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[Nestor]

So aside from some minor aches my recovery until recently was going quite well. I had been doing more squats at physio in an attempt to build strength but I seem to have injured myself in the process. My knees and hips are in a lot of pain when walking on crutches which is really stressing me out as I feel I've gone backwards by about 2 months in terms of mobility. I spoke with my doctor who advised to avoid squats as it puts too much pressure on my joints although he's not sure how long it will take to recover. Has anyone else experienced this? Its really got me down at the moment.

[5cm Stryde]

Hi Nestor,

As you know I haven't done my surgery yet but the different patients I talked with told me that the weeks after lengthening, they had experienced pains after doing some exercices like squat or carrying pack of water. This pain prevented them to walk the days after.
So i guess this kind of pain is normal.

But in your case, is it for a longer period ? Does your doc told you it was linked to musclar weakness ? In this case, my guess is that a more soft rehabilitation should be done with swimming or biking.
Or do you know if it may come from  an other reason than muscular weakness ? Maybe your body just need a bit more time to adapt to the new pressure.
If it linked to the nail or screws, it could be  a bit more problematic but I don t know how it could be identified.

In any case, I am sure with the good amount of stretching and strenghtening, everything will be soon better !

[inchesmatter]

Well, I’m 4 1/2 months after lengthening and I still have hip and knee pain that prevents me from walking normally, especially after stretching hard. I think hip and knee pain is par for the course with limb lengthening.

[5cm Stryde]

Hi Inchesmatter,

Thanks a lot for still sharing your experience!
May I ask you your age or if there is any other factors which may explain this relatively low recovery ?
Are you still doing PT ?

Otherwise if you are still in contact with other patients, do you know how was their recovery compare to yours ?

I think it could be helpful for future patient like me to know if this kind of pain thats prevents from walking normally months after lengthening is common.

Thanks and I wish you the best!

[inchesmatter]

I have to admit I’ve been fairly lazy about stretching and walking. I’m in contact with other limb lengthening patients and veterans, and I can tell you that recovery timelines and even whether one recovers completely is all over the map. I’ve heard of people who don’t walk normally even after two years (in their twenties, I believe) and people who walk normally much earlier. This procedure takes a very long time and improvement is slow, not just for me but for most. I was seeing a physical therapist late last year but it’s been a couple of months, and I probably could benefit from going back.

[Nestor]

Ironically if I hadn't been doing as much physio I wouldn't be in this position with my knees and hip pain. I overdid trying to get strong too quickly, so important to take things slowly and listen to your body, although it's very difficult sometimes to tell if it's good pain from exercise or bad from injury until it's too late.

It's essential though to try and do stretching etc everyday if you can otherwise your body will seize up. My doc has advised me to exercises that just target the muscles and don't put any stress on the joints. Really hope my knees and hips improve soon as even certain stretches are painful right now.

[5cm Stryde]

I see...
It makes sens that the joint needs more time to adapt!
Yes follow the exercice from the doc and also some workout like biking or swimming as it put less pressure !
Did you try also the electro stimulation to help to recover the muscle ?
I had some injury in my ankle so I could not move it for a while and the PT used this electro stimulation to prevent loss muscle so it could be an idea ; you can find a good one system for cheap !
Also for the knee joint, i don t know if it could help but there is different knee brace you can buy to support the knee and joint : it could be an option for you in order to be more mobile.
Let us know how it goes

[Nestor]

Thanks for the suggestions 5cm, I might look online to see if there are any cheap electro devices although as far as I know from talking to my physio I think they are mainly for muscles, maybe it might help with the muscles around my hip area.

I really hope this isn't a serious injury and goes away in a few weeks. I feel a bit depressed at the moment as it's like I've gone way back instead of forward with my progress.

[cyborg4life]

I was a pro natural bodybuilder who got hit hard mentally when I found out that I would be out for about half a year while LL procedure took place. Yeah so working out the legs will take time. I did extra therapy at home after my actual PT to recover flexibility faster. Wasn't easy but definitely improved ROM and muscle strength faster than if I "waited it out". Do you currently do any cardio on like say a stationary bike to improve blood flow and muscle tone?

[Nestor]

Hey Cyborg. I do use a stationary bike but I find a slight niggle on my knees as I cycle so I'm afraid to push too hard in case it makes things worse. From what I've read I think it's patellar tendonitis, it's really set my progress back. Im currently doing isometric exercises but they're pretty limited in terms of building strength. It's been almost 5 months since surgery, was hoping I'd be walking by now but guess this is how these things go sometimes. My left knee has improved slightly but my right is still no different.

[cyborg4life]

Gotcha yeah it's most likely tendonitis or something of the sort. It should resolve with enough rest and nutrition. What is your current strengthening routine? I know I had some slight tendonitis (they are literally driving the nail through the tendon) but took some excessive approaches to my rehab and supplementation to help.

[Movie]

Nestor you did 7.5 cm's right? I'm experiencing knee and hip soreness/ slight pain even now at 8 months post op, we must let our soft tissues adjust to our newly acquired length, these things take time, and at 5 months it's good to start squatting, but if we overexert ourselves it takes a toll on our knees and hips (from my experience). I wouldn't recommend you take it easy, I'd say push yourself once you're able to work the legs again, but not as much as you probably would've had you not done the surgery, you'll be back soon bro just keep pushing.

[Nestor]

@Cyborg, my current strengthening routine is pretty basic, 3 sets of wall sits, glute bridges, leg raises for quads, stationary bike and walking, I do notice slight increase in muscle strength it's just incredibly slow! If you have any other suggestions I'd love to hear them. What supplements did you take? I was also considering using some anti-inflammatory gel but I'm worried in case it might interfere with consolidation, I've read inflammation is necessary for bone growth.

@Movie, thanks for the motivational words dude. I only did 5.5cm, I wanted to be able to play sports again so my thinking was by doing less it might take less of a toll on my biomechanics. I started doing squats around two months after surgery, I started feeling very slight pains in my joints but just put it down to the usual soreness after exercising. I think if I had been sensible doing the squats I would've been fine but one day I pushed it too far with one of my physios who had me do the usual squats followed by about 45 reps of standing up and sitting down unassisted. I felt terrible pain in my knees the next day but thought it would go away in a few days but no such luck!

I hear what you're saying about pushing myself and I normally would but sadly I think I need to be pretty conservative in my approach for the time being which sucks, really feel I'd be walking by now if it wasn't for my knees, if I try to walk unassisted I get a really sharp pain. You're totally right, it will take time for our bodies to adjust to the new length, I just wish my recovery was half as good as yours lol

[Movie]

Don't feel discouraged, Nestor, think of this situation in a beneficiary way... you've learned a bit about your body post-op, now you know how much not to push it so next time around you will minimize these pains, it's trial and error learning our new legs and their limitations, but keep pushing through the pain, I also thought I was set back a couple months back on my hip by playing soccer It felt as if I was still distracting lol walking waddley and slow lot of pain on my right hip, I swung my leg backwards before kicking it as I always did pre-op and I guess it was too much stress for my hip's screws that I heard something kind of crackle and pain to come after that, that took about 2-3 weeks to recover from, now I'm back stronger than how I was then, I kept stretching and working out through the pain. at 5 months there is still pains to have, bones are not completely fused just give it time and push through the pain bro, it's the only way. you got this

[Nestor]

Thanks man. I try my best to stay positive but there are days I do feel a little discouraged, it's been 7 weeks and there's been almost no improvement with my right knee. You were lucky you didn't injure yourself more seriously, there's no way I'd play any contact sports with the nails still in, you're a brave man lol.. I find the screws hurt a bit too with certain movements or exercises I try and be super careful with them, I feel them even when lying on my side in bed. Hopefully I'll turn a corner soon and be able to up my game, I just wanna be able to walk again haha.  How has your bone growth been, have both bones consolidated yet?

[Movie]

ok that's quite a bit of time, have you been wearing a knee brace?

I was quite relieved when there wasn't any damage there as the x rays showed & I agree I'm reminded of screws everyday even at 8 months post op, not too painful at all anymore though.

Yes it shall pass might take a month or a year but it'll pass, let's hope sooner than later.

Almost consolidated Dr. M said just a few more months and I should be able to remove the rods, you can see my X rays in my latest Diary update.

[Nestor]

I was wearing a brace for a while but it didn't help much

Your x-rays look good man! It's weird how the bone growth sort of bulges, I think mine is growing in a similar way to yours although I haven't had an x-ray for a while coz of the pandemic, hopefully everything is okay. Are you gonna remove the nail once you've completely consolidated or keep it in for a while as a precaution?

[Movie]

I'd suggest keep wearing it, it helped my knee get better though my pain wasn't much to make me not walk, but enough to keep me up at night and have to resort to tylenols 500 every 4 hours for a couple days, now it's good.

yes the bones will regrow in bulges lol doctor said it's still forming itself, I want to remove them as soon as consolidated, no need to keep the nail in as precaution, if the bone is consolidated it's strong as it should be, but that may take 1-1.5 years + post op differs for everybody.