Bilateral Femur Lengthening Dairy: May 2021 with Dr Betz and Betzbone

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This has been a super interesting read and huge congrats on reaching 10cm. I'm 3cm below your starting height and I'd kill to gain 10cm and end up at 177cm.

I think the overall opinion on Betz on this forum is somewhat mixed so it's interesting to see someone else in the UK who went with him and has had a good result. Onwards and upwards for consolidation and recovery.

I'm hoping to do this surgery in the next 2 years (25 now) if I can still run (a little), cycle and do squats and go hiking then I'll be happy. Look forward to hearing how you recover bro.

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104.42/100.00mm Mission Accomplished!

Hey guys, I've reached 10cm! My left was lengthened a bit more to match the length of my right. It has taken 139 days or 4.5 months since surgery day. Below is a summary of key points through out the lengthening process. I will update it with my recovery as I recall more.

Lengthening Schedule
I lengthened 1mm/day for the first 3cm, 0.78mm for the next 4cm, and 0.52mm for the last 3cm. The first 3cm was quite easy, as there was a lot of flexibility. However, starting at 3cm, I started getting very wide legs due to tight IT Bands. I got an ITB release with Giotikas and it has helped with my stretching a lot. Up to 7cm, my stretching kept up with my lengthening. My legs started to narrow during the last 3cm, as my stretching got more efficient and the lengthening slowed. I thought about stopping at 9cm, but my body felt fine so I went for 10cm. However, the last 0.5cm was exceptionally hard. I got daily nerve pain, and prolonged TFL soreness. My body and Betz basically told me 10cm is the max, even though the Betzbone nail technically allowed 12cm.

In summary, your stretching time is a function of your lengthening pace. 0.52mm ~ 1 hour, 0.78 ~ 1.5 hour, 1mm ~ 2 hours. Any less, and your gait will likely worsen.

Gait
I can close my legs completely, but the duck ass will look very severe, so I leave them slightly widened so I can stretch more effectively. With the ITB release, stretching the ITB became easier. Hamstrings and Quads are generally easy muscles to stretch. My anterior pelvic tilt (duck ass) is partly due to weak gluteous muscles, which I have none and need to work on. What I hear from past patients and surgeons is that the gait almost always recover fully, so I'm not too worried.

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Congrats!  And, thanks for the insight on stretching time as a function of distraction rate.  Very helpful to know.  Good luck and again nice job!

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Quote from: SirStretchAlot on September 19, 2021, 04:19:04 PM104.42/100.00mm Mission Accomplished!

Hey guys, I've reached 10cm! My left was lengthened a bit more to match the length of my right. It has taken 139 days or 4.5 months since surgery day. Below is a summary of key points through out the lengthening process. I will update it with my recovery as I recall more.

Lengthening Schedule
I lengthened 1mm/day for the first 3cm, 0.78mm for the next 4cm, and 0.52mm for the last 3cm. The first 3cm was quite easy, as there was a lot of flexibility. However, starting at 3cm, I started getting very wide legs due to tight IT Bands. I got an ITB release with Giotikas and it has helped with my stretching a lot. Up to 7cm, my stretching kept up with my lengthening. My legs started to narrow during the last 3cm, as my stretching got more efficient and the lengthening slowed. I thought about stopping at 9cm, but my body felt fine so I went for 10cm. However, the last 0.5cm was exceptionally hard. I got daily nerve pain, and prolonged TFL soreness. My body and Betz basically told me 10cm is the max, even though the Betzbone nail technically allowed 12cm.

In summary, your stretching time is a function of your lengthening pace. 0.52mm ~ 1 hour, 0.78 ~ 1.5 hour, 1mm ~ 2 hours. Any less, and your gait will likely worsen.

Gait
I can close my legs completely, but the duck ass will look very severe, so I leave them slightly widened so I can stretch more effectively. With the ITB release, stretching the ITB became easier. Hamstrings and Quads are generally easy muscles to stretch. My anterior pelvic tilt (duck ass) is partly due to weak gluteous muscles, which I have none and need to work on. What I hear from past patients and surgeons is that the gait almost always recover fully, so I'm not too worried.

Congrats on completing your lengthening journey. At last, the pain and suffering for so many months has come to an end.
Going from 170 cm to 180 cm is a huge leap and it is world-changing in many ways.
I wish you all the best in your consolidation and for holistic recovery

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Quote from: chasing_higher_dream on September 20, 2021, 08:04:42 PMCongrats on completing your lengthening journey. At last, the pain and suffering for so many months has come to an end.
Going from 170 cm to 180 cm is a huge leap and it is world-changing in many ways.
I wish you all the best in your consolidation and for holistic recovery

Thanks so much! How goes your recovery? I noticed my leg strength has returned remarkably.

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Quote from: SirStretchAlot on September 21, 2021, 08:50:20 AMThanks so much! How goes your recovery? I noticed my leg strength has returned remarkably.

My recovery is going on well. Just after 5-6 days post stopping lengthening, the tightness in my muscles has reduced by roughly 40-50%. Also, sleep is way better now.
In terms of leg strength, I did not see much of a difference yet. I will be starting strength training exercises for my leg from the start of October to build back the lost strength and almost non-existent leg muscles.
Also, I have started to gradually phase out pain killers, muscle relaxants and blood thinner tablets. Since then, I have noticed that I am having some knee pain in my left leg when I walk with full weight-bearing. I assume I did not realize about this pain till now, since pain killers were doing their job well.
The path to recovery is a slow and gradual process, so I am keeping my expectations low.

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Quote from: chasing_higher_dream on September 21, 2021, 08:07:49 PMMy recovery is going on well. Just after 5-6 days post stopping lengthening, the tightness in my muscles has reduced by roughly 40-50%. Also, sleep is way better now.
In terms of leg strength, I did not see much of a difference yet. I will be starting strength training exercises for my leg from the start of October to build back the lost strength and almost non-existent leg muscles.
Also, I have started to gradually phase out pain killers, muscle relaxants and blood thinner tablets. Since then, I have noticed that I am having some knee pain in my left leg when I walk with full weight-bearing. I assume I did not realize about this pain till now, since pain killers were doing their job well.
The path to recovery is a slow and gradual process, so I am keeping my expectations low.

Fabulous about getting more sleep. I've noticed the same. I think if you tried to walk more, the strength will return by themselves. It's really the glutes that need strength training if you have a strange gait.

Oh by the way, do you have an anterior hip tilt (duck ass)? I have one when I narrow my legs and it is difficult to stretch. How would you stretch yours out?

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Quote from: SirStretchAlot on September 21, 2021, 09:31:05 PMFabulous about getting more sleep. I've noticed the same. I think if you tried to walk more, the strength will return by themselves. It's really the glutes that need strength training if you have a strange gait.

Oh by the way, do you have an anterior hip tilt (duck ass)? I have one when I narrow my legs and it is difficult to stretch. How would you stretch yours out?

Yes, I am trying to walk as much as I can, as it would also help in bone consolidation.

Luckily, I do not have any duck ass. Throughout the lengthening journey, for hip flexors, I did either of the below stretches:
1. Kneeling hip flexor stretch with help of Wall bars (image link) - This was my primary stretch for hip flexors.
2. Standing hip flexor stretch (image link) - Crutches can also be used when you are leaning forward to be safer.

I presume because of these stretches I did not develop any duckass.

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@chasing_higher_dream
Thanks! I've been doing those stretches and they seem to be quite effective. Another one I did is simply lie on my chest with my legs closed. Compressing my butt downwards seem to cause a lot of pain/stretching on the legs, which I assume means it's working.

Post-lengthening Week 1
Hey guys, it's been a week since I ended lengthening. Overall I see minor improvements on discomfort/sleep, duckass/wide leg, and strength. However, the pace of recovery is slower than I expected. My duck ass is especially severe, but am working on it!

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congratulations for everything you have been achieving.  You have been brave but in the end it seems that everything has been worth it.  I see that your experience has gone through many difficulties in just 4 and a half months and I wonder if many of Dr. Betz's patients went through the same thing.  I am almost 100% sure that within two years I will undergo a leg lengthening process but I am still hesitating between Dr Betz or Halil Buldu from Turkey.  I live in the Netherlands so dr Betz could be a better option in terms of location.  I really appreciate your information as it has given me a general idea of ​​the lengthening process.