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

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How are you Sir?

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Hi guys, appologies for the long hiatus. Work has consumed me for the past few months. Here's the 14 month update!

Pros
1) Height increase has significantly improved my dating pool and experience. Compared to my career and face, height had always been my weakness. Dating app matches have more than doubled, and the confidence of being taller than other guys frees your mind from the insecurity. This allows you to be more alpha in pursuit, which most women prefers.
2) No further degradation in nail or screw structure beyond the slight upward screw bend that happened 3 months in.
3) No apparent walking gait
4) Can jog and squat lightly
5) Right and left leg length descrepency closed from 0.6mm to 0.1mm

Cons
1) New bones are still darker on x-rays implying that they are not as dense as my natural bones. This means that I will not likely take out the nails in the immediate future. Note that this is a natural feature of weightbearing nails. They are harder than non weight-bearing nails like Precise, thus don't compress as much. This leads to less weightbearing for your bones post-lengthening, leading to slower bone densification. Regardless, the benefits of weightbearing nails still far outweighs the time difference in bone densification.
2) Since I lengthened 10cm and 10.4cm on my right and left legs respectively, recover has taken much longer than normal. My hips still feel sore if I sit for too long, and daily stretching is still required.
3) Lordosis/Duckass/Anterior Pelvis Tilt is still present under the mirror. This is due to tight hip flexors and tensor fasciae latae (attached to your iliotibial band). These muscles need to be stretched much more than your quads and hamstrings because they're much smaller.

Overall
I believe my operations has been a success. However, having needed 2 top-up surgeries for a loose screw and ITB release, made the first few months much more difficult. I am lucky to have worked with a firm that gave me medical leave, which made the entire endeavour much less burdensome financially. While I can carry on with normal life, I will likely have many more years if not a lifetime worth of stretching to do. Do note that while it is definitely possible to squat more, or do impact sports that involve your lower body, the increased length of your legs will mean that the chances of fracture will be greater. It is much easier to snap a long tree branch than a short one.

The silver lining is that post-operation, you will have learned much more about your lower body, and the need for stretching. Most people have lordosis, and this leads to back problems later on in life. I often had back pain when I walked long distances pre-op(>45min). Only after the surgery, did I know it was due to tight hip flexors and ITB. I believe with more stretching I can reach a state, where my back is less curved than pre-op, which will actually improve my posture beyond pre-op.

Good luck to your journey!

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Three years after my surgery, I have pretty annoying hip pain after sitting for awhile, such as driving my car and doing a simple errand. Getting out of the car, I look like a ninety-year-old man, stooped over. I'm not sure it will ever go away. I have to walk it off.

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Quote from: inchesmatter on June 21, 2022, 01:32:19 AMThree years after my surgery, I have pretty annoying hip pain after sitting for awhile, such as driving my car and doing a simple errand. Getting out of the car, I look like a ninety-year-old man, stooped over. I'm not sure it will ever go away. I have to walk it off.
How much did you lengthen and what method did you use?

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Three inches. Betzbone. I didn't walk or move as much as recommended. I am a couch potato. I know of others who are not, though, and have the same problem (one guy).

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Any other long term issues? Did you get itb

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Quote from: SirStretchAlot on July 01, 2021, 04:50:27 PM50.50/47.64mm

Hi guys, I have just arrived home from my ITB release surgery. Following are points of note:

Procedure
1) The technical term for "wide legs" from leg lengthening is "post-operative fixed abduction deformity of hip joints".

2) A release is done by cutting a portion of the ITB from the intermuscular septum, seperating it from nearby tissues thus freeing it. Holes can be punctured into the band itself to make it even looser. The connection to nearby tissue as well as the holes will first scar, then remodel into its original fasia over time.
*This is partly why you want to lengthen as quickly as possible, especially in the beginning, since once the band and holes heal, you will be tight again.
*Most patients with ITB release complications tend to be runners or atheletes who put too much stress on their ITB before it fully heals
*Recovered bands usually appear and function near identically to uncut bands.

3) I have experienced a 50%~ reduction in "wide leg" and was able to walk immediately after I woke up. The best part is I can already walk further than I could pre-operation.

4) Left leg is pain free. Localized pain 5/10 when moving and 2/10 when sitting still on my right. I am not taking any painkillers and the pain should disappear tomorrow. It has not affected Betbone clicking.

5) They could not fully reuse the incision from Dr Betz. This is means I will have an additional deep scar in each leg. 

Doctor/Hospital
1) Dr. Giotikas is fantastic. He is reacheable instantly through Whatsapp and is extremely knowledgeable. He noted that significant abduction is very predictable and unlikely to be completely addressed with PT.

2) Compared to Kreiskrankenhaus St. Ingbert (Betz), Mediterraneo Hospital (Giotikas) is larger and more advanced given it's in Greece's capital instead of a small town in Germany. Even though the food wasn't that much better, all nurses and staff spoke English, which is a significant plus for international patients.

Conclusion
1) It is pertinent to mention that leaving wide legs to go on can lead to many complications. Our glutes compensate for lack of strength by widening our stance. This is why overweight people walk with wider legs. By allowing your legs to stay wide (due to tight ITB), it significantly weakens your gluteus muscles. This will give you a very ugly gait, and your butt will hurt when sitting on harder surfaces. Knee pain will also worsen as they're under pressure to bend in and downwards (Knock knees).

2) For those seeking to lengthen more than 5cm, I strongly recommend a surgeon who performs ITB release. For weight-bearing nails in Europe, the only alternative is Dr Guichet who uses a very similar nail to Betz but performs ITB release. He works in Milan and London.

3) If weight-bearing isn't your sole priority, then I would definitely go Giotikas with Precise (available in EU by August). You get more, and better service, for a lower price. Had I done the release during the initial operation, it would be free and I would not have needed to go through another general anesthasia, incision and flight -- recipies for more infection/scars/complications.

If you are one of the unlucky ones who has pain clicking in at least one leg, and have tight IT Bands, Betz would be a poor consideration. Remember, TFL is a very small muscle, and the ITB does not respond to stretching well. It's not something hard work can completely overcome. My wide legs reduced my mobility as much as non-weight-bearing nails would have. It is definitely not an "optional" procedure for many. Not doing it is deviating from standard practice.

Here's a video of how it's done. The actual incision is smaller than in the video.


Dr Betz has now become the complete package, and we are so grateful  he offers excellent lengthening and ITB release together.

Would you recommend we go for the soft ITB release, or the full one?

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Quote from: sixfootandhalf on October 12, 2022, 08:24:53 AM
Dr Betz has now become the complete package, and we are so grateful  he offers excellent lengthening and ITB release together.

Would you recommend we go for the soft ITB release, or the full one?
you seem to be obsessed with "soft" ITB release. why you care that much about not having ITB release like all US doctors offer?

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How are you now ?

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Hey guys do you think 4,5 cm wir betzbone would be a Good Choice and fast recovery ? ( 4,5cm in femurs)