Does lengthening rate actually matter in terms of 'total recovery time needed'?

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Quote from: Body Builder on May 10, 2023, 11:01:52 PMThe only reason to lengthen fast is to avoid premature consolidation.
Other than that the way to go is as slow as you can because it lets your soft tissues adapt better to lengthening and be stretched easier and also the callus formation is always better and you need less time for rehabilitation.

So in the long term you gain nothing from fast lengthening but only problems. But sometimes it is the only way, especially for the first 2-3 cm and more specific in femurs, otherwise the premature.consolidation will stop you way before you reach your lengthening target.

For my personal experience the best rate for tibias are about 0,66mm per day as an average. For femurs I dom't have experience but from what I've seen with other LL'ers , 0,75-1mm are on the safe side but clearly not more than that.

plus you can rebreak in the event of premature consolidation

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The tension in your soft tissue would be extremely painful from the fast lengthening.

The main enemy with LL is not the bone. The bone lengthens just fine. The enemy is the soft tissue which is the most likely reason to F you up.

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Quote from: p00293 on May 10, 2023, 05:01:40 PMImagine breaking your legs for 3.2cm. You honestly should just quit the forum in disgrace.

With a mentality like yours, no doubt your wife will be having a live-in boyfriend soon.

Your immaturity shows.
How you respond to this surgery is *highly* individual.
When I did it a literal doctor quit at 3cm because he was in unbearable pain which included nerve irritation to the point of tremors. We were lengthening at the same speed, yet I had none of the symptoms this guy had.
It *is* incredibly painful, but for some it can be categorized as unbearable pain. It's easy to act tough without having actually gone through it.

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Quote from: Body Builder on May 10, 2023, 11:01:52 PMThe only reason to lengthen fast is to avoid premature consolidation.
Other than that the way to go is as slow as you can because it lets your soft tissues adapt better to lengthening and be stretched easier and also the callus formation is always better and you need less time for rehabilitation.

So in the long term you gain nothing from fast lengthening but only problems. But sometimes it is the only way, especially for the first 2-3 cm and more specific in femurs, otherwise the premature.consolidation will stop you way before you reach your lengthening target.

For my personal experience the best rate for tibias are about 0,66mm per day as an average. For femurs I dom't have experience but from what I've seen with other LL'ers , 0,75-1mm are on the safe side but clearly not more than that.

Right so you can confirm a longer lengthening period = a shorter consolidation, all things equal?

Seems there's no good reason to ever lengthen quickly then unless it's to avoid pre-consolidation. Seems odd that some doctors try and push the patients to lengthen quickly (mainly in Turkey), and also odd that some patients try and lengthen as fast as they possibly can.

Quote from: LONFemurs2021 on May 11, 2023, 02:06:44 AMYour immaturity shows.
How you respond to this surgery is *highly* individual.
When I did it a literal doctor quit at 3cm because he was in unbearable pain which included nerve irritation to the point of tremors. We were lengthening at the same speed, yet I had none of the symptoms this guy had.
It *is* incredibly painful, but for some it can be categorized as unbearable pain. It's easy to act tough without having actually gone through it.

3.2cm is a pathetic performance and is indicative of nothing more of a weak will and no determination. Someone being a doctor doesn't mean they don't have those traits either - you can be book smart and yet still have no ability to handle adversity. It's the worst performance I've ever seen posted on here and so deserved to be called out once he started chatting sh*t.

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I wish doctors would be more open to discuss with patients and customize their distraction plan according to the callus formation.

In my case, bone growth has been quite slow and I wonder if I could have gotten better results in terms of distraction achieved and muscle recovery if I had done 0.5 - 0.75mm/day in the latter half of lengthening phase.

I knew my body was not taking it well at 1mm/day and had to stop short of 7cm!

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Quote from: Growing Experience on May 11, 2023, 07:49:48 AMI wish doctors would be more open to discuss with patients and customize their distraction plan according to the callus formation.

In my case, bone growth has been quite slow and I wonder if I could have gotten better results in terms of distraction achieved and muscle recovery if I had done 0.5 - 0.75cm in the latter half of lengthening phase.

I knew my body was not taking it well at 1mm/day and had to stop short of 7cm!

Can't you just lengthen at a rate that you want anyway? It's only you performing the lengthening after all - there's no law that says you 'have' to follow the doctors orders to do 1mm if you don't feel like it.

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Wow this is a great read. I started doing 0.75mm at 30mm because of nerve pains and the nerve pains gotten better now at 45mm and I wanted to go back to 1mm/day to finish this distraction up and blow up my ERC. But I guess I’ll stick with 0.75mm/day until I hit 8.

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Quote from: Michael J. Assayag, MD on May 10, 2023, 06:40:20 PMStay respectful on these forums.

In a grown adult, lengthening slower will create better bone and accelerate consolidation overall.

I love lengthening at 0.75mm/day at the femur because the regenerate is absolutely thicker and better quality.

Welcome back to the forums doc!  I was torn between choosing you or Dr D to do my surgery.  I sorta wish I chose you but too late now..

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Quote from: junior006 on May 11, 2023, 12:56:14 AMplus you can rebreak in the event of premature consolidation

Not that easy as some people think it is, especially if you have an internal rod during lengthening. Also many doctors don't perform it if you have already lengthen more than 4-5 cm and then you have preconsolidation.
The best way is to avoid it and it can only be done by close surveillance with x rays and faster  lengthening rate when callus is becoming too strong.

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Quote from: p00293 on May 11, 2023, 07:54:01 AMCan't you just lengthen at a rate that you want anyway? It's only you performing the lengthening after all - there's no law that says you 'have' to follow the doctors orders to do 1mm if you don't feel like it.

You can always lengthen less than the safe amount, if your callus is weak or your soft tissues feel very stiff.
But never more than that.