Quote from: LegendKiller on July 08, 2021, 01:30:37 PMHey guys,
Speaking on the subject of an ITB - release, it Def. Should be considered when lengthening the femurs.
I also did my LL with betz and was operated 3 days after RB (hey bro we did it congrats 
)
I lengthened a total of 9,9cm, everything went pretty similar to RB's journey, towards the end it got harder and harder, it definitely was the toughest time of my entire life. While in general everything went smooth during lengthning, the wide stance and tight IT Band present by far the worst problem-for me as well! It got progressively worse during lengthning and its now keeping me from being able to walk even one step unassisted, legs are just to wide apart. I've been in, constant contact with RB throughout the entire lengthing process and now that he has successfully undergone ITB-release I'm strongly considering it as well.
I also talked to betz about the entire issue and was quite disappointed by his reaction and behavior towards me. He insists its not necessary and that the problem will subside overtime with enough PT (which may be true) but at a certain point TIME becomes the main issue there, cause IMO doing 6 Monts to 1 year of rigorous PT to get the legs to come in is totally inacaptable and mentally a huge negative for ANY patient having that problem.
It's quite insane that even tho I'm done lengthing you don't really notice a real increase in height due to the wide stance, which is quite frustrating.
Betz, as RB said is a very good surgeon but him not releasing the IT Band during the first surgery seems to be huge mistake as so many people struggle with that afterwards so IF you do LL with betz, make sure you got options of doing an ITB-release and be prepared for these circumstances.
Hey bro! Good to see you on the forum and congrats on hitting 10cm, huge achievement! Yeah I agree, Betz is still a good option but people need to be aware of what no ITB release can mean as it can lead to many post lengthening issues. At least there is the option to release it after but doing it in the initial surgery is ideal.
RB - Femurs with Dr. Betz - March 2021
Quote from: LegendKiller on July 08, 2021, 01:30:37 PMHey guys,
Speaking on the subject of an ITB - release, it Def. Should be considered when lengthening the femurs.
I also did my LL with betz and was operated 3 days after RB (hey bro we did it congrats )
I lengthened a total of 9,9cm, everything went pretty similar to RB's journey, towards the end it got harder and harder, it definitely was the toughest time of my entire life. While in general everything went smooth during lengthning, the wide stance and tight IT Band present by far the worst problem-for me as well! It got progressively worse during lengthning and its now keeping me from being able to walk even one step unassisted, legs are just to wide apart. I've been in, constant contact with RB throughout the entire lengthing process and now that he has successfully undergone ITB-release I'm strongly considering it as well.
I also talked to betz about the entire issue and was quite disappointed by his reaction and behavior towards me. He insists its not necessary and that the problem will subside overtime with enough PT (which may be true) but at a certain point TIME becomes the main issue there, cause IMO doing 6 Monts to 1 year of rigorous PT to get the legs to come in is totally inacaptable and mentally a huge negative for ANY patient having that problem.
It's quite insane that even tho I'm done lengthing you don't really notice a real increase in height due to the wide stance, which is quite frustrating.
Betz, as RB said is a very good surgeon but him not releasing the IT Band during the first surgery seems to be huge mistake as so many people struggle with that afterwards so IF you do LL with betz, make sure you got options of doing an ITB-release and be prepared for these circumstances.
Man I've been writing about Betz and ITB release for months. It's good to see now that I and RB have done it with positive results, others with similar problems are coming out.
My wide legs exploded at 4cm. By 5cm, I was 60cm wide. By 9.9cm I'd imagine you doing a permanent split, lol. Most doctors will tell you at that point, you're unlikely to recover normal function unless ITBs are released.
Further, while you will notice a 50%~ reduction in wide legs, your hip flexor and hamstring shortness are actually hidden by the wide legs. It'll take you another month of stretching to narrow back completely.
Hence why it is important to get ITB release in the beginning, so you don't widen to start with.
Quote from: SirStretchAlot on July 09, 2021, 09:31:41 AMMan I've been writing about Betz and ITB release for months. It's good to see now that I and RB have done it with positive results, others with similar problems are coming out.
My wide legs exploded at 4cm. By 5cm, I was 60cm wide. By 9.9cm I'd imagine you doing a permanent split, lol. Most doctors will tell you at that point, you're unlikely to recover normal function unless ITBs are released.
Further, while you will notice a 50%~ reduction in wide legs, your hip flexor and hamstring shortness are actually hidden by the wide legs. It'll take you another month of stretching to narrow back completely.
Hence why it is important to get ITB release in the beginning, so you don't widen to start with.
Yeah that's true. I was good until like 3 or 4 cm, then at 5cm+ the wide legs really startet to flare up. I stopped lengthing on July 2,since then they came in a bit but nowhere near where they need to be. I don't want to spend 6+months on rigorous PT to get my normal function back, that makes no sense, I rather instantly resolve the problem via an It Band release and you're right, when I stand by myself without crutches my stance is VERY wide, it almost completely hides my height gain, which is crazy considering I went from 172cm to almost 183cm....
Im really disappointed in betz, sure not ERVERY case might need an release but there are Def. Various cases out there who do indeed need one.
Also Walking with wide legs is SO exhausting it really hinders you in your efforts to move enough to where you restore strength and endurance in your legs.
I'm searching for an experienced orthopedic surgeon in my area right now and hope to get an appointment as quickly as possible. Maybe I'll document everything on here in a separate thread.
Quote from: LegendKiller on July 09, 2021, 09:55:01 AMYeah that's true. I was good until like 3 or 4 cm, then at 5cm+ the wide legs really startet to flare up. I stopped lengthing on July 2,since then they came in a bit but nowhere near where they need to be. I don't want to spend 6+months on rigorous PT to get my normal function back, that makes no sense, I rather instantly resolve the problem via an It Band release and you're right, when I stand by myself without crutches my stance is VERY wide, it almost completely hides my height gain, which is crazy considering I went from 172cm to almost 183cm....
Im really disappointed in betz, sure not ERVERY case might need an release but there are Def. Various cases out there who do indeed need one.
Also Walking with wide legs is SO exhausting it really hinders you in your efforts to move enough to where you restore strength and endurance in your legs.
I'm searching for an experienced orthopedic surgeon in my area right now and hope to get an appointment as quickly as possible. Maybe I'll document everything on here in a separate thread.
Indeed. I went through the exact same experience. 3 points.
1) The exaustion partly comes from the widening, but more from muscle atrophy. Now that I've closed in, I definitely walk faster, but the exhaustion remains.
2) It is expected that most of your bone length will not be reflected in your height, because the ITB has only lengthened minimally. It will compensate for any bone length growth by abducting your legs sideways, so the ITB itself can remain the same length.
3) The ITB release will remove ITB as the bottleneck for your wide legs, but your hip flexor will become the next bottleneck. You will likely narrow 30-50% after surgery. It will take weeks of PT afterwards to stretch your hip flexors hence why I would not consider it an "instant fix."
Regardless, Betz' argument for not wanting to harm healthy tissue is completely trounced by the months, of debilitating abduction, which will cause deformities if not resolved long term. He's 70 and considers himself authoritative. That's why he will never take our experiences seriously and change his mind.
Quote from: SirStretchAlot on July 09, 2021, 10:33:19 AMIndeed. I went through the exact same experience. 3 points.
1) The exaustion partly comes from the widening, but more from muscle atrophy. Now that I've closed in, I definitely walk faster, but the exhaustion remains.
2) It is expected that most of your bone length will not be reflected in your height, because the ITB has only lengthened minimally. It will compensate for any bone length growth by abducting your legs sideways, so the ITB itself can remain the same length.
3) The ITB release will remove ITB as the bottleneck for your wide legs, but your hip flexor will become the next bottleneck. You will likely narrow 30-50% after surgery. It will take weeks of PT afterwards to stretch your hip flexors hence why I would not consider it an "instant fix."
Regardless, Betz' argument for not wanting to harm healthy tissue is completely trounced by the months, of debilitating abduction, which will cause deformities if not resolved long term. He's 70 and considers himself authoritative. That's why he will never take our experiences seriously and change his mind.
Yeah you may be right on that, I´m looking for appointments now and will most likely have to wait 1,5-2 Months before having a safe surgery date anyway, so i´m going to use that time to at least TRY to stretch the IT-band as much as possible and also work a lot on my hip flexor mobility, that seems to be a good plan for the next weeks ahead. Other than that of course muscle athrophy and lack of strength is the second major issue, I´m already working multiple times a week on bringing back quads, glutes etc. but of course that will take some time as well, since I´m only 1 week into consolidation phase. Betz looked over my Xrays 2 days ago and basically told me everything is where its supposed to be at this point, still have to be careful tho and walk on crutches for at least 3 more months until he needs the next Xrays from the front and side. Honestly thats all to be expected and tolerable but as RB´s experience already showed, just being able to stand up STRAIGHT with feed in close from the ITB-release and feel your true height makes such a huch difference and most likely gives you a huge mental advantage for the next months in crutches that lie ahead. I hope to experience the same feeling soon, right now my mental state really isnt all that good as lengthning itself was very tough and now I gotta deal with the wide legs issue.
Quote from: LegendKiller on July 09, 2021, 11:32:50 AMYeah you may be right on that, I´m looking for appointments now and will most likely have to wait 1,5-2 Months before having a safe surgery date anyway, so i´m going to use that time to at least TRY to stretch the IT-band as much as possible and also work a lot on my hip flexor mobility, that seems to be a good plan for the next weeks ahead. Other than that of course muscle athrophy and lack of strength is the second major issue, I´m already working multiple times a week on bringing back quads, glutes etc. but of course that will take some time as well, since I´m only 1 week into consolidation phase. Betz looked over my Xrays 2 days ago and basically told me everything is where its supposed to be at this point, still have to be careful tho and walk on crutches for at least 3 more months until he needs the next Xrays from the front and side. Honestly thats all to be expected and tolerable but as RB´s experience already showed, just being able to stand up STRAIGHT with feed in close from the ITB-release and feel your true height makes such a huch difference and most likely gives you a huge mental advantage for the next months in crutches that lie ahead. I hope to experience the same feeling soon, right now my mental state really isnt all that good as lengthning itself was very tough and now I gotta deal with the wide legs issue.
If you're in Europe, I'd recommend Giotikas from Athens. You shouldn't have to wait 1.5-2 months for an ITB surgery. It's 20 minutes long, and can fit into any doctor's schedule. I would do it ASAP so you can stretch more effectively. The ITB will compltely prevent you from stretching your hip abuctors for example.
If you're already in consolidation, then your muscle atrophy will reverse quite quickly. You will experience significant reduction in weakness each week. It's one of the few problems that go away by itself after lengthening. 
Quote from: SirStretchAlot on July 09, 2021, 11:27:31 PMIf you're in Europe, I'd recommend Giotikas from Athens. You shouldn't have to wait 1.5-2 months for an ITB surgery. It's 20 minutes long, and can fit into any doctor's schedule. I would do it ASAP so you can stretch more effectively. The ITB will compltely prevent you from stretching your hip abuctors for example.
If you're already in consolidation, then your muscle atrophy will reverse quite quickly. You will experience significant reduction in weakness each week. It's one of the few problems that go away by itself after lengthening.
Yeah bro but I'm not going to go to another country to get that done, I'll do it here in Germany plenty of orthopedic surgeons out here who should be able to solve that problem.... I'll def do it asap once I found out the right guy to perform it on me so I can get back to 100% as quickly as possible.
Hope you are right on the muscle weakness slowly leaving each week, I'm only one week inti, consolidation so I'm just going to continue training and see how it goes.
Do you plan on also doing tibias later down the line?
Quote from: nebula79283 on July 26, 2021, 01:59:06 AMDo you plan on also doing tibias later down the line?
Probably not. I’m very satisfied with my height now and don’t want to put myself through this process again. Would be nice to be 175-176 after tibias but to me it’s not worth the extra money, recovery, risks with tibias and loss of athleticism. Never say never though.
Quote from: RB on July 26, 2021, 06:34:37 AMProbably not. I’m very satisfied with my height now and don’t want to put myself through this process again. Would be nice to be 175-176 after tibias but to me it’s not worth the extra money, recovery, risks with tibias and loss of athleticism. Never say never though.
Sup RB any update? Andy photos or walking videos?
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