5ft9 (175cm) - Can I lengthen 3 inches (~7.6cm) in a single operation?

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Hello,

I'm currently 5ft9 (175cm) with a wingspan of about the same length. 30 years old with no history of injuries or broken bones. I have naturally strong legs and bones. I want to add about 3 inches (7.6cm) to my height.

Is this doable in a single operation?
How long would it take me to go back to normal life? (Walking, maybe running slowly, weight lifting without putting legs under load)
What would be the best method for me?

Thanks!

More info:

I think I'm considering lengthening my tibias only, and most posts say 5-6cm would be the safe limit for tibias. Then there are posts saying 15-20% of tibia length would be the safe limit. My tibias are 15-15.5 inch long so 15-20% would be 2.25-3 inches or 5.7-7.6cm. Are these figures realistic for my height and age and the fact that I wanna do only tibias? I'd love pushing 7-7.5cm (staying below 20%) but I feel aiming for 5 or 6 cm would be more realistic and safer. What would you recommend?

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Quote from: SpeedDialer on February 09, 2023, 01:21:21 PMHi sorry, I misread your post. Please ignore my original response. Sorry about that.

No worries and thanks a lot for the detailed info! I've decided I'll only lengthen my tibias and although I'd love 6 or 7 cms, it seems stopping at 5cm is the safe option.

Fast recovery is my top priority and I'll compromise potential height gain for it (I'll do only tibias and only 5cm). So GNail/Betzbone looks like the right method for me. But I see Precise is an even more expensive method. What's the real advantage to choosing Precise over GNail/Betzbone?

Also, although I'll read some diaries soon, how much longer is the recovery with non weight bearing nails compared to weight bearing nails on average?

Thanks

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Quote from: SpeedDialer on February 09, 2023, 01:57:26 PMOh sorry, Precise is actually less expensive than gnail/betzbone. Ex: there are patients here in Athens now who did precise and they paid less than what I paid for gnail

The issue with Paley / USA doctors is that 1) they don't have access to gnail/betzbone 2) so they use precise 3) The issue with USA doctors is that they are expensive, though I heard Dr. Assayag and Mahoubian are less than Paley

So basically it's like:

USA is most expensive (because in the USA healthcare is often expensive in general) and they use precise

France / Germany / Milan italy/ London are also expensive but they have access to gnail/betzbone depending on the doctor and they also have access to precise. Gnail/Betzbone are somewhat more expensive than precise but gnail/betzbone have weight bearing (so you can use crutches much earlier)

Greece is less expensive than the options above but the city itself is not wheelchair friendly. Greece has gnail and precise

India with Dr. Parihar is possibly worth considering for people on a budget or are familiar with living in India, he uses precise

Precise has this advantage: no clicking pain, ability to reverse lengthening if something goes wrong. However, I did significantly less than 8cm femurs anyway so I did not care about reversing lengthening because I felt I would not get into this kind of trouble

For weight bearing vs non weigh bearing nails, here are some datapoints I know from Athens:

- I know of two patients who did femur surgery at the same time, but one did precise and one did gnail. At the 5 month mark, the gnail patient can almost walk normally. The other guy who did precise is still on wheelchair at 5 months

- However, this is not always the case! Another datapoint: a girl who was very lightweight who did precise femur and also walk almost normally at the 5 month mark

- Another example: a very very slim guy 5'9 starting height who was like 120 pounds or less who did the 4 precise nail option and was able somehow to use crutches at 4 months, very fast recovery compared to some other patients



Buuuuuut. I will say this. If you know that you will only do tibias, then I highly highly recommend you go with Becker in Germany or Jean-Marc Guichet (france, london, Milan).

Why?

Becker and Jean-Marc Guichet both have weight bearing tibia nails. Your experience will be alot more comfortable if you can use crutches earlier for tibais (you can put your entire body weight on your lower legs to stretch them, this makes training alot easier). I think it is reasonable to go for 6cm and maybe some people even slightly more with this method, it is easier to stretch the calves if you can stand up. Although they are more expensive than the option in Greece, it will be much easier for you to continue working if you are not stuck in a wheelchair so you can make more money to offset the cost. I still personally would not go above 5cm tibias because Paley would not allow his patients to go above 5 cm tibias even when the weight bearing STRYDE was available in the USA. However, I think most likely you will end up fine with 6cm tibias with a weight bearing option and it is true that there are plenty of people who do a bit more and end up OK. Not guaranteed to be OK (see some older posts of people who did 7cm+ tibias and wish they did less) but it does happen pretty often. 

Can't thank you enough for all the info, you're helping a lot.

I am certain that I'll only do tibias because my tibias are already very short and lengthening my femurs would make me look very unnatural. In fact, I think why I'm even considering this surgery is because of my tibias. They look like they should've been an inch longer, putting me at 5ft10 and I'd never consider LL   

I'm 5ft9 and weigh 162 pounds so if I choose Precise, I guess I'm looking at a longer wheelchair time. Considering my weight and that I wanna go back to normal life in 6 months after surgery, I guess I definitely need a weight bearing tibia nail.

Are there any reputable surgeons in Turkey who have access to weight bearing tibia nails?

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Quote from: SpeedDialer on February 09, 2023, 02:44:42 PMNot for internal tibia nails with no frames

I see. Any reputable surgeons doing external tibia in Turkey that the forum recommends?

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Quote from: sixfootandhalf on February 09, 2023, 05:18:11 PM 

Personally, i would avoid Turkey.  I would go with Becker.

You want someone safe, you don't want osteomyelitis or nonunion or malunion. You want a country as regulated as Germany.

This is one of those surgeries where paying the extra 20k / working extra hours / weekends / nights and waiting 6 months more is worth it.

Just replied to your Captain America thread and we're so much alike both in height and in goals and mentality. Would you be able to tell me (in DM if you prefer) what would be the total cost with Dr Becker?

Let's keep in touch. Thanks