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[Uppland]

I also have a question Kilo: how significant is a 6CM increase in height, and how noticeable is it?

[KiloKAHN]

im doing LL right now and we're about the same height and we are using an external device which is the longest time, im at 4cm and my original goal was 5cm.

however i have been thinking on doing 6cm now, how do you feel about the time it took to do 6cm, do you regret it and wish you did 5cm, if 7cm was an option for you would you take it, or at the end did you feel that you had spent enough time doing this and woudn't want to do 7cm.

i can only do 1 LL due to my wingspan so i guess our positions may be a bit different.

did you find out your tibia and femur bone length, if i do 6cm my femur would be 3cm longer than tibia.

if I had thought to myself that I'd more realistically expect 2 months per cm in cages than 1.5 months per cm, I more than likely would have chosen LON. I'm not sure how Dr Mitkovic's external device's feel, but having the cages on my legs for 12 months really sucked some days and always sucked at night. As it is with external fixation time, I wouldn't have pushed to 7 cm even if Dr Parihar told me that I could. Started to feel like my soft tissues were having a hard time a little after 5 cm, but I pushed to 6 cm just because mentally it felt good to be at the 170 cm mark.

Tibia length post op is 37.5 cm and femurs are 43.0 cm.

I also have a question Kilo: how significant is a 6CM increase in height, and how noticeable is it?

It made a big difference, both in how I perceive myself now and in how others view me. Also with some practical things, like shopping for pants. I think aesthetically I look better than before since I was very stocky for my height to begin with and probably looked a bit silly. A lot of people who know me prior to surgery remarked that I look really good now and saw the difference right away, and those who haven't seen me in a while have said something along the lines of "Something's different about you..." I haven't been called out over my height yet in conversations since I've been back either. That may change since I'm still below average height here, but I think it will happen with less frequency than before.

Not entirely sure, but it's probable that if you increase your height 6 cm it will be less instantly noticeable than when I did it. I think the shorter the starting height, the more obvious the change will be. But going from 5'10 to 6'0 mark should definitely have a social benefit.

[microman]

okay thanks, i hardly feel anything with the mitkovic device, the typical gain with 15 or so mitkovic diaries is 7cm so i guess i answered my own question.

i will get mitkovic to feel how tense my soft tissues are soon and he can advise.

thanks

[Alu]

Wow you look really good and your walk seems normal. Considering that you have an I/H ratio of  47% how do you feel with those longer legs of yours now? Does it effect any of your movement and depth perception? Also how do you fit clothes now; are you much more conscious about how you look in general? How do you think you'd look like with a suit?

My curiosity is kicking in because I'd also end up with a 47% inseam to height ration after 9-10 cm increase in both segments which is my goal. Thanks   

[KiloKAHN]

Wow you look really good and your walk seems normal. Considering that you have an I/H ratio of  47% how do you feel with those longer legs of yours now? Does it effect any of your movement and depth perception? Also how do you fit clothes now; are you much more conscious about how you look in general? How do you think you'd look like with a suit?

My curiosity is kicking in because I'd also end up with a 47% inseam to height ration after 9-10 cm increase in both segments which is my goal. Thanks

I got used to walking pretty fast, but going upstairs and especially downstairs still feels kinda weird to me. Not quite used to the change there yet and I walk stairs a lot slower. I had to do a lot of clothes shopping since the lengthening because not only did I get taller, but I went down from 212 lbs to 173 lbs so I had to find slimmer fits. Shopping got easier for me since I could finally go in the adult jeans section and get pants that didn't require hemming to be worn properly.

I don't think 47% really looks long legged so you'll probably look normal with the same percentage. I looked at some threads on inseam to height ratio, mostly on biking forums, and it seems within the average range.

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=246447

http://forums.soompi.com/en/topic/244813-the-real-leg-percentage-calculation/

[Alu]

Yeah I guess so. I don't by any means look freakish with 44%, the thing is it's so normal to be that I do have my doubts with what 47% could look like. So you saying that is really reassuring for me in many regards. I just want to make sure I get the very clear perspective of what 47% feels and looks like before I jump on that train. If you have anything else to add about how's it changed you that would be appreciated

[OregonMade]

wow this is soooo funny

[KiloKAHN]

^Which part?

[Deutsch Mark]

Attempt at Revealing Proportions (8/7/2015)
I had the pictures taken at a few different angles and distances to try and give a good sense of what my proportions are currently. I suppose the most detailed would be a nked pic, but I won't go that far just yet. For your eye convenience I've also blurred out my penis bulge so you don't feel like you're looking at softcore erotica. 

The angle the pic is taken definitely matters with the perception of how long the tibs look in relation to femurs. I can't quite say if my proportions now are good or bad, but I think it's a given that I can't pull off a femur lengthening without an arm lengthening, and I don't know if I'd ever be willing to go that far. Right now my biggest peeve is that I look like the dude that skipped leg day at the gym throughout his entire life. Can't wait until I'm allowed to exercise them again in comparable intensity to when I was on the wrestling team in college.

 

Your legs are nice and straight but do the holes in the legs fade? The scarring is one thing that makes me think I should save up a few more years for internals. Has anybody mentioned your scars if you are wearing short pants?

[KiloKAHN]

Your legs are nice and straight but do the holes in the legs fade? The scarring is one thing that makes me think I should save up a few more years for internals. Has anybody mentioned your scars if you are wearing short pants?

Some of the scars at the top have faded. The ones close to the ankle haven't shown much of a difference though. I haven't looked at any before and after pics of those who had scar revision done for their pin sites, but it could be effective enough to make doing externals worth it for those worried about scarring.  Imo, there's not much reason to do internals on the tibiae since internals for them are even more expensive than internal femurs.

[jaymorgan712]

So your tibia length was 37.5 before or after the surgery?

Mine are around 35-36 centimetres right now without surgery!

[KiloKAHN]

Went snowboarding yesterday and wore my braces under the boots just in case. Had no problem with my legs at all, but I wiped out hard on a steep slope and fractured my tail bone because I was reckless and decided to forego buying the tail bone guard (I paid $110 just for the lift ticket). Can still walk but I do so looking like a dumbass. Aargh.

[Alittletooshort]

Finally got a response back from Dr Parihar telling me my pre-op and post-op measurements. He had to reinstall the software he uses and that took some time.

Pre-op Measurements
Femurs
Right 43.1 cm
Left 43.0 cm

Tibiae
Right 31.4 cm
Left 31.5 cm

Post-op Measurements
Tibiae
Right 37.4 cm
Left 37.5 cm

That´s so weird, my femurs are only 3cm´s longer than yours but my tibias are 8cm longer than those you had before your surgery I was hoping to get tibias done since I only want 4 cm´s but it seems like I´m a femur patient.
Femurs: 46cm´s
tibias 39.5
Do you know how your femurs were measured? Did the measurment stop at the end of your bone or did it stop at the point where your joint entered (around 2cm´s earlier)?
I´m 5´10 btw

[KiloKAHN]

That´s so weird, my femurs are only 3cm´s longer than yours but my tibias are 8cm longer than those you had before your surgery I was hoping to get tibias done since I only want 4 cm´s but it seems like I´m a femur patient.
Femurs: 46cm´s
tibias 39.5
Do you know how your femurs were measured? Did the measurment stop at the end of your bone or did it stop at the point where your joint entered (around 2cm´s earlier)?
I´m 5´10 btw

I'm not sure how he measured them, but it was done using the image of my standing x-ray. Are your measurements from an x-ray or did you do them yourself with measuring tape?

[KiloKAHN]

Update: 12/14/2015

Getting Back Into Shape
Decided to make this update because I had grabbed a pair of work pants without realizing that they were my old ones and it was totally comical at how over-sized they were for me. It reminded me that I was in denial about my weight gain in the year leading up to surgery. I had become obese without realizing it. In my depression over how terrible I felt about myself I stopped taking care of my body and it really showed. After losing all the weight and getting back into shape, I now realize more than ever that it's far worse to be short and fat than short and fit.

To the short guys worrying that people will say you're compensating for lack of height by weight training - do not even think about that. It's total crap. I've been hooking up with women lately who have usually dated much taller guys, and I attribute a lot of it to the much better shape I'm in. That's not to say that the height gain isn't a factor, because it is. The jump from roughly 5'5 to 5'7 is rather significant, imo. But there's absolutely no drawback to taking better care of yourself, and weight training in particular is good for bone health - you decrease the risk of osteoporosis and increase your bone density through weight lifting.

[paco1]

You are in very good shape. I'm happy for you.
Now you are more happy with yourself and that is the most important, to do more things.

[Morpheus34]

Hey KiloKahn

Strong upper body and good arms (biceps/triceps). You are looking good! Congratulations

Greetings Morpheus

[Alittletooshort]

You look great man!
Have you tried any kind of longer running or jogging yet?
I forgot to answer your question from an earlier post, the measurements were taken with an x-ray and were very acurate. Which is  pretty annoying for me since I don´t really have a choice than to do femurs.

[5.7to5.9]

Going from Obese to lean, I always thought I was in good shape. How wrong I was, especially when I am dismissed by strangers as a kid . I don't know at about 171cm weight training is better than aerobics I suppose. But if I were 180cm I would have preferred being lean.

[KiloKAHN]

You are in very good shape. I'm happy for you.
Now you are more happy with yourself and that is the most important, to do more things.

Thanks Paco. And you're right, feeling better has encouraged me to be more outgoing than I was before, and I seem to enjoy my days a lot more than previously since I'm not thinking about my height as much. Admittedly, I do still feel on the smaller side since I'm shorter than average and have very tall siblings, but I feel a lot better at 170 cm than 164 cm.

Hey KiloKahn

Strong upper body and good arms (biceps/triceps). You are looking good! Congratulations

Greetings Morpheus

Thanks, Morpheus! Triceps and delts are my favorite muscle groups to work. Eventually I will have to work these leg muscles though, because now I still have chicken legs compared to the rest of my body lol.

You look great man!
Have you tried any kind of longer running or jogging yet?
I forgot to answer your question from an earlier post, the measurements were taken with an x-ray and were very acurate. Which is  pretty annoying for me since I don´t really have a choice than to do femurs.

I haven't done any running or jogging because I'm paranoid about getting a stress fracture. Would hate to go back in casts after wearing those frames for a year. My local ortho recommended that I don't do any high impact sports or running until a year after frame removal, so at the end of June I'll get another x-ray and send those to Dr Parihar as well. If they give me the go ahead at that point then I'll start running and post some videos showing what it looks like.

Seems I just had particularly short tibiae to begin with, as others around my starting height have said that their tibs are around 5 cm longer. You could still do tibiae for 5.5 cm with your femurs still slightly edging them out in length. Unless you're thinking of lengthening a higher amount?

Going from Obese to lean, I always thought I was in good shape. How wrong I was, especially when I am dismissed by strangers as a kid . I don't know at about 171cm weight training is better than aerobics I suppose. But if I were 180cm I would have preferred being lean.

It's not necessary to become a meathead, that's for sure. Being lean is great especially if you have good muscle definition. I do wish I was more vascular because I always liked the veined look on the arms, but it's just not on the cards for me as far as genetics go.

[Alittletooshort]

A stress fracture would indeed be horrible after being in frames for such a long time. How is your functionality in the everyday use? Walking longer distances or walking down some stairs?
I don't plan to lengthen more than 5cm's, but I'm afraid that my biomechanics get affected by increasing my already long tibias.
You had really short tibias before this surgery that's probably the reason why your legs look completely normal after doing 6cm's.

[ub40]

Hey congrats on doing this, your legs look great no homo. So this whole process took you a year? Is that how long you stayed in India?

[LLSomeDay]

I wish you the best man <3

[alps]

how are you doing Kilo?

[KiloKAHN]

FINAL X-RAYS (1-28-2016)
 

Just picked up my final set of x-rays that I took last Thursday. My local ortho was surprised at how much dorsiflexion my ankles now have. Because I was in Ilizarov frames for over a year, he thought it would take me much longer to regain my flexibility. He was also surprised that my right fibula connected, as a while back it looked like the ends would only connect a narrow center, yet now the right fibula is thicker than the left one. I was told that it would be my final ortho appointment because he's confident I'll have no problems down the line. Of course I asked him when I could get back to running, jumping, and weight training on the legs. He replied that I should do the elliptical machine as much as I can and that I'll have no problem doing leg curls, extensions, or the leg press machine right away. However, I should do these exercises for two months before I start running again so I can train my legs to get used to the constant impact that comes with running. I haven't sent these to Dr Parihar yet but I wonder if he'll recommend the same thing.

I did my first leg workout in over a year a few days ago. I could do presses, curls, extensions, and elliptical without problem. No pain or anything, but the muscles in my legs are definitely a lot weaker, especially in the upper legs just above the knees. I think I'll stick to waiting two months before trying to run on pavement again and just focus on strengthening my legs with weights and the elliptical machine.

Without question, I can say that I'm very happy at taking the plunge with leg lengthening. A big sigh of relief that I didn't have to deal with any major complications. I'm thankful to the forum members for letting me share this process, thankful to my local orthopedist for removing my frames and helping me recover, and especially thankful to Dr Mangal Parihar, Dr Divya Ahuja, and the rest of Dr Parihar's team for their surgery and aftercare during the lengthening process.

[Alu]

It's really go to hear you're doing well mate. I'm happy for ya.

Remember to make those exercise videos one day 

[KiloKAHN]

Thanks, Alu. Will do. Dr Parihar also told me to do strength training and stretching with light jogging for two months, and after that I'm "free as a bird". So I'll get some videos done in a few months from now.

[Penguinn]

It's awesome that you're doing well.
How "back to normal" would you call yourself in terms of percentage? 95%?

[TRS]

Kilokahn,

I just saw your recent xrays and pictures and I must say they all look good.

It's amazing to see how you have transformed from the photos you took over a year ago.

You're in very good shape and doing extremely well.

Keep it up!

[KiloKAHN]

Kilokahn,

I just saw your recent xrays and pictures and I must say they all look good.

It's amazing to see how you have transformed from the photos you took over a year ago.

You're in very good shape and doing extremely well.

Keep it up!

Thanks, TRS. Hoping in a few months I'll be running and doing other exercises without problem.

It's awesome that you're doing well.
How "back to normal" would you call yourself in terms of percentage? 95%?

Upper body is stronger than its ever been and I've regained just about all of my prior flexibility in the legs. I no longer have any random muscle pains but waking up in the morning I do have a little tightness in the upper part of my calves that goes away with a one minute gastroc-soleus stretch on each leg. I did some light jogging up and down a hill 1.5 miles each way, and it felt a little weird. Hard to describe the exact feeling but it has to be due to the legs not being used to any sort of running impact in a whole year and a half.

What's not so great is that while jogging I build up a lot of pressure in the calves that makes me have to take breaks often. It's possible that it has to do with muscle weakness, but I think it's possible I have chronic exertional compartment syndrome. I don't think this is due to the leg lengthening, but CLL likely didn't help it either. Before leg lengthening I didn't run a lot and I'd get lower leg pain/pressure pretty fast. But I just chocked it up to being really overweight. I did find out about exertional compartment syndrome online sometime ago and read that building mass in the calves can exacerbate the issue, and when meeting with Dr Parihar I asked if he would do fasciotomy during surgery for me just in case I do have it. He said I'd have to take tests to figure out if I do have CECS and that he doesn't do fasciotomy as a routine because with any sort of procedure it's possible to have drawbacks. But I told myself that the pain while running was just due to me being heavy and decided I wouldn't ask him to test me for CECS.

I'll continue with stretching, strength training, and light jogging over the next few months to see if the pressure problems persist. If it does then I'll probably take a test for CECS and if I do have it the fasciotomy is apparently not a big deal with few (nothing major) side effects.

[Morgenst.]

Have you tried swimming instead? It works all of the same muscles as running without the impact pain you seem to be experiencing.