Hello everyone. I am new to this forum, and I understand that most people here are focused on getting LL on their legs for cosmetic stature increases, but I have a different situation that still relates to LL that hopefully someone here can help with. This forum seems like the right place for this. Bear with me a bit, this post is going to be a little long.
I am a 22 y/o male that lives in the USA. I'll start with some background in case the info might help. This part is about the cause of the discrepancy and a previous surgery on my right shoulder that is related. My right arm is approximately two inches/5.08 cm shorter than my left arm, give or take a little. I first noticed it when I was around 13 years old in 2014 so I have no idea when the discrepancy first formed. I showed my parents and that began a year-long process of visiting a handful of doctors and getting referred to an orthopedic surgeon who I would have sessions with for several months. My right arm being stunted wasn't the only thing going on. I could only raise my humorous to where it was perpendicular to the rest of my body, and that is what my parents and doctor were primarily concerned about. The range of motion on my right arm was so limited, it could be considered a disability. Fast forwarding to December 2015, I got surgery that month to correct that issue after many sessions of x-rays and tests to figure out what was going on. It turned out that half of the growth plate in my right shoulder somehow "died" while the other half was still alive and attempted to grow normally. However, because it was half dead the bone grew the wrong way and formed a "shelf" of bone around my shoulder which prevented it from rotating all the way, which stunted my arm's growth completely. Meanwhile, my left arm and shoulder developed completely normally. My surgeons removed this bone shelf and another mass of tissue that they couldn't even identify. They also could not determine exactly what caused half the growth plate to die in the first place. After the surgery I regained most of my range of motion and my right-side muscles and bones became better aligned.
While I am grateful for their great work, the matter of my stunted right arm was still there. I asked about LL for my arm to make it match the left, but this was dismissed by the doctor as an unnecessary cosmetic endeavor. I was upset that they seemed so unconcerned by it, but I chose not to make a scene over the topic. In the present time, I am seriously considering LL to fix it more than ever. I have done tons of research on the topic of LL and most of the stuff out there is about cosmetic stature lengthening or leg length discrepancy correction. Material about arm LL or arm length discrepancy is almost impossible to come by because it's just that rare, and LLD is already rare. My ALD causes me problems that range from small inconveniences such as being unable to comfortably rest my elbows on tables to larger issues such as being unable to do many workouts safely (I tried getting into working out and it didn't go well) and not being able to quite reach what I'm doing at my job sometimes (more on that later). It also is just a huge self-esteem drain. I hate seeing it in the mirror since it is like a physical manifestation of my failure. My goal in getting LL for it would be to relieve all these sorts of issues.
This is where you guys come in. There is lots of general info about LL out there that I've seen plenty of times, so I have a basic idea of some things. Said info is related to legs however, so as I mentioned earlier I am hoping that someone here will be able to offer some guidance about arm LL as I can find almost nothing about my situation. I will go over my main concerns.
I want to know what to expect in terms of a recovery time. I work a full-time job that is physically active and requires lots of walking, reaching, lifting, bending, and other physical action. I will probably be unable to work for some time if I do this surgery. What, if any, difference does it make if I'm getting arm LL as opposed to leg LL? Is the recovery shorter and can I bear some at least some weight with the arm?
Does arm LL cost less than leg LL, especially since for me it would be one arm with one device? By the way, I'm hoping that they can use the internal Stryde nail device on my Humorous. On the topic of cost, I am willing to consider going abroad if there's a good doctor and I can save thousands of dollars.
Who are the best doctors for arm LL? I generally know who the LL doctors are but not who is the best choice for arm LL.
During the original surgery, a metal plate with about seven screws was fixed to my shoulder area and a little bit of the upper humorous. I believe it was to hold certain critical bones in place during surgery. This plate was never removed and I still have it in my arm today. Would that cause any trouble with trying to get LL? I'm worried it will add expense and time to the process.
Would insurance cover this? I strongly believe it can be argued as a functional issue rather than a cosmetic issue since I have discrepancy and it causes me the aforementioned issues. I'd be totally ecstatic to pay a much smaller out-of-pocket amount rather than the whole thing. To find out if MY insurance covers it, I probably have to just ask.
I wanted to include pics but it won't let me. I will answer any replies as soon as I can, I will be busy with work. Thanks everyone.
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Topic: Looking to correct Arm Length Discrepancy with LL surgery (Read 979 times)