Seeking general advice on Limb lengthening

Edit Post

Dear friends,

I'm 5'5 and a bit (166/167cm). Male and 48 years. Ever since I was 16 years old I'm very frustrated about my height. I have been reading a lot on this forum but I still want to start a complete new thread.. sorry if my questions have already been asked and answered.

Almost 17 years ago I heard a story on the radio that limb lengthening was possible and was often performed in China. Since then I have been thinking about it but never got round to really do it. After being turned down last month for the zillionst time by a woman because of my height(she said so, as many others did before her)  I really want to do Limb lengtheing now even though I'm 48 years. I really don't want to be small anymore! Furthermore I want to make a documentary about the whole process.

I live in the Netherlands where the tallest people in the world live... go figure...

So my questions are:
- Is my age a problem?
- I want to lengthen 10cm(almost 4 inches), is that too much or ok?
- To keep the right proportions I think to do both tibia and femur and preferably simultaneously. Is that doable?
- What would be a realistic time frame from beginning till end?
- What would be the total cost?
- Which methods and which doctors are the best? I think internal nail and Betz/Paley/Monegal?
- Has anyone experience in filming the whole adventure?

I would love to meet someone who had a LL... anyone in the Netherlands?

Thanks in advance my dear friends, hope to hear you soon..,

Max

Edit Post

Hey, welcome! If you want to lengthen a total of 10 cm, I would advice you to do both femurs and tibiae, since doing 10 cm in one segment is quite risky. Up to 5-6.5 cm (femurs) and 5 cm (tibiae) is generally considered "safe"; you will still (in all likelihood) suffer slight loss of function, but nothing substantial.

I don't know if you care about proportions, but if you do, you could take your inseam, belly button to floor, arm length (from acromion to tip of longest finger), and wingspan measurements. If you have proportionally long legs, narrow shoulders, or short arms already, you might want to lengthen a little less. 10 cm should be within the "reasonable" range though. Most people don't care all that much about proportions, and since you're properly short, breaking into average range should definitely make up for it.

The older we are, the more difficult recovery gets. I think that i have read in the past that one should be pretty safe up to the age of 55 or thereabouts, but hopefully someone more knowledgeable can chime in.

I'm sad to hear that you have been rejected by women for your height. Life can be a pretty shallow ordeal.

Best of luck with your journey! 

Edit Post

Welcome Honore! I'm 5'5" as well, I can't even begin to imagine how it feels to be in the Netherlands of all places. I'll answer what I can.


So my questions are:
- Is my age a problem?
I've heard cases for much older people getting lengthening, and that was during the China cosmetic limb lengthening (CLL) days. Here's a 52 year-old man who gained 11cm with Dr. Paley.

- I want to lengthen 10cm(almost 4 inches), is that too much or ok?
Yes, if you split it between two sets of segments: tibia and femurs. 10cm on one segment would be dangerous and also noticeably bad for proportions.

- To keep the right proportions I think to do both tibia and femur and preferably simultaneously. Is that doable?
Yes, you can stagger the segments a few weeks apart (i.e. surgery on femurs first, wait a few weeks, perform surgery on tibia). Another option is cross-leg lengthening, in which opposite segments are performed on and soon after the other set (i.e. right femur and left tibia first, then the remaining).

- What would be a realistic time frame from beginning till end?
For all four segments, my conservative estimate is at least nine months before you can walk unaided and another six months before you're back to "normal."

- What would be the total cost?
Depends on the doctor and method you choose. General rule of thumb, internal femurs with PRECISE is costlier but recommended as it's a much more comfortable experience (imagine frames up to your butt). Tibia, you can go externals, and is more affordable.

- Which methods and which doctors are the best? I think internal nail and Betz/Paley/Monegal?
Recommended methods explained in previous question. Dr. Paley is the hands-down gold standard, but is quite expensive. More affordable yet respected doctors that come to mind are Dr. Birkholtz (South Africa), Dr. Pili (Italy), and Dr. Parihar (India) (this is an informative site by him as well).

- Has anyone experience in filming the whole adventure?
I've yet to see the entire adventure on film, and videos come and go (authors decide to delete them). But here are some good videos, a non-graphic experience video by Dr. Rozbruch, a relatively non-graphic experience video three-part series by Dr. Mahbohbian, and a graphic internal PRECISE surgery video also by Dr. Mahbohbian.

Edit Post

thank you both for the answers...

I grew up in the northern part of The Netherlands ... there the people are even taller than the rest of the Netherlands... but still, i feel blessed cause i grew up in peace, with enough food, good schools..etc, etc ... But grow I shall... hopefully

Edit Post

Quote from: Honore on November 07, 2017, 07:38:01 PMi feel blessed cause i grew up in peace, with enough food, good schools..etc, etc ... But grow I shall... hopefully

That's how it works: your needs are fulfilled so now you're looking to fulfill your wants! Good luck in your search.

Edit Post

Quote from: Honore on November 07, 2017, 03:52:22 PM- Has anyone experience in filming the whole adventure?

I think Leechlet was the closest to filming the whole thing, the guy had a lot of emotional hurdles with LL but he filmed a lot of it from what i remember. It sucks that he took them down.

Sometimes when I think of my future surgery I want to do something like that, like a documentary of the whole experience, with cool cinematography and editing. But then I think that ill be in so much pain i probably wont even write a diary. Oh well I guess well see.

Edit Post

Whatever happened to Leechlet?

Edit Post

Quote from: Zeo on November 07, 2017, 11:39:52 PMI think Leechlet was the closest to filming the whole thing, the guy had a lot of emotional hurdles with LL but he filmed a lot of it from what i remember. It sucks that he took them down.

Sometimes when I think of my future surgery I want to do something like that, like a documentary of the whole experience, with cool cinematography and editing. But then I think that ill be in so much pain i probably wont even write a diary. Oh well I guess well see.

From what I read about the internal procedure there wont be a lot of pain..or am I wrong? Its my plan exactly to make a documentary with "cool cinematography and editing". Wonder if the doctors be willing to sponsor the operation..

Edit Post

Quote from: Honore on November 08, 2017, 12:40:18 PMFrom what I read about the internal procedure there wont be a lot of pain..or am I wrong? Its my plan exactly to make a documentary with "cool cinematography and editing". Wonder if the doctors be willing to sponsor the operation..

From what I read it's pain no matter what, especially at the 1cm to 3 cm range. Havn't done LL but it seems like thats the trend.

I wouldn't try to get a sponser for the documentary, mainly because it should be a neutral honest look into the real aspects of LL, good and bad. If theres a sponser then it will defintely be skewed. Just buy a go-pro or a even most phones nowadays have decent cameras. You can learn to edit videos easily online its not a big deal. Worst comes to worse just get a bunch of raw footage, record everything, and I'm sure someone in the community (or outside) would glady put it all together for you for free. I know I definitely would.

Personally, this is the style I would want to do it in, (i know the video itself is a satire of POV vlogs), its POV style so it doesn't show your face/no need for masks, for added privacy, but still will show a good look at the experince.



For LL it would be a bit different and after a while it would probably just be footage of your home while your recovering

Edit Post

Quote from: Honore on November 07, 2017, 03:52:22 PMAfter being turned down last month for the zillionst time by a woman because of my height(she said so, as many others did before her)  I really want to do Limb lengtheing now even though I'm 48 years. I really don't want to be small anymore! Furthermore I want to make a documentary about the whole process.

So sad to hear about experiences like that from members of these forums. I don't know why they have to keep coming across shallow persons like that.

Best of luck in your journey.