For most of our patients, the decision to commit to leg lengthening before and after surgery is not a light one. Many (but not all) of our patients have always been teased about their height, have wanted to be taller, and have always been embarrassed about their short stature. Others may not have had an issue with their height and are now just choosing limb lengthening as the best way to look down the aisle on their wedding day and not feel small next to a spouse or have long-term relationships with others.
As leg lengthening success stories many will tell you that they never thought that they would eventually devote the energy, time, and considerable amount of money required to make themselves two to three, or more inches taller, before they walked through these doors. They have tried four-inch elevator shoes (closet buried), two-inch orthotics (ditto), and even dreamed of surgically altering that wicked flame logo on their sports car just to make it sit lower and give that illusion of a lower center of gravity – all before they turned to choosing surgery to actually feel and be taller.
All of our patients and families had first explored other ways of achieving greater leg lengthening before and after or even a greater sense of body proportion – orthotic shoe inserts, high heels, the resources of the human potential movement, psychotherapy, posture, anything that interested them for a while. If you are mentally mature, accomplished professionally, or even physically mature, into your twenties or beyond, you will find that people, for the most part, support you in this decision, no matter their individual reasoning for limb lengthening. Most younger patients or their parents, of course, want to add stature earlier in life at the earliest opportunity. Not that it’s your goal, but you will find it interesting who doesn’t support your decision for leg lengthening success stories are the same for people who won’t be playing a role in your life that would benefit from you gaining overall physical stature through surgery.
This section is all about the leg lengthening success stories, taking you through the steps of leg lengthening before and after surgery and the experienced team that performs it.
The Precice lengthening surgery typically involves:
– Femurs (humerus to be added)
– Tibia veins
– Some patients may add a femur and a fibula in the same or separate periods.
An experienced orthopedic surgeon and specialized teams perform the leg lengthening before and after surgery. The surgery is usually performed in a specialized clinic that is specifically designed and equipped for treatment and care for patients with limb length discrepancy.
As patient experiences leg lengthening, some people choose to treat the length difference with both internal lengthening (Precice rod) and the slow pull and hold technique with external fixation. In addition to creating a smaller scar and less time to heal fascicles and other internal tissues. Another reason is that the fixed elongation in the fast length range was able to reduce the time required for the length above by several weeks. Also as patient experiences leg lengthening, stakeholders should know that if they choose this option, rods and external fixation provide some additional flat difficulties. Many people choose to implement both instruments at the same time, use one then follow. The difference in the final result, time, risk, and major surgery is achieved over time. In the same way, depending on the patient, the caste may be seen as necessary in some cases patient experiences leg lengthening as fibula for adding scent qualities.
Recovery and rehabilitation: This section is dedicated to the recuperation phase of the patients’ leg lengthening testimonials during the journey. It is an area filled with personal challenges and recovery testimonials from fellow Precice3 and Precice Stryde patients. We aim to discuss the normal recovery period expected, the unique challenges and patience required during rehabilitation, supportive measures found helpful during the recovery phase, physical therapy, adaptive strategies, and rehabilitation exercises that athletes are able to perform. We also share personal leg lengthening testimonials and first-hand patient experiences.
This is often the most difficult time for patients, where self-doubt about the decision to choose cosmetic limb lengthening is at its peak and regression is common. Emotional support from clinicians is critical in this period, though it can add time and complexity to office visits. Distraction techniques, such as controlled breathing and music therapy, can facilitate clinician communication.
During the consolidation phase as leg lengthening testimonials, patients rely heavily on their own resources, adaptive strategies, and occasional outpatient contact to manage pain and encourage bone healing. Most patients find that spending time alone in a quiet environment allows them to focus on consolidation. They externalize mental pain by cheering on other patients on social media, using biofeedback or meditation apps, and immersing themselves in programming, comic book, and movie plots.
As seen in the leg lengthening testimonials, many patients have found at-home physical therapy, including ankle weights, resistance bands, and a stationary bike, to be very beneficial. It allows resourceful and motivated patients to build strength on their own. It gives patients something to do, makes them feel like they are progressing, and is good for the emotional side of recovery. They often resume upper body weight training with modifications, of course.
On the whole, there was a clear indication of the effects of the lengths our participants had achieved post-surgery. The adults gained between 5.5 and 8.5 cm (average 7.1-9.6%), and the children between 2.1 and 8.0 cm (7.1-29.5%) in stature. Before the procedure, 100% were ‘very dissatisfied’ with their leg length; after the procedure, the majority were either ‘perfectly happy’ or ‘quite happy’ with the results. However, from survey data on ‘satisfaction with the result as a whole (appearance, walking, pain and ease of operation)’, overall satisfaction with the surgical result ranged from 55-93% after treatment across the three studies. Only a small number (6%) felt less satisfied post-op, largely due to more pain than anticipated. As one participant in the study exclaimed leg lengthening before and after, “My life is beautiful now!” And in a follow-up interview, one young male participant shared that he felt that he had “become a man” by going through the process, and that his friends admired him for it – they thought his courage was “cool.”
This is an awful long leg lengthening testimonials for anyone to read, but it’s worth reading. Because for most of us, it’s either an expensive, long process, or just a dream. For you, by the way, it’s quite easy to sit back at your computer and read. But please, read on. Hope it’s worth it!
Leg lengthening testimonials: I am three months post-op and one month into the end goal. I have taken delivery of my Intramedullary 1-2T Stryde system. After 30 years of living in a body that betrayed me with a genetic doctor-phobia (I had five full-time jobs last year. FIVE!), I could not have conceived of the happiness, relief, confidence, and sense of impending rebirth that I feel. I had knee replacement and total ankle replacements before I followed a colleague’s advice and went to a ‘Len’-ding forum in 2024.
This is an awful long leg lengthening testimonials for anyone to read, but it’s worth reading. Because for most of us, it’s either an expensive, long process, or just a dream. For you, by the way, it’s quite easy to sit back at your computer and read. But please, read on. Hope it’s worth it!
Leg lengthening testimonials: I am three months post-op and one month into the end goal. I have taken delivery of my Intramedullary 1-2T Stryde system. After 30 years of living in a body that betrayed me with a genetic doctor-phobia (I had five full-time jobs last year. FIVE!), I could not have conceived of the happiness, relief, confidence, and sense of impending rebirth that I feel. I had knee replacement and total ankle replacements before I followed a colleague’s advice and went to a ‘Len’-ding forum in 2024.
Patient experiences leg lengthening vary widely, based on the patient’s age, motivation, expectations, method of operation, health status, family support, therapist guidance, psychological guidance, and the physical pre-training to initiate treatment. We broadly call the various treatment programs and operational experiences success stories and testimonials. Some patients respond in an emotional and intellectual way; other patients are more concerned with the practical problems of the day.
There are as many patient experiences leg lengthening. They tell their story about the physical and emotional journey, their motivations, the support from their partners or other fans, and finally the joyful result of their successful surgery. Regardless of any personal difference, there is a strong feeling of solidarity among them. I can have something positive from my body and that changes my whole character. Lengthening changes your life, it opens the windows to a wider world, it helps you to learn more about yourself, it educates you about life. I conquer my fears, my insecurities. I learned to break the habits of being unsympathetic and the habit of projecting a bad image of myself on other people. I have now gone through an intense emotional period and know that if I can deal with the pain and the frustration due to surgery, I can also deal with anything in my everyday life.
Please tell friends and family, and support anyone you know going through this. Decision-ish is not affiliated with PreciseCare or any other cosmetic orthopedic practice. This is simply a collection of experiences and testimonials from people who have shared their stories with us. Thank you to all our guests.
We included these in order to show first-person real-patient stories and help potential patients understand the dedication and time needed to recover from bilateral intramedullary limb lengthening surgery. We also want patients considering limb lengthening to receive encouragement from the determination of others on similar journeys and to understand that they are not alone. The patients who have written here encountered bumps in the road on the journey to height. In patient experiences leg lengthening, they discuss their own worries, highlights, and the success they found after four long months.
Leg lengthening before and after is a family of surgical procedures with increasing popularity due to the psychological and physical benefits of increased height. Whether it’s to overcome a physical disability, correct a suggested architectural inequality, level a plateau of height amongst competition, or make up for a lack of social confidence, limb lengthening procedures have become somewhat of a unique fix-all. The history of limb lengthening can be traced back to the 1900s in both the United States and Europe, but it didn’t reach the World Health Organisation or American Medical Association until 1971. Always by Paley, M.D. and co-authors, Dror Paley, M.D. published one of the first reports in the United States on external fixation, the gold standard modality for limb lengthening procedures in the modern era.
Limb lengthening implies growth and development over a period of time. A more immediate treatment relative to proportionate dwarfism and injury is provided by leg lengthening. Procedures range from cosmetic (which are generally discouraged among the medical community) to complex, long-term operations requiring a safe environment of professional surgeons and physical rehabilitation and adaptive measures. This guide presents a behind-the-scenes look that is authored by real patients, featuring comprehensive step-by-step insight from the application to the removal of an external fixator for the femur (thigh bone) and tibia (shin bone).
If a patient’s life is structured around social activities, being unable to attend parties, functions, and meetings can cause social distancing. Patients may feel like a burden on caregivers and family members. It is crucial to look at the barriers to rehabilitation so that we can combat the effects of them all. High moisturizing makes the use of continuous sitting positions necessary. Since sitting is problematic, caretakers mostly choose a semi-erect or supine position for the patient to rest. If air is not directed to the heel area during long-term laying, wound care becomes essential. This long process can create anxiety. Loss of muscle strength and tightness due to spending long periods in a supine position can exacerbate contractures. To prevent this, passive strength exercises that do not put weight on the “lengthened limb” are used.
Before planning a recovery program, patients must be informed of the possibility of certain limitations. By controlling what is happening around you, including sitting and standing, the patient may develop a false sense of confidence. If the patient experiences severe pain and muscle weakness during exercise, they should stop. The patient should stop exercising if they feel sharp pain at the pressure or lengthening zones while working. Efficient use of the rail system increases the security of the patient. Tightness can occur in the body because of continuous supine positions. Providing a buffer zone, divided by width options, ensures the safety and security of patients. Controlling what is happening around you, such as seeing the surrounding environment, including during sitting, enables the patient to develop self-confidence. To increase security, the effective use of the railing system is crucial. When the patient performs the leg recovery set on their legs, tension can build up. Outreach is possible thanks to the buffer zone. Providing rail seating with different widths gives people more options, given that everyone’s body structure is different.
Typical answers are that the height is important for me or I am in proportion with my height!
Most of us have decided right away, but training for it; studying for it and building up a financial reserve took more time!
I know without a doubt that all of us felt nervous from day one until we had the surgery done.
Generally, contracts of time-release morphine are utilized to cover most of the major pain! The 4 patients that I spoke with didn’t realize how terribly painful distractions were until they got home and had to come up with a way to manage discomfort on their own.
In the painless beginning of recovery leg lengthening before and after, patients can put weight on their lengthened legs for the first time, and many feel the height boost they are undergoing. This is the time they will receive rehabilitation in the form of daily visits with a licensed physiotherapist who works with them for an approximate 30-minute session. Physiotherapy routines will include exercises that focus on practicing balance, muscle strength training, aiding and increasing range of motion in the knees and hips, and walking. Gentlemen often experience an increase in trouble sleeping around this time, especially if living in a dormitory. Whether troubling or not, it’s advisable to continue taking melatonin supplements for as long as it takes to stabilize again. Most elderly people will have a history of checking blood sugar higher than necessary for the duration of recovery. The body should stabilize these things naturally before the lengthening process is complete, but the minor amounts of insulin needed by the body can be supplemented by doctors if necessary. Vitamins, which must also be spread out over the entire day for maximum absorption by the body, should also be taken during these six to nine weeks of recovery. Apart from light yoga, which is positively gentle on the body and greatly aids mental wellness, walking should be the only sport engaged in during this stage of the recovery process.
Treatments leg lengthening before and after during rehabilitation focus on patience and persistent effort. Targets such as walking better, improving muscle strength and safety during walking, or increasing the range of motion in the new joints are the goals of Weeks 12-15. These weeks have the first steps where patients finally experience “easy” or pain-free PT treatment. As the remaining routine leg lengthening before and after did throughout rehabilitation, the physiotherapist undertakes to help retrain the muscles for their exercises before walking, making them undergo more resistance exercises such as the leg press, hip flexion, hamstring curls, and to develop the strength of the calf muscles (dorsal flexion) and the bunny rabbits (plantar flexion). Likely to experience pain during muscular exercises in this period, gentlemen are certain to experience safe sessions of treadmill walking, focusing especially on increasing stride length and improving overall gait without limping. They also focus on marching exercises for lower extremity strength and the safety of patients under muscle strengthening exercises.
The main future development we foresee is a next step in the professionalization of the health services professions of LL, with more surgeons or allied professionals specializing in this work, and providing the very best care over and beyond the high standards of care already provided by the surgeons who regularly perform LL. Longer term, we expect major advances in the more diverse and advanced range of treatments including surgeries, medications, and medical devices that patients who undergo LL will have access to. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to specifically predict what these advances may be.
In this essay, we presented in detail the lived experiences of these patients while preparing for, undergoing, and rehabilitating leg lengthening before and after surgeries or procedures. While the five patients who shared their full experiences had their surgeries at four different kinds of medical centers in the U.S. or Europe, and one patient underwent surgery at a less elite medical center because elite care was impossible for her to access, their experiences were uncannily similar.
Our goal is to improve the quality of life of patients by managing the process of limb lengthening and boot lengthening in a healthy and safe manner.
Our doctors are ready to make a treatment plan tailored to your needs within 24 hours.
