Print

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

[m7liam]

Hi all, I did x-rays yesterday. Turns out my left leg is at 5.5cm and my right at 6.5cm when I expected both to be 7.0cm.

Looks like I have been very lazy with my lengthening technique in the last 2 weeks and the machine hasn't been connecting properly.

A 10 day setback but I guess it is what it is. Partly explains why my left leg was feeling completely fine lol.

[anaverageperson]

Hi all, I did x-rays yesterday. Turns out my left leg is at 5.5cm and my right at 6.5cm when I expected both to be 7.0cm.

Looks like I have been very lazy with my lengthening technique in the last 2 weeks and the machine hasn't been connecting properly.

A 10 day setback but I guess it is what it is. Partly explains why my left leg was feeling completely fine lol.

Oh no! Sorry to hear. Hope things get better for you. Keep us posted on your results. Not a big setback. How is everything else otherwise

[Iron_Man]

Can't figure out how this could happen?  Does the machine sometimes malfunction?
I hope you will be ok

[brondo]

Hi m7liam,

Do you know which ERC device you are using? I believe the ERC1 is the most accurate device, but it doesn't automatically stop like the ERC4 (the purple one) does when the magnet doesn't align properly (I think, I'm not sure).

[ghkid2019]

How u know it's not preconsolidation. Did doctor take x-ray on spot, then lengthen a whole 1cm, then take another x-ray to see if it moved that any, then reverse back 1cm obviously

[Tartar]

I had similar problem with Erc1. Post an RX pic if you like. If it's already consolidated you have to go back with the other one. Using the device is very important the height of the thigh, for the rest it is a strong magnet.

[m7liam]

I’m using the old ERC machine, it’s black in colour, this one definitely doesn’t detect if it touches the magnet.

Doctor said based on my bone callus, it’s not preconsolidation.

2 weeks of not lengthening actually makes sense since I changed hotels 2 weeks ago and the power plug is a bit further away. So I don’t press down when I lengthen the leg. Also I’ve been just using one hand and playing the phone while lengthening.

The left right discrepancy might be due to the power plug being on my right side and so the cord is tightened when I move to left side.

Who knows I guess.

[Tartar]

I’m using the old ERC machine, it’s black in colour, this one definitely doesn’t detect if it touches the magnet.

Doctor said based on my bone callus, it’s not preconsolidation.

2 weeks of not lengthening actually makes sense since I changed hotels 2 weeks ago and the power plug is a bit further away. So I don’t press down when I lengthen the leg. Also I’ve been just using one hand and playing the phone while lengthening.

The left right discrepancy might be due to the power plug being on my right side and so the cord is tightened when I move to left side.

Who knows I guess.

In many pics of his patients Paley shows them using the Erc1 on the trousers, even if it’s quite weird. What I can say for sure is that even a difference of few cms going down in the thigh can prevent the device to work properly. The suggestion I can give you (even if it can sound a bit rude) is to lengthen a bit more than usual to check if you feel pain. That should be the confirmation, in this way you don’t risk. You could even measure the thigh length or the discrepancy but it’s way difficult to be precise.

[m7liam]

In many pics of his patients Paley shows them using the Erc1 on the trousers, even if it’s quite weird. What I can say for sure is that even a difference of few cms going down in the thigh can prevent the device to work properly. The suggestion I can give you (even if it can sound a bit rude) is to lengthen a bit more than usual to check if you feel pain. That should be the confirmation, in this way you don’t risk. You could even measure the thigh length or the discrepancy but it’s way difficult to be precise.

Thanks man. I can actually tell my legs were uneven. By sitting down on the bed and pulling up your legs. But I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me.

I’m lengthening 2mm on the left and 0 on the right for the next few days. Until it equalises. Having uneven legs has been affecting my walking (which is why I had a limp in the previous video).

[Tartar]

Thanks man. I can actually tell my legs were uneven. By sitting down on the bed and pulling up your legs. But I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me.

I’m lengthening 2mm on the left and 0 on the right for the next few days. Until it equalises. Having uneven legs has been affecting my walking (which is why I had a limp in the previous video).

That way is ok but the bed is not an hard surface so sometimes there can be some mistakes. I suggest you even to raise you thigh only while doing a Dip or do the same thing you were trying on the bed but on the floor. Another trick is push as much as possible your back to the wall while sitting in a cube, so you can check your knees. I use all these ways. I have a leg discrepancy too actually and I should solve it in the next days.

[m7liam]

Today's video at what I think is 6.7cms.



Much lesser limp given my legs are more equal although they still differ by a little.

I feel great to be honest, almost no pain and limited tightness compared to the prior week when I was lengthening my right to 6.5cms. Right knee has become much better over the last week given I've been lengthening less.

No nerve pain.

2 more weeks to go.

[Hatch]

Right leg is in great condition but even left is not bad at all. Generally you make lengthening looking so easy.

How you can be sure that nails were moving? Did you feel it? Even when lengthening 2 mm/day

[anaverageperson]

m7liam,

Thanks for updating us. You're moving well! Super glad to know that you're feeling great and that pain/tightness is actually going down. Awesome!! Keep it up.

[m7liam]

Right leg is in great condition but even left is not bad at all. Generally you make lengthening looking so easy.

How you can be sure that nails were moving? Did you feel it? Even when lengthening 2 mm/day

Thanks man.

I'm pretty sure the nails are moving because I can see the physical discrepancy lesson each day.

I don't usually feel much when lengthening so can't tell by the nails moving.

[ghkid2019]

2 weeks bubba. Starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel

Congrats dude

[AnotherShorty]

Hi M7liam,

Give us some good news.... hows ur gait ? Distraction completed ?

Regards

[m7liam]

Hi guys. Bad news. Unfortunately when I went to xray last week, my left hadn’t moved much at all. I think the right was 7.2cms and the left was 6.0cms (this was last Wednesday).

Now issue was my left mark was 1.5 cms lower down on my leg than my right mark. So I have been lengthening higher up this week.

Will do another X-ray on Monday. If it still hasn’t lengthened I will need to fly to Greece next week to find the mark.

I do think it’s moved because this week I’ve been taking daily measurements. My gait remains unchanged as I think the extra time has offset the slower progress.

[BelowTheMean]

Do you not have the ERC that only runs if it detects the nail? I'm not sure it that would prevent issues like this.

[readyprecisestryde]

Hello, There is a magnet inside the nail and you can use a magnet to locate the mark on top of your leg....Just a suggestion

[m7liam]

Do you not have the ERC that only runs if it detects the nail? I'm not sure it that would prevent issues like this.

No I dont, I have the old one that runs anytime. So that's a contributing factor

[m7liam]

Hello, There is a magnet inside the nail and you can use a magnet to locate the mark on top of your leg....Just a suggestion

Are you sure about this? How can I do this?

I thought the magnet was the machine and the nail is just magnetic. So it won't be able to tell which part of the nail can spin and which one can't?

I think what would be helpful is if I knew the exact position of the spinning part of the rod. Then I could measure it out using xrays.

[marathonrunner]

Just curious as I've not done femurs before. But from your x rays (mainly the first one), the top bone and the bottom bone doesn't look as straight as I thought it would be. Like the top half sort of points outwards while the bottom half points upwards.

Is that normal? I thought the top and bottom were suppose to point towards each other.

[m7liam]

Yep. I see what you mean.

The issue looks less obvious in my latest x-rays done 1.5 weeks ago (see below). Hence I'm not too concerned.

I'm not sure if normal.

[marathonrunner]

Ah.. you might wanna put a black circle in the middle there can see your privates

[readyprecisestryde]

The guy who trained me how to use the ERC machine @Paley institute told me he uses a magnet outside of the leg to locate the mark if he needs to locate the exact location of the mark. There must be a magnet inside the rod. You can also call Nuvasive directly and a rep will contact you. There was a phone number outside of my ERC machine for Nuvasive. I called that number once after hours and a Nuvasive rep called me back within couple of hours. Hope this helps

[Tartar]

Yep. I see what you mean.

The issue looks less obvious in my latest x-rays done 1.5 weeks ago (see below). Hence I'm not too concerned.

I'm not sure if normal.

Ok first of all the nails are bending.
I don't remember every old news you wrote here, what the size of the nail? (10 - 11,5 - 13)mm
The strangest thing is that your left femur is clearly less distracted compared to the right one, but the femoral head is definitely higher.
You should done an XR standing to check if you have any other discrepancy in the lower limb, remember that the most important thing is not how much your femur is long but how much is long all your lower limb.
The main problem right now is to be sure the nail is still working, because they are bending, unfortunately i can't say you what's the exact moment when it can fails in the distraction due to bending; i suggest you to contact your doctor about it.
After that the most important thing is to have a good view of all the femur, possibily of all the lower limb too.
Unfortunately the magnet is not seen in these pics, it's due to the machine used for these XR.

[m7liam]

This is a 10mm

Do you mean the bend at the top? I thought that was normal, I believe it was there from day 1. Or are you talking about the very slight bend in the nail.

The reason it doesn’t look symmetrical is cos I was doing this one lying down. So it was shot slightly angular

[m7liam]

The guy who trained me how to use the ERC machine @Paley institute told me he uses a magnet outside of the leg to locate the mark if he needs to locate the exact location of the mark. There must be a magnet inside the rod. You can also call Nuvasive directly and a rep will contact you. There was a phone number outside of my ERC machine for Nuvasive. I called that number once after hours and a Nuvasive rep called me back within couple of hours. Hope this helps

Good idea!! I’ll do that

[Tartar]

This is a 10mm

Do you mean the bend at the top? I thought that was normal, I believe it was there from day 1. Or are you talking about the very slight bend in the nail.

The reason it doesn’t look symmetrical is cos I was doing this one lying down. So it was shot slightly angular

the bend at the top, regardless of whether you mean the upper part of the nail or the alignment of the upper part of the femur, it's totally normal.
I'm talking about the straight part of the nail, as you can see now it is curve. At the beginning the nail was "I", not it is "(", expecially the right one.
Ok, if you were lying down i understand, your hip was crooked. Standing you can evaluate very well the limbs simmetry, obv everyone should do it at least at the end of the distraction.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Good idea!! I’ll do that

m7liam,   I am disappointed that you were not told by anyone after the surgery that you can use a compass (provided in the ERC package) to locate and mark the magnet! 

On a positive note, I think if you quickly figure how much each side must grow, you may be able to still go for it; this is because I don't think the bone is consolidated. Please talk to your doctor asap and if necessary fly there and be there for a few days if necessary. It's definitely worth all the costs you may face!

[V21]

Hey man, how are you doing?