Hi there,
I had a successful surgery in 2022ish with Betz. Lengthening was completed and i've just been living with the nail.
I think generally there is no implication of keeping the nail - other than the weight in my legs, sometimes i can feel the nails and when i go through metal detectors sometimes it beeps which can be embarrassing. Other than that there's not really any other negatives. I can walk perfectly fine but sometimes ive got a little bit of a sway still - Betz said to me once that that is a little bit caused by the nails due to movement in them. Betz also said once that if you ever get into an accident and need surgery the nails could cause issues for that. But other than that i believe you can keep them in forever.
That being said, I've always had in my mind that i should probably get it removed. I think it will slightly improve my walking, it will end that chapter in my life and i feel like I might as well now that i have the opportunity to do so.
That said I wanted to see if anyone had gone through this process before or if not, if you had any views or answers to my questions:
- If you've done it, why or why not did you do/not do get it removed?
- Did you see benefits from removing the nail after?
- Was the surgery hard, did you lose much weight / muscle (i did in the first surgery but i think this one is much simpler).
- How was the surgery, was it quick/simple (i understand its 1 day and then discharge and then you can walk out of there)
- The flight to Europe for me is very long and i was wondering if there was any countries who could do it instead e.g. in Asia which is a lot closer to me. Or should i not risk it and just man up and do the long flight.
For anyone wondering, the surgery was one of the hardest things ive ever done , if not the hardest, but i am so so so o so glad i did i and that its over now.
Max
Hey,
I did my lengthening in the same time frame as you in Greece with Dr Gioticas and just had mine removed. Mine is GNail and it's very similar to bets nail also your experience with having the nail inside is the same for me including the sway. I did not have much pain on day one apart from some discomfort and pain when moving around. From 4th Day post removal operation I could walk without crutches minimally and on 5th day I was walking pretty much without crutches and only used it for confidence. But I could only get back to gym after a month and had to start light. I would say you have to keep a week for this procedure so that you can comfortably recover and then go back, in my case I wanted to fly back without using crutches and the wound is cured so I spent almost a week in Athens and took then flight. It's so much better after the nail is out, legs feel lighter and no wierd feeling around the screws or in the bone. I had locking sensation when my legs were in certain positions usually getting or moving, that's gone as well.
Remove the nails, you won’t regret it as long as you go with a reputable person to remove them. I used to get inner thigh pain when I would try to sprint. This was long after recovery, but you’ll definitely feel a difference if you remove them. Surgery is quick, recovery, I was able to walk out with no crutches and minor discomfort. I don’t know about other people but I feel like my body retained more water when I had the nails in. My face was chunkier, but I lost about 15 pounds since removal and it’s stayed off.
Removal of nails is much ieasier than the first surgery and you will feel better...You should do it imo!
Just wondering, do the nails have a click limit or something
What if your femurs are originaly uneven and you need to get more clicks in one leg than another?
My biggest fear if I got an accidental clicking after bone consolidation 
Quote from: AverageSizeGuy on March 05, 2026, 06:20:12 PMJust wondering, do the nails have a click limit or something
What if your femurs are originaly uneven and you need to get more clicks in one leg than another?
My biggest fear if I got an accidental clicking after bone consolidation
But how can there be clicks after the bone is fully consolidated? It is physically impossible!!
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