RB - Femurs with Dr. Betz - March 2021

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Quote from: chasing_higher_dream on June 23, 2021, 06:01:00 PMSorry, I do not have any link to the diary here.
But, I did met with a patient during my hospital stay, he had resolved his wide legs through months of PT.
Also, I have heard past patient experiences from Peter (physiotherapist), all the patients, even those who had done insane lengthening (around 10 cm), at first could not walk straight because of wide legs and duck ass post lengthening phase. But past 1-year mark post-surgery, they were completely fine and walking like normal people, but this required daily rigorous PT!

You never know, maybe I too would require IT-band release surgery, but before going this way, I am willing to put faith in Dr. Betz and Peter and dedicate myself to 1 year of rigorous PT. Until I try and experience on my own, I will not know what will work and what will not!

We have almost the same starting and desired height. I think it's a fantastic attitude to want to rely on PT through this, but 8 months of rigorous PT after 4 months of exhausting lengthening seems tough even if it does work...

My wide legs became apparent around 3cm and immobilizing around 4cm. How far have you lengthened, and do you see any sign of wide legs?

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Quote from: PerfectBody on June 23, 2021, 04:09:02 AMThat looks like genuinely great bone healing. I'm envious - whatever the hell you're doing, keep it up man!


Thanks man! I just tried to stand and walk with the crutches as much as possible so I guess that speeds growth up.

Quote from: SirStretchAlot on June 23, 2021, 09:16:03 AMFantastic news. This is exactly what I'm going through. PT simply doesn't work nearly as magically on ITB as Betz says. It should've been a deal-breaker. What did he say when you consulted him on ITB release?

Thanks

When I spoke about the possibility of an ITB release, Betz mentioned that PT alone is enough to resolve the wide legs and that a release is not required. While I have no doubt that PT would eventually resolve them, my ITB is extremely tight and I believe it would take many, many months for me to resolve them naturally and at this point I just want to be back to normal as quick as possible and cannot afford to have them for the better part of this year due to work and family/social reasons.

Quote from: DonBones on June 23, 2021, 09:20:39 AMGreat news and good to hear you're stronger! Hope the ITB release will be smooth if it comes to it

Thanks mate!

Quote from: chasing_higher_dream on June 23, 2021, 11:20:43 AMThe callus is looking amazing, RB 
That is some great progress you have made.

Btw, regarding wide legs, I have seen previous patients of Dr. Betz who have resolved wide legs with just rigorous training over months. It surely takes time, but it does resolve.
But if you are short on time, then it makes sense to have ITB release surgery.

Anyway, I am happy with how things have turned out for you. Within few months, you will be enjoying your new height to the fullest!


Thanks man! Yes I agree that wide legs can most likely be resolved on their own but they are just not making the same progress as my muscles and is one of the only areas on my leg that remains tight so it makes sense for me to speed up my recovery and walking progress especially since insurance will cover the cost. I will however see how my progress goes over the next few weeks and evaluate.

Quote from: SirStretchAlot on June 23, 2021, 04:33:20 PMHey Chasing, can you point me to the patient's diary? I am really interested to see his/her situation and techniques.

I think RB and dreamingcloud were both recently clinically diagnosed to not being able to recover their normal functions unless an ITB release was performed. This is definitely not them feeling bad about wide legs and looking for an easy way out.

Betz would first prescribe several months more of PT, and then proceed to ignore the patient. He has not replied to my first 6-week x-ray email for 6 days.

I believe Betz has good intentions in not wanting to release ITB, since too much release can lead to permanent problems. However, since the band is just a fibrious tissue, it cannot stretch. For some people, their tensor fasciae latae muscle simply cannot stretch for the full length of their lengthened femurs.

dremaingcloud (Feb 2021): http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=66226.msg188865#msg188865

Yeah basically the surgeon I spoke with said that in my case the ITB is really the only thing causing an issue with my walk and that the two options are to not do it and maybe the wide legs would resolve themselves after a further 6 months to 1 year of adapting to training and walking or I could do the release in 5 weeks time and restore normal function instantly and after a 2 week recovery from the release surgery. After being out of action for nearly 4 months now, I really want to get back to normal and not have to wait that long to even practice my normal gait. I definitely agree that Betz had good intentions but unfortunately for some it can't be resolved the same way as building strength in the quads and glutes for example can be. 

But regardless I will evaluate over these next few weeks and keep you guys updated!

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Quote from: SirStretchAlot on June 23, 2021, 07:41:26 PMWe have almost the same starting and desired height. I think it's a fantastic attitude to want to rely on PT through this, but 8 months of rigorous PT after 4 months of exhausting lengthening seems tough even if it does work...

My wide legs became apparent around 3cm and immobilizing around 4cm. How far have you lengthened, and do you see any sign of wide legs?

Yes, this is tough indeed.
Right now, I am around 2.1 cm. I can feel tightness in my IT bands, especially my right one. It's becoming harder to bring my legs together. But while walking I do not have wide legs yet (maybe a little bit). I will update my diary on the situation once I reach the 3cm and the 4 cm mark.
Here is the post where I shared a video of my walking gait: http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=66215.msg197160#msg197160

Are your wide legs still getting worse?

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Quote from: RB on June 23, 2021, 10:16:42 PM

Thanks man! I just tried to stand and walk with the crutches as much as possible so I guess that speeds growth up.

When I spoke about the possibility of an ITB release, Betz mentioned that PT alone is enough to resolve the wide legs and that a release is not required. While I have no doubt that PT would eventually resolve them, my ITB is extremely tight and I believe it would take many, many months for me to resolve them naturally and at this point I just want to be back to normal as quick as possible and cannot afford to have them for the better part of this year due to work and family/social reasons.

Thanks mate!

Thanks man! Yes I agree that wide legs can most likely be resolved on their own but they are just not making the same progress as my muscles and is one of the only areas on my leg that remains tight so it makes sense for me to speed up my recovery and walking progress especially since insurance will cover the cost. I will however see how my progress goes over the next few weeks and evaluate.

Yeah basically the surgeon I spoke with said that in my case the ITB is really the only thing causing an issue with my walk and that the two options are to not do it and maybe the wide legs would resolve themselves after a further 6 months to 1 year of adapting to training and walking or I could do the release in 5 weeks time and restore normal function instantly and after a 2 week recovery from the release surgery. After being out of action for nearly 4 months now, I really want to get back to normal and not have to wait that long to even practice my normal gait. I definitely agree that Betz had good intentions but unfortunately for some it can't be resolved the same way as building strength in the quads and glutes for example can be. 

But regardless I will evaluate over these next few weeks and keep you guys updated!

I can totally understand why you would want a release surgery.
Spending months and months in suffering and physiotherapy is no joke!
This really takes a toll on your psychological state.

Irrespective of the path you take, I wish you luck and great success 

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Quote from: chasing_higher_dream on June 24, 2021, 03:49:26 AMYes, this is tough indeed.
Right now, I am around 2.1 cm. I can feel tightness in my IT bands, especially my right one. It's becoming harder to bring my legs together. But while walking I do not have wide legs yet (maybe a little bit). I will update my diary on the situation once I reach the 3cm and the 4 cm mark.
Here is the post where I shared a video of my walking gait: http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=66215.msg197160#msg197160

Are your wide legs still getting worse?

Yeah, I can see one of your legs is trying to swing inwards. It's similar to my state when I was 1.5cm.

I'm around 4.5cm now and my legs are 55cm wide. I predict they will be 60cm by the time I reach 5cm. The widening will happen gradually, but appear suddenly, then worsen every week.

Now you can hide the wide legs by bending your knees and leaning forward / hips back. This is called duck ass. It hides your wide legs, but when you stand straight, your legs will widen again.

It's difficult to understand why RB and I are considering doing it unless you go through wide legs yourself. It's ugly, immobolizing, and makes walking exhausting (which spills over to everything else).

The problem is stretching/therapy is not effective on ITB as they are with hamstring/quads/hip flexors. Only your TFL will stretch, and it's a tiny muscle.

People say surgery is the hard part. If anything, it was the happiest days for me. Wide legs and muscle weakness during lengthening is ruining my life, and I'm only half way to my goal...

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Hey guys,

So quick update - I will be doing ITB release tomorrow instead as the surgeon can get me in earlier so I'm happy about that. A bit nervous undergoing another surgery but it's quite minor and should improve function so it's something that needs to be done.

In terms of my other muscles, they feel so much better each and every day and I barely have any tightness when I wake up anymore. I still have some tightness if I walk long distances but I continue to experience no pain with the majority of the tightness coming from the ITB which should be solved tomorrow. Flexibility is also returning quite quickly. It's quite amazing how the body recovers once you are no longer lengthening your legs on a daily basis.

I'll give you guys an update after my surgery! Feel free to ask any questions.

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Tell me about it. I can't walk normally and am on crutches again two years after surgery. Betz is simply ignoring me. My right leg is f*cked and hurts like hell.

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Hey guys,

Just discharged from the hospital after the ITB release. Doctor came to visit me before I left and said everything went well, he released both IT bands completely and also aligned my hips while I was in surgery as my left had become crooked due to the left ITB being tighter.

Pain has been very minimal, the only pain I have is at the incision site (4/10) when I bend my legs in bed or when I bend them to walk but no pain otherwise and doctor said incision pain will get improve over the next couple of days. But holy crap I am excited to tell you guys that my wide legs are completely gone and my legs are 100% in like a normal person when I have been walking with the crutches! My duck ass has also 100% disappeared when putting my legs together! I knew doing the release would help but I didn't think it would work instantly for both duck ass and wide legs. I will be mainly using crutches for the next 2 weeks or so as my legs are still weak and heavy from surgery but I am so glad I decided to undergo this procedure.

This really demonstrates that an ITB release should be done for all femur lengthening's. Some people may get lucky and not get hit with wide legs / duck ass but majority of people will have some form of issue that arise from tight IT bands such as a hip deformity on top of the wide legs and duck ass. I still recommend Betz in the current LL market as his nail is truly weight bearing and I'd still choose that over Precise, however be aware that not doing an ITB release can cause major issues and be ready to do it with another doctor willing to perform it unless you want to spend months and months rehabbing after lengthening with no guarantee that it will fix the issues caused by tight IT bands.

Once again I am extremely happy with the result! Just need to rest and recover for the next few days and stay on top of PT.

Quote from: inchesmatter on July 07, 2021, 04:35:35 AMTell me about it. I can't walk normally and am on crutches again two years after surgery. Betz is simply ignoring me. My right leg is f*cked and hurts like hell.

Sorry to hear that mate. Do you know what is causing the right leg issues? Did it just appear randomly after 2 years and were you walking normally before this? Any response from Betz yet?

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Yeah, he responded by saying after reviewing my X-rays he cannot find an explanation for the pain. It may well be my own fault, as I over-aggressively twisted my leg trying to internally rotate the hip and the next day the pain started. I did get an X-ray and found a bone spur growing out of the new bone, so that may be it, too. I just don’t know, but it hurts badly and I cannot walk normally at all. This whole process has been nightmarishly slow for me. My improvement has been very, very slow. Even now when I lie in bed on my back, my lower back feels as though I have duckass. My front upper thighs are also sore every time I get up from a seated position. Does that mean I have a tight IT band? No amount of stretching helps for two years now. I am also sore in the inner groin area on both legs. Two years now.

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Quote from: RB on July 08, 2021, 03:29:45 AMHey guys,

Just discharged from the hospital after the ITB release. Doctor came to visit me before I left and said everything went well, he released both IT bands completely and also aligned my hips while I was in surgery as my left had become crooked due to the left ITB being tighter.

Pain has been very minimal, the only pain I have is at the incision site (4/10) when I bend my legs in bed or when I bend them to walk but no pain otherwise and doctor said incision pain will get improve over the next couple of days. But holy crap I am excited to tell you guys that my wide legs are completely gone and my legs are 100% in like a normal person when I have been walking with the crutches! My duck ass has also 100% disappeared when putting my legs together! I knew doing the release would help but I didn't think it would work instantly for both duck ass and wide legs. I will be mainly using crutches for the next 2 weeks or so as my legs are still weak and heavy from surgery but I am so glad I decided to undergo this procedure.

This really demonstrates that an ITB release should be done for all femur lengthening's. Some people may get lucky and not get hit with wide legs / duck ass but majority of people will have some form of issue that arise from tight IT bands such as a hip deformity on top of the wide legs and duck ass. I still recommend Betz in the current LL market as his nail is truly weight bearing and I'd still choose that over Precise, however be aware that not doing an ITB release can cause major issues and be ready to do it with another doctor willing to perform it unless you want to spend months and months rehabbing after lengthening with no guarantee that it will fix the issues caused by tight IT bands.

Once again I am extremely happy with the result! Just need to rest and recover for the next few days and stay on top of PT.

Sorry to hear that mate. Do you know what is causing the right leg issues? Did it just appear randomly after 2 years and were you walking normally before this? Any response from Betz yet?

Thanks for the update. Happy to hear it went well. By the sounds of it IT band release will be necessary for me too. It sucks, but at least it does not seem to be a complicated procedure. May I ask how much it costs?