Hi y'all,
First time poster, long time lurker. I'm a 5'11 woman, and I've been occasionally in contact with Dr. Betz's clinic, where they mentioned for 30,000 euros they can shave about 2-3 inches off my height with a femur shortening procedure. I'm not really a stranger to osteotomies; this past year I did clavicle reduction with Dr. Leif Rogers, which wasn't honestly that bad.
I've read some stories on here mainly that Betz is kind of a charlatan, and... I'm not sure how to like discuss this with doctors without sounding crazy (it's definitely crazy, but medically safe/unsafe is more my worry). I also read a really bad story with Dr. Sarin from a member named olivetree, but I guess from gleanings on here Betz seems to be more reputable than Sarin anyway.
Are there any other surgeons who do it, especially those in the States?
From what Betz said, it seems like it would require a 10 day hospital stay, but it didn't sound like extensive PT was needed. I'm planning on inquiring a bit more about how many patients he's done it for. In particular, this was their response to my questions:
"The given cost of 30.000 € is still valid.
You will be able to walk with crutches. You will feel a certain instability because of the shorter bone, the muscles won’t have their former tension. But it will come back during a few weeks. Physical therapy is helpful for the new “remodelling” of the muscles.
Normally, you can shorten max. around 5-6 cm. This should be possible with your current height.
Normally, the patient has to come personally to a consultation. We don’t do it by video. The consultation fee is 500 € including x-rays and measurements.
Yes, he did some limb shortening surgeries. They are not that often than limb lengthening but since 2-3 years more and more people are coming for shortening surgery."
Any thoughts? I also messaged Dr. Mahboubian who does limb lengthening in Los Angeles, CA (I'm in Bay Area) and his clinic does not do this.
Leg shortening - does anyone but Betz do it?
I just sent his clinic an email/live chat, but I haven't heard back. Any other surgeons are known for it?
Yeah I don't want that. I'm hoping someone in the US does it. I'm a software engineer so cost isn't a huge concern to me, but not being a cripple or looking bizarre is a big one. From what I've read Betz is fairly legit, but I'm still skeptical.
I think it's actually the opposite. I'm not sure why you would think it would be more dangerous. The only real complications would be mal-union or potential muscle/tendon laxity, although I'm not sure over the scale discussed (2-3 inches) it's a significant concern.
Also brief update, reached out to Rozbruch - he also does it apparently, but he charges about the same as limb lengthening cases (which is kind of bizarre). I'm getting some more info on that -- I would think the costs would be significantly less.
Quote from: TinyTL on November 25, 2019, 04:17:58 PMleg shortening is more complicated than lengthening as the others have mentioned.
Also you can expect more decreased physical abilities than a lengthening.
The muscles and tendons play a big role in limiting our legs range and flexibility when sitting, walking, running, jumping etc.
What happens when you shorten the leg and muscles/tendons have extra centimeters of slack. Its gonna have consequences for your body.
I'm not sure why you and the previous poster think this is the case. I've actually done a lot of research on this. Leg shortening is usually preferred over leg lengthening for short discrepancies, and the risk of infection is about the same.
Additionally, from readings on femoral shortening almost all of the initial muscle strength is regained; somewhere around 93-96%.
Also update for others interested - Rozbruch is more aggressive, offering 4 inches, with a shortening mode on the internal fixator (how does that even work?). I think 4 inches would be too much though, since it would mess up proportions even more than 2-3.
Update: Contacted Dr. Debiparshad in Las Vegas, his assistant quoted me $30-40k which is much more reasonable. She mentioned they can do up to 6 cm shortening, which on analysis, is probably all I would reasonably go for (since 4 inches I feel could mess up my proportions).
Also mentioned he's done this before, the recovery time is 3 months but I should be able to walk immediately after since it's a lot simpler than lengthening.
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