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[jamesizu]

So I'm thinking of going to Dr. Sarin or possibly Dr. Xia to get an inch lengthened on both my forearms. That's all I would get. Then I'd go home after.

I'd have to convince the doctor, as forearm surgery is supposed to be the trickiest to perform. But I'd imagine a 2.5 cm increase wouldn't cause too many problems. Has anyone gotten forearm surgeries? Does anyone know a doctor who is willing to perform this surgery?

I love my arms. We've had some pretty great times :,) I'd hate to lose my buddies..

[Medium Drink Of Water]

Unlike femur/tibia where there's pros/cons to each, with arms you really should do the upper arm and leave the rest alone.

Look at it here.  Two small, almost equally sized bones.  And it's full of tendons that you depend on for manual dexterity.  Avoid forearm lengthening.

[Sweden]

Dr Sarin does it and they do it in India.

It is a very complex surgery bc the bones move over and under each other when twisting your hand.
I can't imagine it will ever be as flexible as before if you lengthen the bones.

Don't do it.

[KiloKAHN]

I've been told by a few different orthopedic surgeons that forearm lengthening is the most difficult lengthening and that your pronation and supination movements can be permanently negatively affected after lengthening. Not worth all the pain you'd go through and potential lifelong disability. There hasn't been a study showing a social benefit of longer arms either. Humerus lengthening is supposed to be the easiest according to Dr. Paley, but at the same time Dr. Guichet said you risk paralysis in your arms with humerus lengthening.

[KiloKAHN]

Dr. Paley wrote about the complications of forearm lengthening. There are many more things that need to be considered when lengthening the forearm. You'd be nuts to lengthen them for cosmetic reasons, and even more nuts to lengthen with anyone other than a first-rate orthopedic surgeon like Dr. Paley.

"In the forearm, there are some special considerations. Stability of the elbow usually is not a concern in forearm lengthening. Stability of the wrist is important, especially with radial lengthening. With ulnar lengthening, a wire through the proximal radius is needed to prevent distal migration of the radius. When performing radial lengthening alone, there is no need to fix the ulna. Flexion contracture of the elbow, wrist, and fingers tends to develop with radial lengthening and with one-bone forearm lengthening. This should be countered by vigorous physiotherapy and extension splints. Due to the small diameter of the forearm bones, large lengthenings tend to narrow the diameter of the regenerate bone formation because of the pinch of the surrounding muscles. Inevitably, this leads to the 'pulled-taffy effect' (narrowing of the center as the ends are stretched). The rate of 1 mm/day may need to be reduced to .75, .50, or .25 rom per day. Axial deviation usually is not a problem with the radius, since the ulna acts as support to it. Proximal ulnar corticotomies tend to go into flexion, especially in one-bone forearms. This should be recognized and corrected."

http://limblengtheningdoc.org/Ilizarov_techonlogy.pdf

The part I underlined gets to me especially. I imagine refracture would always be a danger after forearm lengthening.

[BullSurfer]

Don't lengthen forearms,  upper arms yes. I saw a document on Discovery Channel called Super Human. How some kids are so tall and some are so short. There was one kid if left alone he'd be no more than 3'5". So his mother decided to lengthen every long bones in his body except the forearms.  For a while this bugged me, why didn't they give him forearm lengthening.  Well, now I know,  if he had gotten that he wouldn't be an accomplished golfer now.

[Taller]

Purely wishful thinking here, but if only successful forearm lengthening were much, much easier to accomplish... I'd get it done in the blink of an eye  in my humble opinion, long forearms look far better on a man than long humerus bones. And men with long arms do look more macho and manly, in my opinion, than those with short arms.

Still, I'd much rather be average/tall with short arms than short with long, buff arms. I've seen too many people in the latter category work out like crazy and still get called (and accept the title of) manlets. It makes me sad.

[KiloKAHN]

Purely wishful thinking here, but if only successful forearm lengthening were much, much easier to accomplish... I'd get it done in the blink of an eye  in my humble opinion, long forearms look far better on a man than long humerus bones. And men with long arms do look more macho and manly, in my opinion, than those with short arms.

Still, I'd much rather be average/tall with short arms than short with long, buff arms. I've seen too many people in the latter category work out like crazy and still get called (and accept the title of) manlets. It makes me sad.

Only people I see that use the term "manlet" to describe short men are the dorks on the bodybuilding.com forums.
 I'd feel like slapping someone upside the head if I was called that in person.

[Claude]

Dont do forearms. Even Humerus is quite difficult.
Dont forget how your hands are important.

[Taller]

Just curious to know what you all think about the possibility of forearm lengthening becoming significantly safer and more widely available in the next decade/foreseeable future. I read about a new technique involving an intramedullary guide-wire to keep the radius and ulna aligned.

However, my opinion is that there just isn't near enough interest in forearm lengthening for doctors and researchers to develop more advanced and safe methods.

This is very unfortunate because it restricts LL somewhat, making it a less ideal option for those who already have long legs and/or short arms with long humerus bones, prior to LL.

I think that someone who had LL would have noticeably short arms standing next to someone who is naturally their height, even if their torso is longer.

I don't see why more research hasn't gone into cosmetic AL on the part of doctors and patients alike.

[Taller]

Also, for Sweden or anyone else who was at Dr. Sarin's:

Did that guy ever end up getting his forearms shortened as he planned to? If so, how well did he recover from it?

[Taller]

Would anyone know the reason why pronation and suppination capabilities would not eventually be restored after recovery and PT post forearm lengthening?

[KiloKAHN]

Just posting Tall's question about forearm lengthening and Dr Birkholtz's reply so it is easier to find for those curious about arm lengthening.

From his thread:

Dr. Birkholtz,

Thank you so much for participating on this forum. The diffierence you make in people's lives by providing quality advice, information, and warnings is invaluable and unfathomably appreciated.

I was wondering what your take is on cosmetic arm lengthening. As you know, some people who desire cosmetic LL are not so ideally proportioned for the surgery, but still would love to be taller. Arm length is sometimes a limiting factor, and some have researched cosmetic arm lengthening as a means to maintain a proportional appearance.

Recently, in a discussion, it was brought up by several sources that cosmetic forearm lengthening is not safe and sensible at this point in time. One reason being that the pronation and supination capabilities of the forearm would never recover. Is this true? If so, why would this capability not recover with sufficient physical therapy once the radius and ulna have completely consolidated?

Also, what is your take on cosmetic lengthening of the humerus?

I look forward to your responses.

Stay away. The forearm has too many fine structures in it and permanent damage can occur and lead to loss of hand function. Not worth it for cosmetic reasons!
Pro and supination are dependent on the curved bones in the forearm. As we cannot lengthen around corners, lengthening will always permanently affect pro and supination.

[mediocre]

Pronation and Supination.
In other words, can't open and can't close the door knob!

Just posting Tall's question about forearm lengthening and Dr Birkholtz's reply so it is easier to find for those curious about arm lengthening.

From his thread:

[Dr Franz"... will always permanently affect pro and supination"

[onedayillgrow]

Will anybody possibly ever consider getting Humerus lengthening? I like my proportions and will probably gain 4.5 inches in two surgeries but the more i think about it, i see my arms as being stubby and short and feel that i should get my Humerus lengthened a few cm's.

Is anybody else worried about this and/or considering it? Any idea of price range?

[KiloKAHN]

Surgeons will usually charge the same amount for humerus lengthening as they would tibs, and you would probably pay more overall for humerus lengthening because you would lengthen one arm at a time and have to pay for the additional trips to the OR. Opinions are divided on the safety of humerus lengthening. Dr Guichet says it's too risky because there's greater chance of injuring nerves whereas Dr Paley says the humerus is the easiest segment to lengthen in the body.

We probably don't have any accounts of cosmetic lengthening of the humerus because there doesn't seem to be any social benefit to having longer arms and most people who go through CLL can't bear the thought of wearing fixators two more times.

[Taller]

Will anybody possibly ever consider getting Humerus lengthening? I like my proportions and will probably gain 4.5 inches in two surgeries but the more i think about it, i see my arms as being stubby and short and feel that i should get my Humerus lengthened a few cm's.

Is anybody else worried about this and/or considering it? Any idea of price range?

My humerus bones are already exactly as long as my forearms, so it's probably out of the question for me. That is why I asked Dr. Birkholtz about forearm lengthening. I still think I'd look amazing with longer forearms in addition to LL so I am hoping that a safe technology emerges soon, although I do realize that this is a very optimistic hope.

What are you all's thoughts on having noticeably longer humerus bones than forearm bones? Personally, I don't think I've ever noticed this build on a man and fear that it might look quite bizarre, especially on a torso that is proportionally on the shorter side (which it likely will be after/if I get LL).

[onedayillgrow]

Thanks for the reply guys, i didn't entirely think through the aspect of having to lengthen one arm at a time for personal reasons and mobility. I guess there just aren't enough people who have done the surgery to exactly see what the outcomes are like you have mentioned with two respectable doctors having almost polar opposite views on the subject..

Actually Tall, i just came across this picture right now, take a look. Doesn't Hugh Jackmans Humerus look quite a bit longer than his Radius and Ulna (forearms)? Or is it just me being tired? 

https://www.facebook.com/MensHealth/photos/a.10150504325815207.639809.56916320206/10154093734210207/?type=1&theater

[Taller]

Interesting pic, for sure! I think that his watch may make his forearm shorter-looking, though, and his buff biceps add to the perceived size of his humerus. Still, his humerus does look slightly longer. That is definitely encouraging!

[afaq379006]

bro i am also thinking about doing forearm but lots of people have discouraging replys. i love logner forearms and man only those people look good or attracts me who has longer forearms

[Kucukelforever]

I have an exercise program gives you longer forearms. it gives 2.5 cm increase per arm per year. I bought it 75 sterling I can give it free for ones who want.

[MewtwoStrikesBack]

Hi Kucukelforever

I'm interested in lengthening my forearms. Would you have a link to the program? I'd really appreciate it if you did.

Thanks

[ThickButt]

If anyone is curious, here’s a vid of the process for forearm lengthening, by none other than a young Dr. Paley.



Seems to be similar to tibial lengthening. I just wonder how they perform the break though? How big if an incision would that require? Anyways, based on a ton of studies for non cosmetic cases, forearm lengthening actually seems to be a pretty safe surgery (disclaimer - safe=\=easy), with the only common complication being pin site infection since it must be done with frames. Neurovascular complications are rare, at least in the studies I’ve read. Recovery of normal function is almost universally reported, albeit after a long while (2-10 years)

I think the reason Doctors don’t want to do it isn’t necessarily because they don’t think they could do it. I think it’s more because they literally can’t see why you’d want to. As the others have said above, the social utility of long arms has never been observed. Breaking your legs to be tall is already crazy. But breaking forearms? That’s a whole new level lol. It’s a lot of pain for questionable gain.

There’s one US doctor I know of who will perform it. It’ll be expensive though.