I lengthened 5.5/6 CM on femurs 8 years ago and will lengthening tibias/fixing deformity in February 2022. I kind of see 2 options going forward:
Lengthen tibias around 4.5 CM for final height of around 5”10:
1) Preserve 80% tibs to femur ratio
2) Faster healing/lower risk of complication
3) Likely no soft tissue release
Lengthen tibias around 6-6.5 CM for final height of around 5”11:
1) Higher tibia/femur ratio (possibly linked to osteoarthritis, but will ask surgeon about this)
2) Probably an additional 3 months on crutches (since I am doing unilateral and this will add recovery times to both sides).
3) Will probably have to get gastroc release, but will ask if we can try Botox as a first option. Hopefully such a treatment will be relatively inexpensive and at least partially covered by insurance.
Obviously I’d prefer to get max height since I am paying a ton of money for this and I know I only get one shot to do this, but kind of freaked out about increasing arthritis risk by overlengthening tibias or permanent weakness from muscle release.
Would love to hear some thoughts on this, especially from those who have lengthened only tibias or those who have overlengthened tibias in relation to femurs.
Hi , I would lenghten 5 cm if I was in your situation and maybe just add couple extra mm if your body tollerates after it it but I would aim to 5 - 6+ is a lot for tibias .
5 10 1/2 is not that different from a 5 11 , just get in general thicker shoes . (Also the benefit of LL is that we get longer legs which makes look taller if not out of scale so you will look more 5 11 then 5 10 )
Maybe it’s too early to make decision and you may change your mind when you’re actually in the lengthening phase? Weeks ago I wasn’t sure if I should do 6-6.5 or 7.5+. Today I was asked to slow down which made me not want to go above 6.5.
I’m also worried about osteoarthritis even though it seems there’s only one study on correlation between high T/F ratio and osteoarthritis. Since the average T/F ratio is 80%+-3%, I think it’s best to stay within the average range. 6.5 cm may make you pass 83%, but 5-6cm can probably still keep you in the range. I would ask doctor to measure tibias and femurs first.
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