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[History101]

Dear members and LL Vets,

I underwent antegrade (Hip insertion) Lengthening of the femur several years ago and now I am experiencing chronic Hip and knee pains, with some back pains.

I am at a state of loss and confusion because I did not have much issues after my original Lengthening was complete several years ago.
After the Lengthening was done, I was able to return back to normal life and could walk and even jog. I do however noticed that the skin sites where the cuts were made have become "overly hyper/sensitive, but it doesn't usually affect me in my daily life and I began feeling weird, slightly painful sensations in my thighs when the weather changes / gets cold or Rains, and some odd sensations here and there, but that's about it, everything went back to normal and I returned to work as usual.

But several months ago, I began experiencing pain in my hips and knees, the pain was mild at first but has been getting worse and has expanded into my back as well. My Doctors are at a lost and I been going aroind in circles, one Doc says one thing, while another one says something else (some think it may even be start of arthritis). I have been feeling very depressed lately because this pain has become chronic enough to affect my quality of life that it's hard / next to impossible to lead a full, active life.

ANY LL VETS who underwent Internal Femur Lengthening,  did anyone start experiencing issues weird issues with pain which suddenly came up several a YEARS after your lengthening journey was complete?

.

[G-Man]

Hello History, sorry to hear about your problems.

Who was your doctor and how much did you lengthen?  Also, did any of your docs ask you to pass an x-ray?

[History101]

I originally did the LL with a Doc somewhere in US. For various reasons I will not mention his name just yet, but I can tell you He is on the recommended list.
I'm currently visiting other Docs because the answers he was giving me was not satisfactory and his rushed, arrogant attitude.
The overall picture from all the Docs is that I should drastically cut down or give up being active like my life pre-surgery This is heartbreaking.

[shortkid]

please give the name. I hope it isn't paley as I am here this week for a consultation with him. this would certainly come into consideration for my decision as I am torn right now.

[BilateralDamage]

How old are you when you did the surgery, how old are you now, how many cms did you lengthen, which nail?

[History101]

I will not list his name yet due to potential litigation issues.
I thought I was one of the lucky ones since my Lengthening was issue - free,  and now suddenly years later this chronic pain pops up.
If I could redo this again, I would never have done this ssurgery. Life is not the same when suddenly out of no where you realize you cannot do the same things in life that brought you happiness.

I emailed some other Vets who I met while Lengthening,  some of them are doing well even though they lengthened more, and others developed issues, so it's like playing a game of Russian roulette that keeps going on for possibly a lifetime.

But, I want to know, are there any seasoned Vets who underwent Internal Femur Lengthening who developed any issues after Lengthening?  If so, what was the prognosis?

[GROWtalORdieTRYING1]

what are the issues that randomly occurred years later in the other LL patients.

[GeTs]

So internal isn't a good idea afterall

[theuprising]

As has been asked already how much did you lengthen?

[TRS]

This is disconcerting! It may be arthritis since the femurs do become malaligned with internal nails. Or it may be due to extra pressure on the knee joints. How much did you lengthen and did you get your internal nails removed from the femurs?

[IwannaBeTaller]

Show this to the guys who are 5'10, 5'11 and above and want to do LL.

[Moubgf]

Well you have to tell us more about your activities man not just started to get pain bla bla.

What sport do you do?
How do you sleep?
Do you take important prevention medication and vitamins?
Are you doing yoga and massage and stretching every other day?
Are your muscles inbalanced?
Maybe some other cause for this like your immune system.

[GeTs]

Give us some info, your post for now its useless
how tall were you?
how much did u lengthen?
when did the pain start?
have u contacted your previous doctor?

[KiloKAHN]

The pain during cold weather or rain is just one of the side effects that can happen with limb lengthening. People with previously broken bones or fractures can experience aching due to weather changes as well.

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-03-24/news/fl-rain-in-bones-20130324_1_bones-weather-spotter-barometric-pressure

Not sure about the other stuff though.

[G-Man]

Have u had any x-rays on that matter?

[GROWtalORdieTRYING1]

is there a nerve that runs through all the areas that you are experiencing pain from?

find the common denominator. find something that is common physiologically for all the combined areas that are giving you discomfort.

again more information would be nice also.

[ShortyMcShort]

So you only lengthened femurs? Could lengthening femurs only cause such things since the femur/tibia ratio is now uneven and theres probably more pressure on the knees now?

[G-Man]

If you keep the nail in, I think that it might put more pressure on knees and hips as the energy on impact will prob dissipate more towards the less rigid extremities.

[Shortie]

This is why I don't wanna do it yet I have the money , and the balls to do it but I don't have 100% proof that the people who is not writing anymore about their life after lengthening is cuz they are enjoying their life and don't wanna come here or there cuz they are over the height thing , really hard to believe .

[alps]

Hey OP, what reply did your original doctor give you?

[lauren99]

Bad posture can cause pain on your back, hip, and other joints. When you do exercise or any other work, you have to maintain the right posture. There are some other causes of back pain such as lifting big bags or weights, long time desk working, long journey, bad sitting position, wrong sleeping position, etc.

[Apoplectic]

Why did the person saying such crucial information just disappear?

Is it a troll?

[ned_flanders]

i fking knew it..
my spidey sense was telling me all along.

Nothing in this life is free. There are always trade offs.

LL may give you short term confidence boost, but you're fking up your legs and health long term.

I recently talked to a LL surgeon who doesnt do CLL but works at gov hospital. He said patients developed artiritis even at 4 cm and there is no long term research on the effects of LL.
The reason they do it on dwarfes is because a dwarfs life is impared severely due to short limbs. They cannot function in daily life. So the risk of long term arthiritis and joint pains outweighs the current impairment.

[InFullStryde]

i fking knew it..
my spidey sense was telling me all along.

Nothing in this life is free. There are always trade offs.

LL may give you short term confidence boost, but you're fking up your legs and health long term.

I recently talked to a LL surgeon who doesnt do CLL but works at gov hospital. He said patients developed artiritis even at 4 cm and there is no long term research on the effects of LL.
The reason they do it on dwarfes is because a dwarfs life is impared severely due to short limbs. They cannot function in daily life. So the risk of long term arthiritis and joint pains outweighs the current impairment.

This is fascinating!  Something to not look forward to; that's for sure. Ned are you completed with the lengthening phase? I've been in recovery for 1 month and all is feeling better pretty quickly.  How is yours doing? I'm looking to compare notes with another Stryde patient.

[ned_flanders]

This is fascinating!  Something to not look forward to; that's for sure. Ned are you completed with the lengthening phase? I've been in recovery for 1 month and all is feeling better pretty quickly.  How is yours doing? I'm looking to compare notes with another Stryde patient.

4.5 cm... planning to stop 5.5 but im getting cold feets.
i walk crutchless and very soon will be back at work. gait is weird, especially when wearing slim fit jeans, but it gets better.

Some people think that's it's just a pain thing and then that's it, increased height.  But unfortunately, it is not.

I communicated with too many people who learned so the hard way.   This is a combination of feedback I received from a few people who has already done limb lengthening via both internal and external methods:

"Pain during this procedure should be the least of ones concerns....it's the lingering after effects of doing limb lengthening that people should be concerned about.

Whether that be

- nerve damage (numbness, altered sensation, painful supersensitivity (from neuromas formations),
- paralysis, or reduced motor function or response times, especially in high level sports);
- pain and stiffness from internal trauma and scarring;
- bio mechanical load changes and it's added load stresses on joints (back, hip, knees, and ankles) leading to pain and possible early Arthritis
- reduced Athletic response time and abilities;
- permanent muscle / adipose tissue damage / atrophy; mobility issues; reduced agility;
- osteoporosis and increased chances of osteochonral lesions;
- lingering aches and pains months or years, or even a lifetime after the lengthening is complete and you say Good Bye to your CLL doctor.etc."

One may or may not notice or realize it at the beginning, but long term, it's a different story.

This is not simply working out and building anew like some people put it....if it was, then there would be a whole lot less lasting complications since people would recover completely from it...

But unfortunately, Limb lengthening surgery is not like working out like how some people think it is...it's not just going through some pain and then rebuilding back stronger.

Instead, this is more like how a healthy athlete/person who gets in a serious injury, such as in a sporting accident or car accident, and has to undergoes traumatic surgery which cuts open, damages, scars (internally and externally) and alters the natural body...sure they may recover to a point...but they will never be like their PRE-surgical / PRE-injured self.

[InFullStryde]

4.5 cm... planning to stop 5.5 but im getting cold feets.
i walk crutchless and very soon will be back at work. gait is weird, especially when wearing slim fit jeans, but it gets better.

Okay, glad to hear it. Yes - things really start to get tight around 4, 5cm. Good luck, man and yes it gets better, slowly yet surely.

[Apoplectic]

It's honestly irritating that users like these disappear. Unfortunately there aren't many who talk about life years after the surgery so it's incredibly difficult to evaluate the long term consequences.

Although this does teach people to think about the long term consequences when they decide how much they will lengthen

[jaybam]

It's honestly irritating that users like these disappear. Unfortunately there aren't many who talk about life years after the surgery so it's incredibly difficult to evaluate the long term consequences.

Although this does teach people to think about the long term consequences when they decide how much they will lengthen

I would be really interested to hear stories about patients who had this surgery several years ago. I'm hoping with Stryde and general medical advancements that outcomes will be better - but who knows?

[Apoplectic]

Yeah I'm honestly hoping the same. Stepping into the into the unknown is what makes this surgery so terrifying but for most of us it's our only chance of escaping ridicule.

[BeYourBest]

I would be really interested to hear stories about patients who had this surgery several years ago. I'm hoping with Stryde and general medical advancements that outcomes will be better - but who knows?

+1

Wish we had the doctor's name. Good aftercare is needed.

[California2]

This has got to be one of the most dumbass strings yet! 

Not only is the initial hypothesis untenable; namely, "I lengthened my legs years ago and fully recovered but now am experiencing some vague problems; THEREFORE, my new vague problems must be caused by lengthening."

But the chiming-in from others who endorse the faulty hypothesis is also untenable.

Leg lengthening will not fix all of your problems but it does not cause every future problem you have either.  There are literally hundreds of conditions that can present with leg pain:  arthritis, cysts, cancer, herniated disc, gout, muscular distrophy, meningitis, and on and on...

I suggest you get a full work-up from your GP including labs before you conclude that a successful surgery completed years ago is the cause of your current complaints.