Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[bluebarbie]

Hi Blue!

Ok, let me try to describe it.

When I do this exercise, much like the woman in the picture, my left leg can only bend about 90+ degrees at the knee. It's a similar movement to grabbing your tibia and trying to bring your knee to your chest.

There is no pain when I flex from 0 degrees to 90 degrees, but once I cross a bit more past that threshold I can feel tightness in the middle region of my quadriceps. If I force myself to bend a little further, that tightness begins to turn into pain. The pain stops when I release that pose.

Currently I can bend pretty much exactly like the lady in the picture...about 95 degrees or so?

Hope that helps! Let me know if anything's not clear.

Hi glen. Thank u for the answers..they pretty much helped. I see what u mean by pulling the fibs inwards to your chest. I have been not long since i could do that to stretch my quads too. It helped alot for the increase in bending. Do u feel any pain around the knee areas coz...in the early mornings when i feel the most stiffness , i feel pain jist abouve the knees and under the kneecap. Do u have that pain at any time when u try to push further of ur knee bend.
Thank u. And one more thing i need to know is when u sit, lie down straight or walk upright ,is the bending the same as 90 or does it get restrited much lesser. Thanks

[glenn]

Hey Blue!

No problem, I'm glad to compare notes.

Do u feel any pain around the knee areas coz...in the early mornings when i feel the most stiffness , i feel pain jist abouve the knees and under the kneecap.

I don't feel any knee pain on my femur side, but I do feel pain below the kneecap on my tibia side. It happens when I lift my leg during walking. I noticed a bit of improvement compared to last week. Like you, it also improves after I warm up during the day. Is this the same thing you're talking about?

Do u have that pain at any time when u try to push further of ur knee bend.

The pain disappears as soon as I release the pose. If I've done a good stretch then I might have some burning sensation linger on for a while, but in a good way, like how you feel after you've had a good workout.

And one more thing i need to know is when u sit, lie down straight or walk upright ,is the bending the same as 90 or does it get restrited much lesser. Thanks

Yes, there is a difference for me. When I lie on my stomach it seems I can't bend my knees that far. But the difference is negligible. I'm not sure, but I would suspect that it's because it has something to do with how the pelvis is tilted when you're sitting or laying prone that does something.

Also, I saw your gym videos you posted. I wasn't going to say anything since I'm not an expert, but it seems to me that it looks more like "exercising" rather than "stretching." When I stretch I usually hold the pose at the apex of the movement for about 15 to 30 seconds. If it's a dynamic stretch, like a lunge, I'll still hold the pose for a few seconds before completing the action. I'm not saying you should follow what I've said, since maybe your PT has taught you something different. I'm just pointing out something that I noticed, that's all.

[Average2Tall]

Hey Glenn, very few people get to dream and achieve! Respect!

Can you ask Dr. Monegal the following question if possible?

Which scenario can be favorable for a solid recovery? For a underwear model who is 177 cm tall without affecting the proportions. Assuming cost and recovery time is not an issue!

1. 2-3 cm Internal femur (Fitbone), 2 cm External Tibia or 2cm Internal Tibia (Fitbone) - If guaranteed no knee pain.

2. 4-5 cm Internal femur (Fitbone) If proportions difference won't be visible.

I often climb mountains and kite surf, i don't want to affect my hobbies by lower perfomance. I will take you advice/suggestions as well while we wait for Dr. Monegal.

[glenn]

Hey Glenn, very few people get to dream and achieve! Respect!

Can you ask Dr. Monegal the following question if possible?

Which scenario can be favorable for a solid recovery? For a underwear model who is 177 cm tall without affecting the proportions. Assuming cost and recovery time is not an issue!

1. 2-3 cm Internal femur (Fitbone), 2 cm External Tibia or 2cm Internal Tibia (Fitbone) - If guaranteed no knee pain.

2. 4-5 cm Internal femur (Fitbone) If proportions difference won't be visible.

I often climb mountains and kite surf, i don't want to affect my hobbies by lower perfomance. I will take you advice/suggestions as well while we wait for Dr. Monegal.

Hey Average2Tall,

Great questions, thanks! But if you have any questions for the doctor feel free to email him directly at: dralmon1@hotmail.com

Don't worry, Dr. M is really nice and responds emails promptly.

[Average2Tall]

Thanks!

[Average2Tall]

Hey Glenn, stupid one here!

Do you feel horny sometimes? i mean now when you have started getting a bit comfortable with LL, do you think of your girl, girls, watching porn or whatever fetish regarding sex?

[glenn]

Hi Average2Tall!

No worries. Like one of my favorite professors used to say, "There are no stupid questions…"

When you're in the hospital with a catheter sticking out of you, there is no sex drive, despite the abundance of nice nurses.

Even at the MIC, I was so tired from PT and cooking that I didn't have any strength for a libido. There was a caretaker at the MIC that was pretty flirty, but even then, I couldn't be bothered to make a move.

After coming home, I am feeling more like a normal guy now, with my normal schedule of urges. I think it has more to do with 1) sleeping more 2) better nutrition 3) familiar environment. I'd say my sex drive is pretty much the same as before I had surgery. After all, LL severs bones, not boners 

[glenn]

A user that will do LL with Dr. Monegal in January recently PM'ed me about some questions, and it reminded me of the questions that I had before my own surgery. Before flying over to Barcelona, I was always constantly worried about logistics and stressed about forgetting to bring something.
 
It got me thinking, and I decided to write a list of "recommended stuff that you never thought to bring." If you're doing LL in Barcelona, I recommend you bring:

1. At least 1 pair of swimming trunks (which can also double as workout shorts for PT)

2. A universal adaptor so you can use your electronics with European-style sockets.

If you need to plug more than one thing in at the same time, you will probably need something like this.

3. An electric hair trimmer so you can cut your own hair. I'm told that the salons are expensive near the MIC.

4. Wheelchair (if you're doing single stage). Where on earth are you going to get a wheelchair when you're all alone in a foreign country and your legs are broken? If you rent one in Barcelona, you will have to figure out how to get to the airport and back to your own country when you leave Barcelona. You can always buy one in Barcelona, but it's less stress to just figure it out before you get here and bring a wheelchair with you, since most airlines transport wheelchairs for free anyway. 

Stuff you DON'T need to bring:
towel
swimming goggles
slippers
crutches or walker
long workout pants (Claudio the PT prefers you to wear shorts so he can observe your form)
cooking utensils or cutlery (MIC has mostly everything you need to cook)

You don't need to bring that many clothes. MIC has free washer and dryer, so you can do laundry constantly.

[bluebarbie]

Also, I saw your gym videos you posted. I wasn't going to say anything since I'm not an expert, but it seems to me that it looks more like "exercising" rather than "stretching." When I stretch I usually hold the pose at the apex of the movement for about 15 to 30 seconds. If it's a dynamic stretch, like a lunge, I'll still hold the pose for a few seconds before completing the action. I'm not saying you should follow what I've said, since maybe your PT has taught you something different. I'm just pointing out something that I noticed, that's all.

Hey, glen.
Thank you so much for your answers and opinions. Yes you are right about my gym time. They are just the workout for reganing or improving my strength and balance of the legs.
I was bed ridden for nearly seven months so my body had disfigured alot. My muscles were all atrophied and the whole body changed pretty bad until i hit the gym two months ago. I only do my stretchings at home or in heated pool spending long hours daily just for stretchings. It took me four months to reach 90 degrees of rom no matter how hard i tried. Even if i did external femurs i spend about 80000 for the process and i just cant help from comparing myself with those who did internal. Even my journey had been hard and rough i still want my recovery to be as fast as those of internals.  .Now its ten months and my knees are bending only around 90. And i need my scar removal next month for the scars are huge and horrible. But when people see me they all think i m doing really great or how fast my recovery is for external femurs. Only i can know and tell how hard it is and how frustrating and how hard i had tried. Sorry for sharing my feelings.
Thank you and
Wish you fasted recovery .

[Average2Tall]

Hi Average2Tall!

No worries. Like one of my favorite professors used to say, "There are no stupid questions…"

When you're in the hospital with a catheter sticking out of you, there is no sex drive, despite the abundance of nice nurses.

Even at the MIC, I was so tired from PT and cooking that I didn't have any strength for a libido. There was a caretaker at the MIC that was pretty flirty, but even then, I couldn't be bothered to make a move.

After coming home, I am feeling more like a normal guy now, with my normal schedule of urges. I think it has more to do with 1) sleeping more 2) better nutrition 3) familiar environment. I'd say my sex drive is pretty much the same as before I had surgery. After all, LL severs bones, not boners 

Thanks Glenn!

It's good to know the little man will be safe and taking a looooong break

[glenn]

Hey Blue,

No worries, this is a safe place to share your feelings.

I think I can speak for many people on this forum when I say that we're very much in admiration of your perseverance and courage. I don't think there are many people on the forum, me included, that could possibly have accomplished what you've accomplished so far. I know that when I was planning my surgery, your diary was a source of inspiration and strength.

It's ok to feel down and frustrated; these are natural feelings. LL is full of ups and downs, smiles and cries, just like life. Someone once told me, "You can't control what happens in your life, the only thing
you can control is how you react to it." Even if things look bleak now, I promise things will be better in the future.

Hope you feel better, soon. And keep fighting!

[yagen]

Glenn,

How is the recocery Tibia versus Femur? do you feel more pain or you have more confidence in the leg legngthening with tibia or Femur?

Thank you again 

[Average2Tall]

Good question!

[glenn]

Hey Fellas,

Thanks for the questions. It was my 3-month anniversary yesterday, can you guys believe it?

With LL, pain comes and goes in different spots. Every few days a new place will hurt, and the old pain will go away. Right now there's a new, sharp, pain on my adductor muscles (femur side) during certain movements. I've been crying through my past three workouts because the pain is quite sharp when I move it a certain way. I was a bit lazy last week with my workouts so I can't tell if my current pain is because I've overworked or underworked my left leg, though. Hopefully it will go away in a few days. I'm doing my best to try and not let it affect my mood, but I'll admit it's quite tough.

Tibia is now my stronger leg. I've been doing these stretches and they seem to help me. When my legs are cold my knee (tibia side) hurts when I lift it to walk. The knee pain pretty much goes away after my legs are warmed up, so I'm not too worried. The adductor pain (femur side) is the one that worries me now.

Aside from the casual stretching I do during the day, this my current workout routine:

1. knee bends with ball, 50 reps/leg
2. leg lifts, 50 reps/leg
3. lateral leg lifts, 50 reps/leg
4. horizontal + vertical leg lifts, 15reps/leg
(For #1-4 I use 2 lb ankle weights on each foot)

5. walk outside 40mins (with crutches), ~ 400meters

[goldenegg]

hey glenn, is the femur side pain from the lateral leg raises?

I have sharp pain in my abductors when I make lateral movements- literally feels like the tip of the screw is cutting into my muscle. Im hoping the pain will just go away over time, but not sure if it will

[glenn]

Hi Goldenegg!

Sounds about the same type of thing I'm going through, but on the other side of the leg. Mine is on the adductor side (inside groin), so the painful movement is when I twist and close my legs.

I had your type of abductor pain during weeks 3 and 5... If I remember correctly, they went away after a week. If you don't mind: How long has yours been going on? During this pain, have you been working out that area more (hoping to get stronger), or less (hoping to let it rest and recover) ? I'm still not sure what's the best way to ride it out.

Although it's excruciating and "feels" like it's caused by friction against the nail, I'm not entirely convinced that's what it is. If the nail were really digging into our muscles, we'd be suffering from some major internal bleeding within a few minutes, wouldn't we? Maybe the nail is just touching a nerve or something. I'm more inclined to think that it's just natural soft tissue tearing and damage. (I hope! )

Yeah, it's hard to be optimistic and believe that the pain will go away soon. I'm having the same thoughts now, I admit. Key is to have faith. Stay strong, brother!

[alps]

hey glenn, is the femur side pain from the lateral leg raises?

I have sharp pain in my abductors when I make lateral movements- literally feels like the tip of the screw is cutting into my muscle. Im hoping the pain will just go away over time, but not sure if it will

Hi goldenegg,
did you ask the doctor about it?

[goldenegg]

I've had the pain for the last 2 weeks, but I also only started doing lateral leg raises during the same time. Im guessing I would've had this pain since the beginning.  I recently started walking unaided and realizing how important the abductors are for balancing and normal looking walking.

I'm not sure whether working out the area more or less is the better way, but my approach has also been powering through to finish my daily exercise routine.  the pain hasn't gotten much better yet but my abductors are definitely stronger since I can do more reps and my walking is improving.

I think friction like you said is probably accurate.  Dr says its most likely the muscles rubbing on the nail or screw and eventually the muscles will adapt. makes sense at least looking at my own xrays that the muscles would be affected since the screws stick out of the bone a little bit. I used the word cutting cause I think it's more representative of just how sharp the pain feels.  Yeah Im hopeful ours pains will eventually go away for both us just like all the other random LL pains thus far...

[yagen]

Glenn,

you have told that your better legs is now the tibia. do you think is because that legs stops lengthening 23 days early than femur leg?

cheers with the pain.

Go on with the stretching

[glenn]

Hi Goldenegg,

Yeah, I think you're right. "Power through" is the way to go! Leg pains always seem to be dampened once my legs are all warmed up anyway. Besides, it's only pain.     

Stay strong, bro.

G

[glenn]

Hey Yagen,

Yes, I think that's a part of the reason. But another part is probably also psychological. When I say "strong" leg, I guess I mean "stronger than my femur side" since I am feeling some femur pains lately.

Objectively though, I think it's undeniable that femurs heal faster than tibiae..

Are you still deciding between femurs and tibiae? I thought you were set to do femurs?

[Ozymandias]

Hey Yagen,

Yes, I think that's a part of the reason. But another part is probably also psychological. When I say "strong" leg, I guess I mean "stronger than my femur side" since I am feeling some femur pains lately.

Objectively though, I think it's undeniable that femurs heal faster than tibiae..

Are you still deciding between femurs and tibiae? I thought you were set to do femurs?

Interesting. When you say that femurs heal faster than tibiae, do you mean lengthening speed? Or do you feel that -overall- the leg with the broken femur is recovering better (less pain, better flexibility, etc) that the other one?

Personally, I am still deciding between tibia and femur, so any info on this will be really useful!

[glenn]

Hi Ozymandias!

Interesting. When you say that femurs heal faster than tibiae, do you mean lengthening speed?

I mean that, all things being equal, femurs will take less time, compared to tibiae, to recuperate to the same level as the other....

I distracted both segments at the same speed, by the way. Don't know if that helps you or not.

Or do you feel that -overall- the leg with the broken femur is recovering better (less pain, better flexibility, etc) that the other one?

I mean this as well. All things considered, my femur is recovering better than tibia.

When considering recovery time and complications, femur segment is a better LL candidate than tibia. I'm pretty sure medical professionals globally are unanimous in that opinion. Feel free to let me know if I'm wrong.

Personally, I am still deciding between tibia and femur, so any info on this will be really useful!

Unless you have a very specific reason to do tibia, I would suggest femurs without a doubt. As I've stated in some earlier posts, the benefits of recovery time, relative safety, and options far outweigh any proportion or cost concerns in my opinion. I've done both femur and tibia at the same time, and can assure you that they're both very different animals.. It's not like choosing "chicken or fish" on your airline meal 

Hope that helps!

[yagen]

Hey Yagen,

Yes, I think that's a part of the reason. But another part is probably also psychological. When I say "strong" leg, I guess I mean "stronger than my femur side" since I am feeling some femur pains lately.

Objectively though, I think it's undeniable that femurs heal faster than tibiae..

Are you still deciding between femurs and tibiae? I thought you were set to do femurs?

Glenn,

I have decided that I am going to do femurs, but I want to know how is the tibiae process, maybe in the future I will do tibiae in order to improve my proportion, but just 3 or 4 cm. But I have to evaluate the risk/profit and the time/pain.

Every day I think about your words, that LL is a marathon

Many thanks and good luck

[Deads]

Glenn.... You are one inspirational dude. It's like you can read my mind.... You're a very fluent writer. I love your ability to paint a picture so clearly.

[glenn]

Hi Yagen,

About doing tibiae in the future, I think it's probably best to just get through femurs first and enjoy your new height for a few months. You will have a new perspective on what's important and what you want after you walk around in your new femurs. :-)

[yagen]

Hi Yagen,

About doing tibiae in the future, I think it's probably best to just get through femurs first and enjoy your new height for a few months. You will have a new perspective on what's important and what you want after you walk around in your new femurs. :-)

I think so, maybe in a year there are other goals.

Many thanks again Glenn

[glenn]

Hey Deads,

Thanks for the compliments, man! I really appreciate it. Glad that you're enjoying it. Hopefully I can continue to give users here useful info on the process.

Cheers!

[Ozymandias]

Glenn,

Thank you very much for your answers. You seem to be a nice person, so I'm really glad to see that the first stage of your LL journey has been successful.

I have re-read your diary and I found out that you have already explained some of the points I was asking about. My apologies! And well, after reading it it seems that you are probably right that femurs are the first option when doing internals.

[glenn]

Hey Ozymandias,

I'm flattered by your kind words, but thank you, nonetheless. Really, I think I'm just a normal guy that's been lucky enough to have amazing people around me. 

A quick update for all. My adductor pain has subsided a lot (or maybe I've just gotten used to it, not sure which). In any case, it doesn't bother me as much as it did two weeks ago. I now have new pain on the other side of my thigh, near the outside. It's not a big deal, since I've felt it before in the same place during lengthening. Soft tissue issues most likely. My mental state is more positive now (mainly because the adductor pain has diminished a bit). I think maintaining activity is key to positive thinking. If I just lay around in bed wallowing it is easy to feel weak and negative.

For the past three days or so, I changed up my routine. I've started doing more reps with less weight, and also eased up by giving more rest in between. That may or may not have been the reason my adductor pain subsided.

[PatientZero]

Hola glenn, glad to hear you're doing better.

I'm experiencing some crazy left abductor pain myself. I injured it several months ago stretching too hard and decided to follow through with surgery even though it wasn't feeling 100%. Your first post said some   about blinking a few times then now you're 34, so I figured I'd do it before it took any longer.

I've been going at 0.8mm but wanted to see what the big deal is with 1mm--I did not sleep last night lol. I could see my left leg pulsating for 5 minute bursts from muscle contractions. I snapchatted it to my friends and family 

After our abductors heal, we can mate them for the ultimate leg.