)
Happy with the journey so far :)
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7 days post-surgery --- 0.63 cm lengthened
Big update: Clicking started!
Daniela as well as Dr. Betz came today at around 12.30 pm, I was anticipating their presence since I was going to start clicking from today. Daniela showed me the technique on how to click. I tried first with my right leg, and then I heard the first sounds of clicking! It was very easygoing and no pain at all! I tried clicking with the left, and the experience was the same. No pain, very easy to click. I was done with 6 clicks for both legs in about 10 minutes. I am very happy that the clicking has been such an awesome experience for me. My tip to clicking would be to warm up your muscles by walking and stretching before clicking. During clicking keep your legs relaxed and let your hands guide the leg into the clicking direction.
Also, I have intensified my walking and stretching. My muscles are now more flexible compared to a few days before. Though in the morning, when I get up, they are very stiff, I need to walk and stretch to loosen my muscles. Regarding food in the hospital, now I am getting bored of the lackluster food in the hospital. I am craving to eat something different, something tastier. I have also made good contacts with other Dr. Betz patients at the hospital, we walk around and stretch together.
I will continue to increase the number of clicks each day, until I reach 20 clicks for a leg in a day, which amounts to 1.04 mm (1 click = 0.052mm)
Happy with the journey so far :)
That’s great to hear! Good luck on your distraction phase!!
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Did you take any medicine like painkiller or blood thin?
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7 days post-surgery --- 0.63 cm lengthened
Big update: Clicking started!
Daniela as well as Dr. Betz came today at around 12.30 pm, I was anticipating their presence since I was going to start clicking from today. Daniela showed me the technique on how to click. I tried first with my right leg, and then I heard the first sounds of clicking! It was very easygoing and no pain at all! I tried clicking with the left, and the experience was the same. No pain, very easy to click. I was done with 6 clicks for both legs in about 10 minutes. I am very happy that the clicking has been such an awesome experience for me. My tip to clicking would be to warm up your muscles by walking and stretching before clicking. During clicking keep your legs relaxed and let your hands guide the leg into the clicking direction.
Also, I have intensified my walking and stretching. My muscles are now more flexible compared to a few days before. Though in the morning, when I get up, they are very stiff, I need to walk and stretch to loosen my muscles. Regarding food in the hospital, now I am getting bored of the lackluster food. I am craving to eat something different, something tastier. I have also made good contacts with other Dr. Betz patients at the hospital, we walk around and stretch together.
I will continue to increase the number of clicks each day, until I reach 20 clicks for a leg in a day, which amounts to 1.04 mm (1 click = 0.052mm)
Happy with the journey so far :)
Fantastic news 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
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7 days post-surgery --- 0.63 cm lengthened
Big update: Clicking started!
Daniela as well as Dr. Betz came today at around 12.30 pm, I was anticipating their presence since I was going to start clicking from today. Daniela showed me the technique on how to click. I tried first with my right leg, and then I heard the first sounds of clicking! It was very easygoing and no pain at all! I tried clicking with the left, and the experience was the same. No pain, very easy to click. I was done with 6 clicks for both legs in about 10 minutes. I am very happy that the clicking has been such an awesome experience for me. My tip to clicking would be to warm up your muscles by walking and stretching before clicking. During clicking keep your legs relaxed and let your hands guide the leg into the clicking direction.
Also, I have intensified my walking and stretching. My muscles are now more flexible compared to a few days before. Though in the morning, when I get up, they are very stiff, I need to walk and stretch to loosen my muscles. Regarding food in the hospital, now I am getting bored of the lackluster food. I am craving to eat something different, something tastier. I have also made good contacts with other Dr. Betz patients at the hospital, we walk around and stretch together.
I will continue to increase the number of clicks each day, until I reach 20 clicks for a leg in a day, which amounts to 1.04 mm (1 click = 0.052mm)
Happy with the journey so far :)
Great to hear mate! Seems your journey has been incredibly smooth so far. You will be at the end before you know it!
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7 days post-surgery --- 0.63 cm lengthened
Big update: Clicking started!
Daniela as well as Dr. Betz came today at around 12.30 pm, I was anticipating their presence since I was going to start clicking from today. Daniela showed me the technique on how to click. I tried first with my right leg, and then I heard the first sounds of clicking! It was very easygoing and no pain at all! I tried clicking with the left, and the experience was the same. No pain, very easy to click. I was done with 6 clicks for both legs in about 10 minutes. I am very happy that the clicking has been such an awesome experience for me. My tip to clicking would be to warm up your muscles by walking and stretching before clicking. During clicking keep your legs relaxed and let your hands guide the leg into the clicking direction.
Also, I have intensified my walking and stretching. My muscles are now more flexible compared to a few days before. Though in the morning, when I get up, they are very stiff, I need to walk and stretch to loosen my muscles. Regarding food in the hospital, now I am getting bored of the lackluster food. I am craving to eat something different, something tastier. I have also made good contacts with other Dr. Betz patients at the hospital, we walk around and stretch together.
I will continue to increase the number of clicks each day, until I reach 20 clicks for a leg in a day, which amounts to 1.04 mm (1 click = 0.052mm)
Happy with the journey so far :)
Fantastic news. I screamed for 2 minutes straight after my first click. This is a good sign of great things to come!
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7 days post-surgery --- 0.63 cm lengthened
Big update: Clicking started!
Daniela as well as Dr. Betz came today at around 12.30 pm, I was anticipating their presence since I was going to start clicking from today. Daniela showed me the technique on how to click. I tried first with my right leg, and then I heard the first sounds of clicking! It was very easygoing and no pain at all! I tried clicking with the left, and the experience was the same. No pain, very easy to click. I was done with 6 clicks for both legs in about 10 minutes. I am very happy that the clicking has been such an awesome experience for me. My tip to clicking would be to warm up your muscles by walking and stretching before clicking. During clicking keep your legs relaxed and let your hands guide the leg into the clicking direction.
Also, I have intensified my walking and stretching. My muscles are now more flexible compared to a few days before. Though in the morning, when I get up, they are very stiff, I need to walk and stretch to loosen my muscles. Regarding food in the hospital, now I am getting bored of the lackluster food. I am craving to eat something different, something tastier. I have also made good contacts with other Dr. Betz patients at the hospital, we walk around and stretch together.
I will continue to increase the number of clicks each day, until I reach 20 clicks for a leg in a day, which amounts to 1.04 mm (1 click = 0.052mm)
Happy with the journey so far :)
Wow. This is extremely motivating & inspiring! What was your fitness like pre-surgery? Did you exercise daily with cardio, etc? or do you think the stretching several months in advance has helped you?
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@TouchTheSkies: Thanks for the good wishes.
@leoth2: Yes, Dr. Betz does prescribe blood thinners as well as pain killers. For the first 7 days, he prescribes Thrombosis injection and after that, he prescribes Xarelto tablets throughout the lengthening phase. Also, it seems that Xarelto is more effective and potent than Thrombosis injections.
@RB: Thanks mate.
@DonBones: Thanks, waiting to see updates from your surgery soon.
@SirStretchAlot: Thanks dude. I am sorry to hear that you had a painful clicking expereince. But just brace the pain and move forward keeping end goal in mind.
@LittleLA: Thanks. My fitness pre-surgery was pretty average. I had stopped gymming for almost 1 year due to Covid lockdown. But I in fact did stretching exercises for 1 hour/day for 2 months on an average before surgery. So, I do think stretching and having a good flexibility pre-surgery does help you.
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13 days post-surgery --- 1.07 cm lengthened
Since the last update, things have been improving at a steady rate. I am now able to fully fold my knee and bring my leg to touch the butt while in sleeping position. Also, walking medium distances without break (around 1 km with crutches) is possible now.
Also, I have been discharged from the hospital. I have traveled to my home, instead of going to caretaker Elke's house. The reason being I did not get my extension at my job for vacations and also I believe I would be able to manage everything on my own. The return journey from the hospital to my home was intense since I was traveling alone with my rucksack and I did feel tiring at the end of the day.
Also, a very strange thing is happening to me: The skin on my face and my lips has become very very dry and is starting to peel. I need to moisturize like 5 times a day to avoid peeling. I wonder if I have any reactions to the medicaments or is it due to the change of weather. Do let me know if anyone knows about this...
The pain is still relatively low (around 1,2 out of 10). Also, now I am doing 20 clicks (1.04 mm) per day. It takes me around 30-40 minutes to do 20 clicks on both of my legs. The 1st click is a little bit uncomfortable, but post that the subsequent clicks are easy to do.
I am doing stretches at my home. Before surgery, I had set up my apartment with all the necessary types of equipment for stretching. I had bought a workout bicycle, wood wall bars (for deep stretching), foam rollers, a stretching band and a yoga mat. These items are definitely helping me now.
I have an appointment with a professional physiotherapist from 15th June and I am looking forward to it.
Here is the link to my X-rays at around 1 cm: https://imgur.com/a/qRRQMCz
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13 days post-surgery --- 1.07 cm lengthened
Since the last update, things have been improving at a steady rate. I am now able to fully fold my knee and bring my leg to touch the butt while in seating position. Also, walking medium distances without break (around 1 km with crutches) is possible now.
Also, I have been discharged from the hospital. I have traveled to my home, instead of going to caretaker Elke's house. The reason being I did not get my extension at my job for vacations and also I believe I would be able to manage everything on my own. The return journey from the hospital to my home was intense since I was traveling alone with my rucksack and I did feel tiring at the end of the day.
Also, a very strange thing is happening to me: My face on my skin and my lips have become very very dry and is starting to peel. I need to moisturize like 5 times a day to avoid peeling. I wonder if I have any reactions to the medicaments or is it due to the change of weather. Do let me know if anyone knows about this...
The pain is still relatively low (around 1,2 out of 10). Also, now I am doing 20 clicks (1.04 mm) per day. It takes me around 30-40 minutes to do 20 clicks on both of my legs. The 1st click is a little bit uncomfortable, but post that the subsequent clicks are easy to do.
I am doing stretches at my home. Before surgery, I had set up my apartment with all the necessary types of equipment for stretching. I had bought a workout bicycle, wood wall bars (for deep stretching), foam rollers, and a stretching band. These items are definitely helping me now.
I have an appointment with a professional physiotherapist from 15th June and I am looking forward to it.
Here is the link to my X-rays at around 1 cm: https://imgur.com/a/qRRQMCz
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So you are located in Germany too?
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@leoth2: Yes
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23 days post-surgery --- 2.04 cm lengthened
Today I crossed the 2 cm mark. Every day I wake up exactly at 5 am, not because of alarm, but because of stiffness in my legs! I then walk and stretch to loosen up my legs. Stretching in fact makes my legs feel light and release the tension which is built up throughout the night.
I have now started to feel a little bit of tightness in my IT bands. To prevent/delay the onset of wide legs and duck ass, I am specifically focussing on IT bands and hip flexor muscles.
I have been doing physiotherapy with a professional physiotherapist for 60 minutes per day for 7 days a week. I am also stretching on my own 3 times in a day for 30 minutes per session. During this session, each stretch is held for 30 seconds to 1 minute with 3 repetitions.
Going to the physiotherapist is my highlight of the day since this is the only time I get out of my apartment. Her office resides around 1 km away from my apartment and is located on the 5th floor (without an elevator), so this is a good exercise for me to reach to her physio-practice with my crutches and practice my walking gait.
Also, my physiotherapist is in sync with Peter Woll. He has been kind enough to share his experience and answer any doubts of my physiotherapist so that she can leverage Peter's experience to treat me. I am too in contact with Peter via video call whenever necessary. In our last video call by looking at my walking gait, Peter did say that my right IT band looks tighter than my left and has advised me to intensify IT band stretches and to walk with proper form every 1 hour.
Talking about the negative, my left leg has been giving problems with clicking, it has become stiff, so it's harder for me to pull my leg with the required force in the clicking direction. Luckily my physiotherapist is helping me to click on my left leg! The pain due to clicking is the same, almost non-existent.
Currently, I am lengthening at a rate of 1.04 mm per day. Some of the days, I reduce it to 0.78 mm per day, when I feel tightness building up. This reduction definitely helps to loosen up the stiffness.
The overall pain is generally low, maybe 1-2 out of 10. But if I stay sedentary for long periods of time, my legs start to get stiff and uncomfortable. I am still taking the prescribed pain killers, just to be on the safer side.
It seems like the time is going on very much slow for me. There is still a long road ahead, I wish if I had a time-skip-machine, where I could directly be teleported to the end of the lengthening phase ;D
Also, in the next message, I have attached the video of my walking gait.
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Here is a video of my walking gait at 2 cm of lengthening: https://imgur.com/a/9G7OEin
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Walk looks good indeed! And your legs look athletic! Very inspiring
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@ DonBones: Thanks, I am trying to walk my best in the video.
@ Johnp86: Thanks. But I must say I am not that athletic as a person.
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Here is a video of my walking gait at 2 cm of lengthening: https://imgur.com/a/9G7OEin
Hello mate!
I'm glad you can walk so well right now. Keep stretching as you are doing and do not stop walking as long as your legs allow you ...
I lost a lot of muscle mass for fear of walking too far and overloading my legs or straining the rods when I was in the second half of the distraction process. I think that was the reason why I lost so much muscle in my legs ... I concentrated a lot on working on flexibility and was not constant working on maintaining strength ...
Afterwards, it is a great effort to recover the muscles of your legs and buttocks ...
Good luck!
You are doing very well😉
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Simply amazing!
Following your journey so far makes me feel less scared of the process. Still contemplating if to do it or not considering the immense pain I've read in others journal.
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Wow walk looks very good. Keep it up!
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Here is a video of my walking gait at 2 cm of lengthening: https://imgur.com/a/9G7OEin
wow you walk pretty good for a person who had a surgery. i guess your pre operation preparations really helped alot
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Looks fantastic! Well done.
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@ FSchez: Thanks for the great advice. I will definitely keep a note on the muscle strength of my legs and try to incorporate some strength-building exercises too :)
@ justme11: Pain is very much subjective. Different people have different levels of the pain experience. Me having less pain does not guarantee that you too would have less pain (though I hope you too would have a pain-free experience). Overall, I can say the pain management at Dr. Betz is awesome.
@ RB: Thanks. Your diary has been quite helpful to my journey so far.
@ cam007: Yes, being a good shape pre-surgery definitely helps. Also, for me, starting stretching early on did help to improve my overall flexibility and also to be aware of the various muscle groups and the feeling you get when you stretch them. In this way, after the surgery, you are already educated on the various stretches and the muscle groups to focus on.
@ Zatoichi: Thanks, well wishes to your distraction phase too.
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36 days post-surgery --- 3.05 cm lengthened
Video of my walk at 3 cm: https://imgur.com/a/lYk3z1a
Function
I think my function is still pretty good. I can bend my knees completely and let them touch my butt. I have managed to reduce my wide legs by intensifying the IT band stretches. There is still no sign of duck ass. I sent a video of my walk to Dr. Betz on Whatsapp and he seems to be happy with my progress so far, he said my walking gait looks good. Overall, I am happy with how things are progressing so far. Nonetheless, it's very hard to keep with the existing level of function and doing 3 sessions per day of physiotherapy (1 hour per session). It requires a lot of discipline and a good work ethic. Since I also work full time from home, almost 8 hours a day, hence sometimes I struggle to keep up with this insane schedule. Though I am giving my best!
Also, I have reduced the professional physiotherapy to 2 times a week, since I have gained confidence in the stretches I do by myself at home.
Clicking
I have reduced the number of clicks per day to 15 (0.78 mm) after reaching 2 cm.
Also, I am now again able to click by myself on both legs. Clicking is also very easy now and the pain is almost none. Though just after clicking, I can feel my muscles get stiff. I need to walk and stretch to again loosen up my muscles.
Pain
After 2.8 cm, I started to feel random fluctuating pain (3 out of 10) in front of the left shin bone area, sometimes around the left knee, sometimes on the right hamstring, the place of origin of pain varies. The pain usually comes when I walk and do some kind of movement, and when I am fatigued and tired. I have bought a Theragun (it's a kind of massage gun) and have been massaging the pain areas and it has definitely alleviated the pain so far. Let's see for how long this solution works.
Still, I did not have any continuous nerve pain.
Also, I am still taking my pain medications, since I am afraid that the pain may increase if I stop them completely.
Sleep
Sleep has been progressively getting better. I have been able to sleep 4-5 hours on a daily basis. No complaints on this side.
Misc
I am able to start noticing the 3 cm increase in height on day to day basis. I have met a couple of my friends and I can definitely feel the difference in terms of eye contact level. This is kind of motivating :)
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36 days post-surgery --- 3.05 cm lengthened
Video of my walk at 3 cm: https://imgur.com/a/lYk3z1a
Function
I think my function is still pretty good. I can bend my knees completely and let them touch my butt. I have managed to reduce my wide legs by intensifying the IT band stretches. There is still no sign of duck ass. I sent a video of my walk to Dr. Betz on Whatsapp and he seems to be happy with my progress so far, he said my walking gait looks good. Overall, I am happy with how things are progressing so far. Nonetheless, it's very hard to keep with the existing level of function and doing 3 sessions per day of physiotherapy (1 hour per session). It requires a lot of discipline and a good work ethic. Since I also work full time from home, almost 8 hours a day, hence sometimes I struggle to keep up with this insane schedule. Though I am giving my best!
Also, I have reduced the professional physiotherapy to 2 times a week, since I have gained confidence in the stretches I do by myself at home.
Clicking
I have reduced the number of clicks per day to 15 (0.78 mm) after reaching 2 cm.
Also, I am now again able to click by myself on both legs. Clicking is also very easy now and the pain is almost none. Though just after clicking, I can feel my muscles get stiff. I need to walk and stretch to again loosen up my muscles.
Pain
After 2.8 cm, I started to feel random fluctuating pain (3 out of 10) in front of the left shin bone area, sometimes around the left knee, sometimes on the right hamstring, the place of origin of pain varies. The pain usually comes when I walk and do some kind of movement, and when I am fatigued and tired. I have bought a Theragun (it's a kind of massage gun) and have been massaging the pain areas and it has definitely alleviated the pain so far. Let's see for how long this solution works.
Still, I did not have any continuous nerve pain.
Also, I am still taking my pain medications, since I am afraid that the pain may increase if I stop them completely.
Sleep
Sleep has been progressively getting better. I have been able to sleep 4-5 hours on a daily basis. No complaints on this side.
Misc
I am able to start noticing the 3 cm increase in height on day to day basis. I have met a couple of my friends and I can definitely feel the difference in terms of eye contact level. This is kind of motivating :)
Being able to keep your legs together until 3CM is a great achievement. Shows the work you have put in. 4-5 CM was a revealing period for me, as that's when my wide legs just blew up. I probably used up any reserved flexibility at that point.
Duckass and wide legs are 2 symptoms of the same issue -- tight IT Bands. You can choose to keep upright, with wider legs, or lean forward (butt back) to get narrower legs. People can choose to report either, but they reflect the same problem.
4-5 hours of sleep as well as sporadic nerve pain is common to everyone during lengthening. Working 8 hours a day is what's making you a hero. I can only work 4. :)
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@SirStretchAlot: Thanks for the insight. I will definitely monitor myself more carefully as I am approaching that 4-5 cm mark.
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49 days post-surgery --- 4.06 cm lengthened
Video of my walk at 4 cm: https://imgur.com/a/l5AYo8N
Function
My function is still very good. I can keep my legs closed, fold my knees completely and walk with a decent gait. After 3 cm, I intensified my IT band stretches. As a result, my IT bands do not feel tensed anymore and they have stretched very well till now. Though I have some increasing stiffness in the upper part of my quads. I am working on it. I also had a consultation with Peter at around 3.5 cm. He gave me some good advices to resolve the issues I am suffering from.
Clicking
I am still clicking at 15 clicks per day (0.78 mm). For now, this rate is perfect and I feel comfortable while lengthening.
Pain
The random pains I mentioned in the last post have gone. Luckily, I do not feel any pain right now. I am still taking my pain medications.
Sleep
Sleep also has got better. I now consistently sleep for around 6-7 hours per day (this may be due to the absence of any pain).
Misc
I will be doing X-rays of my femurs this week. I am excited to see the progress. I will post the X-rays once they are available.
Overall, I can say, I feel good and I am happy that I have roughly crossed half of the lengthening goal.
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It's simply amazing. You are just manning through the lenthening process with no complications and a full-time job.
How old are you btw, if you don't mind me asking.
I've lengthened about 6cm, but my walk is just ugly. Hard work pays off. Congrats!
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@ SirStretchAlot:
Thanks a lot. It's difficult to follow the strict stretching regime, but somehow I have managed to stick with it.
I am 29 years old.
Maybe I can tell you some of the things which I do with ITB, which might help you:
1. When I sleep in bed or I am working (I work on a bed with a bed table). I stretch my legs straight on the bed and tie them with a soft cloth, such that both my legs are touching together. It gets tough after some time, but this definitely helps to keep the legs closed.
2. Use Theragun 15 minutes twice a day on ITB.
3. Do these ITB stretches 3 times a day with 60-second hold
https://youtu.be/T5CYbfByXPo
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I got the appointment for X-rays early.
X rays at 4.06 cm: https://imgur.com/a/uqNiXXG
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500 euro for consultation, 53000 for betzbone, and 6700 for nail removal is unnecessarily expensive, imo. Many problems with Betzbone failures as Betz apparently admitted "...in recent years, he has greatly improved the quality of his nail, thus there are no bending issues anymore with Betzbone...".
Atleast he admitted the issues her had and its been fixed in latest nail.
What's the difference with betz old nail VS current stryde situation? Stryde has to be fixed too.
Same thing different nail. As long as nails are being improved then it's fine.
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62 days post-surgery --- 5 cm lengthened
Video of my walk at 5 cm: https://imgur.com/a/WgBs5dq
Function
My function is still decent. I can still keep my legs closed together. The hip flexor and IT bands are still doing good and stretching well. The tightness of quads which I mentioned in the last post is now under control. As of now, my hamstring has been responding to lengthening and stretching in a fantastic manner, with no complaints on this part. I also went swimming in the last couple of weeks, it's really a great and fun way to exercise your legs. Going forward I will focus more on stretching hip flexors, quads, and IT bands. These groups are likely to cause some problems as I go forward.
Clicking
I am still clicking at 15 clicks per day (0.78 mm). Going forward, I will be more lenient with the rate of lengthening. If I feel too tight, I will reduce the rate to 0.52 mm for a couple of days. Let's see how it goes.
Pain
Overall pain is low. But I am facing some new kind of pain, it's near the front side of the right ankle. I do not feel this pain when I am walking or whenever I am in motion. But, whenever I am lying down on the bed, the throbbing pain starts inside the front of my right ankle and it is constant pain. I need to move my leg and turn it sideways (such that my entire foot is parallel and touching the bed) to relieve this pain. It is very annoying. It's hard to tell if this is nerve pain or something different.
Sleep
Sleep has degraded a little because of the above pain I mentioned. I sleep on average for 5-6 hours.
Misc
After the last X-rays, Dr. Betz said that the callus is looking good and everything is on track.
Overall, I still feel good. On weekdays, I am busy with work and stretching the entire day. On weekends, I try to socialize with friends as much as possible. This helps me to be in high spirits and I feel emotionally good.
After around 4 to 5 cm mark, I can clearly see the increase in height difference. Last week, I went to the office and met my colleague (he was almost 2 inches taller than me) after 3 months. When he saw me initially, I could see he was confused a little bit to see me and was constantly checking me from top to bottom. Now, I am the same height as he is. He did not say anything directly about my height, but just said you are looking good. It seems like somehow it's hard for people to comprehend that a person can grow in height in his late 20's. I enjoyed being with all of my colleagues and I did not feel short at all. It was a very satisfying feeling.
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Your walking looks really good, I am impressed by your diary and progress. I saw those compression boots, idk if it can really make a difference during lengthening phase
https://www.electrostimulateur.ch/pressotherapie/572-compex-ayre.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI75zV28mQ8gIVoQZ7Ch1CiwC8EAQYASABEgLDJPD_BwE
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62 days post-surgery --- 5 cm lengthened
Video of my walk at 5 cm: https://imgur.com/a/WgBs5dq
Function
My function is still decent. I can still keep my legs closed together. The hip flexor and IT bands are still doing good and stretching well. The tightness of quads which I mentioned in the last post is now under control. As of now, my hamstring has been responding to lengthening and stretching in a fantastic manner, with no complaints on this part. I also went swimming in the last couple of weeks, it's really a great and fun way to exercise your legs. Going forward I will focus more on stretching hip flexors, quads, and IT bands. These groups are likely to cause some problems as I go forward.
Clicking
I am still clicking at 15 clicks per day (0.78 mm). Going forward, I will be more lenient with the rate of lengthening. If I feel too tight, I will reduce the rate to 0.52 mm for a couple of days. Let's see how it goes.
Pain
Overall pain is low. But I am facing some new kind of pain, it's near the front side of the right ankle. I do not feel this pain when I am walking or whenever I am in motion. But, whenever I am lying down on the bed, the throbbing pain starts inside the front of my right ankle and it is constant pain. I need to move my leg and turn it sideways (such that my entire foot is parallel and touching the bed) to relieve this pain. It is very annoying. It's hard to tell if this is nerve pain or something different.
Sleep
Sleep has degraded a little because of the above pain I mentioned. I sleep on average for 5-6 hours.
Misc
After the last X-rays, Dr. Betz said that the callus is looking good and everything is on track.
Overall, I still feel good. On weekdays, I am busy with work and stretching the entire day. On weekends, I try to socialize with friends as much as possible. This helps me to be in high spirits and I feel emotionally good.
After around 4 to 5 cm mark, I can clearly see the increase in height difference. Last week, I went to the office and met my colleague (he was almost 2 inches taller than me) after 3 months. When he saw me initially, I could see he was confused a little bit to see me and was constantly checking me from top to bottom. Now, I am the same height as he is. He did not say anything directly about my height, but just said you are looking good. It seems like somehow it's hard for people to comprehend that a person can grow in height in his late 20's. I enjoyed being with all of my colleagues and I did not feel short at all. It was a very satisfying feeling.
Simply fantastic. Keep up the hard work!
Ankle and knee pains are normal because your biomechanics has changed. Your thighs have yet to grow the muscles to compenstate for the forward lean resulting from lengthened femurs.
Try to land on your heels consciously when walking and it will get better.
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@ Johnp86: Thanks. I will have a look at the compression boots.
@ SirStretchAlot: Thanks, man. Yes, minor pains here and there are part of the process. I am waiting for the day when I am done with lengthening :) How are you doing? How many cm did you reach? I saw your diary, but it has not been updated recently.
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Hi,
Your diary is encouraging. I am scheduled with Dr. Betz in January but I am now also considering G-Nail with Gotikas and precise 2.2 because they would be earlier and right now my classes are still online due to COVID. Are you making this progress without having the ITB release?
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@ LU213: Thanks. I had so far a positive experience with Dr. Betz and his team and can recommend him.
I did not have the ITB released, Dr. Betz also prefers to not do so. In his opinion, there is no point in damaging a good tissue as it's not necessary since it can stretch with a good amount of PT (though it may take a little longer) and he has proven this through countless previous patients he has been operating on over the years.
In my experience, I have been religiously doing stretching for 2-3 hours every day, 7 days a week. And my ITB seems to have stretched pretty fine and I also do not have any wide legs anymore!
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Thank you. That relieves some anxiety.
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Fantastic progress @chasing_higher_dream, Dr B and Daniela hold you in high esteem btw! Good luck for the final few cms :)
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Great progress and walk mate, keep it up you are almost there!
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@ LU213: Thanks. I had so far a positive experience with Dr. Betz and his team and can recommend him.
I did not have the ITB released, Dr. Betz also prefers to not do so. In his opinion, there is no point in damaging a good tissue as it's not necessary since it can stretch with a good amount of PT (though it may take a little longer) and he has proven this through countless previous patients he has been operating on over the years.
In my experience, I have been religiously doing stretching for 2-3 hours every day, 7 days a week. And my ITB seems to have stretched pretty fine and I also do not have any wide legs anymore!
Yeah 2-3 hours everyday is the key here. With ITB released, my wide legs narrowed 30min of stretching a day, though I think how you stretch is just as important.
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@DonBones: Thanks for the good wishes. I am glad to hear this :)
How are you doing? I guess you had your surgery scheduled by end of June/July.
@RB: Thanks, mate.
@ SirStretchAlot: I am glad to know that you have managed to narrow your wide legs too! Yes you are right - the form, intensity, and duration of the stretch are also important.
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Hey @chasing_higher_dream!
Just finished reading the diary. Thats some crazy progress without any soft tissue releases, your work ethic and patience must be insane. When you say 2-3 hours stretching do you mean just the IT Band alone?
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Hey @chasing_higher_dream!
Just finished reading the diary. Thats some crazy progress without any soft tissue releases, your work ethic and patience must be insane. When you say 2-3 hours stretching do you mean just the IT Band alone?
@slender: Thanks. The 2-3 hours of stretching per day involves all of the muscle groups. It takes me roughly 45 mins to 1 hour to stretch all of my muscle groups. So, I do 2 to 3 sessions of this per day. One session in the morning as soon as I get up, one in the afternoon (I sometimes reduce the duration of this session in afternoon, since I am working fulltime), and one before I go to bed.
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76 days post-surgery --- 6 cm lengthened
Video of my walk at 6 cm: https://imgur.com/a/9J5MsR5
Function
Most of my function is still intact. Nothing has changed much. My muscles are now getting tighter especially my hip flexors and piriformis. I can feel it while I am stretching. The range of motion of the stretch involving my hip flexor muscle has reduced. Luckily, I do not have wide legs or duck ass as of now. Though I am suffering from a new problem, my pelvis has started to rotate towards the left. So when I stand straight my pelvis turns to the left by 10 to 15 degrees while my legs point straight. This has resulted in my walking gait not being so smooth as it can be. I am working with my physiotherapist to identify which muscle group is causing this pelvis tilt and possibly fix this issue (I go to professional physiotherapist once a week).
Clicking
The resistance to click is now further reduced and now it's a child's play to click. I am still clicking at 15 clicks per day (0.78 mm).
Pain
Overall pain is low. The ankle pain in the front side of the right leg stated in my previous post seems to be interlinked with the pelvis rotation problem. The rotated pelvis to left has resulted in bringing the right side of the pelvis little front, thereby bringing the weight of the body more to the front side of my right leg, thereby putting more pressure on the front side of my ankle. I hope that I find a solution to this problem. Also, I am still taking my pain killer medications.
Sleep
Sleep has further degraded. I feel the tightness of the muscles when I sleep, I roll around to relieve some of the tightness. Also, sometimes I wake up due to my tight muscles. I sleep on average for 5 hours now at night.
Misc
Overall, I think my condition is still good. It's astonishing to see how days are passing so slow. I am counting every day as it passes. I am waiting for the day when I am done with lengthening.
I was meeting my friends 2 days before in a restaurant, one of my female friends commented that I am looking thinner and good. She asked if I have loosened any weight. I just shrugged and said yes and tried to switch the topic. It seems like people around me have started to notice something's different about me ;)
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Fantatic progress
1) I have the exact pelvis tilt. It's standard trendelenburg where your right gluteous muscles have atropied. Notice that sitting on hard surfaces will become increasingly hard for you because you've lost so much glute muscles. Glute training will put your gait back on track.
2) The tightness is coming from your clicking rate. I dropped to 10 clicks or 0.52mm starting from 5cm. I'm around 7.5cm right now and I still have no tightness. I understand you want it to end asap, but you should listen to your body.
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@chasing_higher_dream: Dude it only looks like you've bumped your hip or something. Not even close to breaking both your femurs... that PT is really paying off! I bet it feels amazing to have people notice all the money and hard work you've put into this.
@SirStretchAlot: I find it amazing that you can drop down to 0.5mm a day without worry of pre-consolidation. This should be stated as a PRO for the mechanical nails. Do you think that the tightness can be reduced with even more PT or is it just a cost of lengthening rate that we have to deal with?
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Fantatic progress
1) I have the exact pelvis tilt. It's standard trendelenburg where your right gluteous muscles have atropied. Notice that sitting on hard surfaces will become increasingly hard for you because you've lost so much glute muscles. Glute training will put your gait back on track.
2) The tightness is coming from your clicking rate. I dropped to 10 clicks or 0.52mm starting from 5cm. I'm around 7.5cm right now and I still have no tightness. I understand you want it to end asap, but you should listen to your body.
- Thanks, for the info. I researched on the internet regarding "standard trendelenburg" and yes, the condition matches with what I am suffering from. My physiotherapist also said that I need to strengthen my butt muscles to fix this. I will be starting training soon to fix this.
- Yes, probably you are right. I will experiment and find which number of clicks my body is comfortable with and reduce it accordingly.
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76 days post-surgery --- 6 cm lengthened
Video of my walk at 6 cm: https://imgur.com/a/9J5MsR5
Function
Most of my function is still intact. Nothing has changed much. My muscles are now getting tighter especially my hip flexors and piriformis. I can feel it while I am stretching. The range of motion of the stretch involving my hip flexor muscle has reduced. Luckily, I do not have wide legs or duck ass as of now. Though I am suffering from a new problem, my pelvis has started to rotate towards the left. So when I stand straight my pelvis turns to the left by 10 to 15 degrees while my legs point straight. This has resulted in my walking gait not being so smooth as it can be. I am working with my physiotherapist to identify which muscle group is causing this pelvis tilt and possibly fix this issue (I go to professional physiotherapist once a week).
Clicking
The resistance to click is now further reduced and now it's a child's play to click. I am still clicking at 15 clicks per day (0.78 mm).
Pain
Overall pain is low. The ankle pain in the front side of the right leg stated in my previous post seems to be interlinked with the pelvis rotation problem. The rotated pelvis to left has resulted in bringing the right side of the pelvis little front, thereby bringing the weight of the body more to the front side of my right leg, thereby putting more pressure on the front side of my ankle. I hope that I find a solution to this problem. Also, I am still taking my pain killer medications.
Sleep
Sleep has further degraded. I feel the tightness of the muscles when I sleep, I roll around to relieve some of the tightness. Also, sometimes I wake up due to my tight muscles. I sleep on average for 5 hours now at night.
Misc
Overall, I think my condition is still good. It's astonishing to see how days are passing so slow. I am counting every day as it passes. I am waiting for the day when I am done with lengthening.
I was meeting my friends 2 days before in a restaurant, one of my female friends commented that I am looking thinner and good. She asked if I have loosened any weight. I just shrugged and said yes and tried to switch the topic. It seems like people around me have started to notice something's different about me ;)
X-ray at 6cm: https://imgur.com/a/Fp7t3M2
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@slender
Doctors only really encourage rapid lengthening for patients on non-weightbearing nails, because they're wasting muscle everyday. Another reason as with Betz, is so that patients don't get lazy with PT. Your bones consolidate at an average rate of 0.25mm per day, and Giotikas recommends 0.5mm lengthening if returning home. Preconsolidation is rare and only applies for individuals with rapid bone healing. People usually take months to consolidate after lengthening, so it is almost a non-issue for most people. But as you said, we can apply more force on mechanical nails, so hardening callus is less of a problem.
@chasing_higher_dream
Your x-ray looks fantastic. There's also a lot of room for slowing, but do confirm with Betz.
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@slender
Doctors only really encourage rapid lengthening for patients on non-weightbearing nails, because they're wasting muscle everyday. Another reason as with Betz, is so that patients don't get lazy with PT. Your bones consolidate at an average rate of 0.25mm per day, and Giotikas recommends 0.5mm lengthening if returning home. Preconsolidation is rare and only applies for individuals with rapid bone healing. People usually take months to consolidate after lengthening, so it is almost a non-issue for most people. But as you said, we can apply more force on mechanical nails, so hardening callus is less of a problem.
@SirStretchAlot: Ah I see! Maybe the information I got in my consultations was a bit skewed due to my age. Thanks for the clarification!
@chasing_higher_dream: you're gonna hit your goal in no time! keep it up!
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Hi, sorry for asking probably again. How much did you pary for surgery, nail and other costs to have approx. number for this surgery?
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Hi, sorry for asking probably again. How much did you pary for surgery, nail and other costs to have approx. number for this surgery?
These are the rough estimates:
Consultation: € 500
Surgery + 14 day hospital stay + food + PT during hospitalization + crutches: € 54,000
Medications for 3 months: € 600
Nail removal surgery after 1 to 2 years: € 6700
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@DonBones: Thanks for the good wishes. I am glad to hear this :)
How are you doing? I guess you had your surgery scheduled by end of June/July.
@RB: Thanks, mate.
@ SirStretchAlot: I am glad to know that you have managed to narrow your wide legs too! Yes you are right - the form, intensity, and duration of the stretch are also important.
Sorry for the late reply. Things are going quite well and I have today reached 2cm.
Thankfully, the clicking has been straightforward so far. Things get a bit tight between click 15 and 20, but it's not the calamity I thought it would be. The same is true for the other six patients who were in the hospital with me btw, all of them clicked well.
Of course, there is some tightness and sleeping is more difficult, but all of this was expected. I do not want to complain and simply have to power through. My goal is 5cm - hopefully I can make it alright :)
Good luck for the final few centimetres!
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Sorry for the late reply. Things are going quite well and I have today reached 2cm.
Thankfully, the clicking has been straightforward so far. Things get a bit tight between click 15 and 20, but it's not the calamity I thought it would be. The same is true for the other six patients who were in the hospital with me btw, all of them clicked well.
Of course, there is some tightness and sleeping is more difficult, but all of this was expected. I do not want to complain and simply have to power through. My goal is 5cm - hopefully I can make it alright :)
Good luck for the final few centimetres!
No pain clicking and 5cm goal? Betz was made for you ;)
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Sorry for the late reply. Things are going quite well and I have today reached 2cm.
Thankfully, the clicking has been straightforward so far. Things get a bit tight between click 15 and 20, but it's not the calamity I thought it would be. The same is true for the other six patients who were in the hospital with me btw, all of them clicked well.
Of course, there is some tightness and sleeping is more difficult, but all of this was expected. I do not want to complain and simply have to power through. My goal is 5cm - hopefully I can make it alright :)
Good luck for the final few centimetres!
Good to know you are doing well. Since you are lengthening conservatively (5 cm) you will be back to normal faster than me :)
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90 days post-surgery --- 7 cm lengthened
Video of my walk at 7 cm: https://imgur.com/a/8Sc8qDp
Function
The function is still good. The tightness of the hip flexor muscle is now under control, I have regained the range of motion while stretching. Still, no wide legs or duckass. The problem mentioned previously of my sideways pelvis tilt is still present, I am working to fix this, but it seems that this will take a longer time. Overall I am happy with the state I am in currently.
Clicking
I am still clicking at 15 clicks per day (0.78 mm) since my body seems to have adapted to this muscle tightness and I feel I can still proceed with this rate without any complications.
Pain
Overall pain is still low. The ankle pain in the front side of the right leg stated previously has reduced substantially due to maintaining proper posture.
Sleep
Sleep quality has remained the same, neither good nor bad. I wake up once a night due to uneasiness caused by stretched muscles. Overall I sleep around 5-6 hours at night.
Misc
Overall, I feel good being 177 cm tall. I am liking the way I see in the mirror, especially when dressed, the longer legs seem to be quite attractive. Few days before I was in a shopping mall and I was not on the shorter side anymore, I was towering over a bunch of men (of course not all of them). It felt good and was a boost to my confidence and self-esteem.
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You are the model LL patient. 13 more days to go!
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@chasing_higher_dream: you are a LEGEND fam. 7cm and it just looks like you went a little too hard on leg day. How has your strength been throughout these last few months? Obviously you haven't really had any flexibility issues which is insane, but how has regaining your strength been coming along? Do you feel pretty normal/strong while walking? What about during everyday movements and activities? You're an inspiration man, thanks again for the detailed diary.
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@ SirStretchAlot: Thanks :) Yes, just a few more days to go.
@ slender: Thanks. My strength is pretty good, I do not feel weakness of any kind while doing normal daily activities and walking short distances. But when I walk for 1 km or more, my muscles start to fatigue and I feel tired quicker. Though this is expected since all of my leg muscles have atrophied and it will take time to rebuild the strength and endurance which have lost due to surgery and lengthening process. Currently, I do a couple of exercises (mainly planks and body weight squats) to regain strength of my leg muscles, but I do not push myself too much. I will start the dedicated process to regain the strength of muscles post I finish my lengthening process.
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104 days post-surgery --- 8 cm lengthened
Video of my walk at 8 cm (with crutches): https://imgur.com/a/XjmQLy7
Video of my walk at 8 cm (without crutches): https://imgur.com/a/7TyJgXq
Function
The function is still very good. Nothing to complain about this side. No wide legs, nor any duck ass yet. The range of motion of all of my muscles is close to 100%. The previous problem mentioned of sideways pelvis tilt has also been being corrected by 50%, though I am still working on it. Overall I am happy with the state I am in currently.
Clicking
I was clicking at 15 clicks per day (0.78 mm) till 7.8 cm. Post that due to increased tightness, I have reduced the clicks to 10 clicks per day (0.52 mm).
Pain
Overall I do not feel pain anymore. Neither muscle pain nor nerve-related pains. Though I am still consuming all the medications including painkillers.
Sleep
Sleep quality has improved due to decreasing the number of clicks per day. Overall I sleep around 6 hours at night.
Misc
I was in the office party and was around a lot of people and my height neurosis did not trigger this time. I was not comparing my height to other people. This has been a relief since I am now able to live in the moment and enjoy it, rather than thinking about my height all the time.
I have also bought a Stadiometer to measure myself accurately and I am happy that I measure exactly 178 cm in the evening/night and have finally reached my goal height. My function is still perfect and the way I look - with and without clothes on while standing and also when I sit, I do not feel disproportionate (maybe this is due to my higher tibia to femur ratio when I started), hence, I have decided to continue the lengthening process past my goal and I will monitor myself continuously, the next target is 9 cm.
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Wow man congrats, how did u not get any wide legs and duck ass? How did u prevent it?
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Congrats! Anyone af the office party notice the new height? Any comments about the new height?
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Man, you must've stretched like a champ to be in this state at 8cm. This goes to show what's possible with enough hard work. My duckass and wide legs are ugly by comparison. :-\
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@SirStretchAlot: Thanks a lot. I appreciate your support :) Your condition will also improve drastically once you are in your consolidation phase.
@Antonio111111: The only way to avoid complications is religiously stretch for at least 2 hours a day, 3 hours would be even better, spanned out in 3 equal intervals throughout the day. Also, try to maintain each stretch at least 30 seconds minimum for it to work. I did all of my stretches which were stated by physiotherapist Peter Woll. Also, I would highly recommend setting up "wall bars" in your home, they allow you to stretch more deeply, they are god sent for stretching.
@L8GrowthSpurt: I have been consistently going once a day per week to the office, hence my team has gradually seen me grow, it was not all of a sudden. Hence, there was no big shock from my team. But the other office colleagues whom I met after a long time were in a state of shock.
Colleague 1: One of my colleagues came to meet me at the party, I was sitting on a chair enjoying the drink. But then I stood up to greet him and I could see the state of disbelief and shock he had in his eyes. He was not able to see me eye to eye for some reason. He is 5'10'' and now I was at the same height as him. He ended the conversation quite abruptly and was checking me out every now and then.
Colleague 2 and 3: The other two colleagues (both around 6 feet) could not pinpoint what was changed in me, they were saying that I have lost weight at the same time I was looking big for some reason. They did not say directly that my height has increased.
Colleague 4: One of my colleagues (he is 5'7'') immediately noticed the increased height and he pointed it out to me. He asked whether I was wearing height-increasing shoes, I just nodded and said yes, since I did not want to discuss this topic.
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End of lengthening phase --- 107 days post-surgery --- 8.1 cm lengthened
I have dropped the plan to go till 9cm. I would be stopping at 8.1 cm, there are numerous reasons for this:
1. First and foremost, my height neurosis seems to have gone. I do not compare my height in public with strangers anymore. This is a big relief for me.
2. I am happy with the way I look in the mirror and I am also happy with my current proportions. My femurs look long but they seem very normal and natural. I have a gut feeling that if I lengthen more this may not be the case anymore.
3. My starting tibia to femur ratio was 86%. After lengthening 8.1 cm, my t/f ratio is 72.8%. I do not want to lower this ratio any further, since the normal range lies around 77% to 83%.
Note: A person who has an initial t/f ratio of 80% and if he lengthens just 5 cm, then his new t/f ratio would be 72.7% (which is lower than that of mine even after lengthening 8.1 cm). So the higher the t/f ratio at the start, the more liberty you have to lengthen your femurs without looking abnormal.
4. I had a talk with physiotherapist Peter Woll and his opinion was the more you go past the 8 cm mark, the exponential the recovery time gets. Since right now I have no complications and perfect function, I would like to retain this and end my lengthening with a good note.
Lastly, this has been one hell of a ride. You need patience and sincerity to follow along with the strict regime of your stretches. If you are able to stick to the schedule and process, then you will fair very good till the end. I am thankful to Dr. Betz and his team and physiotherapist Peter Woll for the guidance. So far, I am satisfied with the journey and I am looking forward to the consolidation and my recovery.
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End of lengthening phase --- 107 days post-surgery --- 8.1 cm lengthened
I have dropped the plan to go till 9cm. I would be stopping at 8.1 cm, there are numerous reasons for this:
1. First and foremost, my height neurosis seems to have gone. I do not compare my height in public with strangers anymore. This is a big relief for me.
2. I am happy with the way I look in the mirror and I am also happy with my current proportions. My femurs look long but they seem very normal and natural. I have a gut feeling that if I lengthen more this may not be the case anymore.
3. My starting tibia to femur ratio was 86%. After lengthening 8.1 cm, my t/f ratio is 72.8%. I do not want to lower this ratio any further, since the normal range lies around 77% to 83%.
Note: A person who has an initial t/f ratio of 80% and if he lengthens just 5 cm, then his new t/f ratio would be 72.7% (which is lower than that of mine even after lengthening 8.1 cm). So the higher the t/f ratio at the start, the more liberty you have to lengthen your femurs without looking abnormal.
4. I had a talk with physiotherapist Peter Woll and his opinion was the more you go past the 8 cm mark, the exponential the recovery time gets. Since right now I have no complications and perfect function, I would like to retain this and end my lengthening with a good note.
Lastly, this has been one hell of a ride. You need patience and sincerity to follow along with the strict regime of your stretches. If you are able to stick to the schedule and process, then you will fair very good till the end. I am thankful to Dr. Betz and his team and physiotherapist Peter Woll for the guidance. So far, I am satisfied with the journey and I am looking forward to the consolidation and my recovery.
Well done, mate. I am very supportive of your thinking and completely agree on the proportions. In my opinion it would be a bad idea to lengthen 9 or even 10 and fall even further below 73% t/f wise. I know that Peter Woll is also an advocate of conservative lengthening, putting function & health over excessive lengthening, and he's an absolute expert.
In any case, 8cm is huge and I congratulate you :)
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@Donbones: Thanks for the well-wishes. I just saw your recent post that you reached 4.2 cm, you are also almost there :)
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Fantastic news and an amazing achievement! Well done.
More than 8 cm is a huge change and the fact that you have had no problems up to this point is a miracle.
The perfect process and outcome!
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8.1cm is fantastic, considering you have near full function!
I considered stopping at 9cm, but now that I'm 3 days from 10cm, I think I'll carry on.
Congrats!
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Finally, I have gotten my X-rays and it seems like callous has been forming well. Now, it's just time to relax and enjoy the new height which is the sweet outcome of the intense labor of the past 3 to 4 months.
Pictures of my X-rays at 8.1 cm: https://imgur.com/a/NfEAd9v
@Zatoichi: Thanks, man :) Even though the process is tough, it's definitely rewarding.
@SirStretchAlot: Thanks, mate. You too would be finished with lengthening in few days. Let's celebrate and enjoy the new height :)
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You absolute LEGEND!!!!
Congratulations on the success.
You went on a hero's journey and came back with a new superpower!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience.
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Finally, I have gotten my X-rays and it seems like callous has been forming well. Now, it's just time to relax and enjoy the new height which is the sweet outcome of the intense labor of the past 3 to 4 months.
Pictures of my X-rays at 8.1 cm: https://imgur.com/a/NfEAd9v
@Zatoichi: Thanks, man :) Even though the process is tough, it's definitely rewarding.
@SirStretchAlot: Thanks, mate. You too would be finished with lengthening in few days. Let's celebrate and enjoy the new height :)
Congrats, well done! 8.1 cm is a great accomplishment!
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@ flubbersnubber: Thank you. Your comment is flattering to me ;)
@ eric.cartman: Thanks, Eric. Also, all the best for the preparations for your surgery which is in near future :)
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Finally, I have gotten my X-rays and it seems like callous has been forming well. Now, it's just time to relax and enjoy the new height which is the sweet outcome of the intense labor of the past 3 to 4 months.
Pictures of my X-rays at 8.1 cm: https://imgur.com/a/NfEAd9v
Just read through your journal and your consistency throughout the process is admirable! I have a consultation with Becker/Betz this March 2023 to go for 8cm in my femurs. Starting to stretch consistently now as I get closer to procedure.
- How is your recovery going?
- Plans to remove nail?
- What exercise bike / wood bar would you recommend?
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Hi, are your still there? May I ask you a few questions.
1. How to contact the physiotherapist Peter? How much does he cost for the consultations in total?
2. Does Betz provide this kind of service in his institute in addition to the physical therapy after the operation? And can any licensed physiotherapist can do the physical therapy with the guide from Peter and Betz?
3. How long after the surgery did you stop doing the physical therapy?
Really appreciated if you can answer these questions.
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If you have recent imaging data please put it at this thread. Redact any information that could be used to dox you.