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[tallmen]

I am 24 years old and I am 5'5. I have enough money to do LON right now and because of covid I'll be working from home and can take 3-4 weeks leave from work so I can do LON right now. I am confused should I do LON 6 cm in tibia now or wait for 3 years to save enough money to do stryde femurs 8 cm. Do you guys wish if you had done it sooner?

[2020hope]

I've also been thinking of just doing externals or LON ever since Stryde was paused. The problem if you're Indian (I'm thinking you are) is that TSF frame is not available in India and you won't be allowed to weight bear. Also it's hard to hide the procedure from others with frames. I think many people have come to associate frames with this procedure.

If your doctor can guarantee a good recovery with tibia lengthening and you don't mind the loss of privacy due to the frames, I would do it now. 3 years is too long to wait in my opinion.

[permanentlybanned]

You can fully weightbear with LON.

3 years is alot, probably wouldn't regret getting it done now, but obviously not preferable

[Jamesy998]

I am 24 years old and I am 5'5. I have enough money to do LON right now and because of covid I'll be working from home and can take 3-4 weeks leave from work so I can do LON right now. I am confused should I do LON 6 cm in tibia now or wait for 3 years to save enough money to do stryde femurs 8 cm. Do you guys wish if you had done it sooner?

Do it now, better to be a little miserable wearing frames for a few months now than to be depressed for the next 3 years.

[Medium Drink Of Water]

At 24 you might be able to convince people that you had a late growth spurt.  I got LL when I was 25, and shortly afer that my two uncles who I hadn't seen in a few years asked me when I finally started to get tall like them and my dad.  I told them I had a growth spurt two years earlier and (I think) they believed me.

At 24, LL might be able to improve your prospects in life, whereas you might be more locked into where you are by 27.  Dr. Gang Li, the 2nd ranking doctor in Beijing, came into my room one day seemingly at random to chat about LL.  He said the hospital was old and a bit run down, but that it was chosen to cut costs so young people could get the surgery and change their lives when it mattered most; he said he was in his mid-40s with a career and a family and he wasn't going to get LL no matter what at that point.  A top of the line facility with cutting-edge technology doesn't help most people.

I sometimes discourage people from getting tibia LON because of the issues it caused with my knees, but not everyone gets that problem.  It's a risk, not a guaranteed bad side effect.  If I were you, it would be worth the risk to me.

[BelowTheMean]

At 24, LL might be able to improve your prospects in life, whereas you might be more locked into where you are by 27.  Dr. Gang Li, the 2nd ranking doctor in Beijing, came into my room one day seemingly at random to chat about LL.  He said the hospital was old and a bit run down, but that it was chosen to cut costs so young people could get the surgery and change their lives when it mattered most; he said he was in his mid-40s with a career and a family and he wasn't going to get LL no matter what at that point.  A top of the line facility with cutting-edge technology doesn't help most people.

That's good advice, MDOW.

I had the chance to do the surgery with Precice 2 in my late 20s in 2017, but holding off a little while longer enabled me to do it with Stryde and during the pandemic while WFH. Since I was already past the age for a growth spurt, the few thousand dollars difference between Precice 2 and Stryde and the extra wait time was fine for me. Since I've been single since the start of the pandemic, I think the change still comes in time for when it matters the most for me.

However, for the OP I think doing tibias now is probably the better choice if he can handle externals. The cost difference between externals and Stryde femurs is too big to not consider the savings of just doing externals and moving on with your life.

[MakeMeTallAF]

It seems everyone is telling you to do it as soon as possible. I'll give another perspective. I plan on doing LL when I'm 30 after I'm done with schooling and residency (I'm attending dental school next yr and then hopefully OMFS residency after that). I'm currently 21 so I have almost a decade left to go. Yes I know that is really late, but I don't suffer from height dysphoria much. I just want an extra two inches so I don't have to be short for the rest of my life, but there are more important things in my life like my career.

So my point is this is a really personal decision. You're 2 inches shorter than me, perhaps you have more height dysphoria than me (?). If that's the case, do it sooner, if not then there is no harm in waiting. For me waiting is fine, and on the plus side perhaps in the next decade there will be a newer better nail than stryde, or perhaps there will be some kind of stem cell therapy to promote soft tissue regeneration during distraction etc.

Basically, theres are pros and cons to both choices, there is no correct choice. Just what fits best in your life plan.

[tallmen]

Thanks for the advice guys. I am not sure if I can get up and running using LON as soon as I can do it with stryde after the distraction phase. But I think It makes sense to do it now instead of waiting for 3 years and not lose my precious youth. I'll start by booking online consultations with few doctors and doing more research on LON.