Congrats so far on your journey.
How has life been with the new 5cm added height? How much lengthening are you anticipating doing?
Few questions to ask you;
1. Are you able to walk unassisted now?
2. Why are you stretching for such a long period of time daily?
3. Do you have any clicking pains? Or is the process just a daily routine now?
Quote from: Kanye Western on February 12, 2023, 09:49:40 PMCongrats so far on your journey.
How has life been with the new 5cm added height? How much lengthening are you anticipating doing?
Few questions to ask you;
1. Are you able to walk unassisted now?
2. Why are you stretching for such a long period of time daily?
3. Do you have any clicking pains? Or is the process just a daily routine now?
5cm is quite noticeable when you're standing upright. It's a completely different perspective. My plan is to go to 8 cm and see if I feel like my neurosis is cured by then, and if not I'll see if I can tolerate going up to 10 cm.
1. I have been walking without crutches at home for a few weeks now. Of course, there is a large amount of sway that can somewhat be controlled. I wouldn't go outside without crutches as I wouldn't be safe on uneven surfaces, and long distances without crutches would be quite tiring.
2. Dr. Becker recommended 3-5 hours of stretching during lengthening. 5 is on the higher side, but I'm doing my best to try to delay and minimize anterior pelvic tilt and wide gait
3. Clicking is only barely painful on the left leg, and essentially painless on the right. The process takes less than 15 minutes to do both legs every morning.
Ah very good!
Personally I think you should stick to 8cm. 5”7 is a great height without having to complicate your functionality.
Again, keep up the good work!
Decided to do a small update today.
Post-op day 96, 7.5 cm
Looking in the mirror now, any shame I used to feel over my height is almost gone. As above, I'm 7.5 cm in right now, and would probably appear a bit taller if I could fix my duck ass. I've decided to stop at 8 cm as I'm pretty happy with the way things are, and would really like to get my life back together. Currently clicking at 12 clicks a day, soon to decrease to 10 until stopping at 8 cm.
I'm still stretching 4-5 hours a day, which in truth is quite exhausting. Fortunately, I have no wide legs whatsoever, so I'm assuming all that stretching is doing something - hopefully this can provide some reassurance for people who are concerned about a "soft" release vs a "full" release, granted I'm not going for 10-11cm like other patients. I have a small amount of duck-ass, but nothing major. I don't really expect this to improve until I stop lengthening and regain the muscles in my posterior leg and abdomen.
By far, the hardest centimeter for me was between 6-7, where the tightness and fatigue were so extreme that I thought about quitting every day, however, after hitting 7 cm, the tension has decreased quite significantly, which is probably due to reducing to 12 clicks per day. Sleep has also improved significantly, but I still wake up around 3 AM, having to stretch for about 10 minutes before I can sleep again.
I'm still using crutches to ambulate, but can make do with one crutch going short distances, or no crutches at home.
I did have repeat x rays ordered by my family doctor, which demonstrates fairly good callous formation between the segments of distracted bone.
I'm doing more in-person work now, but not nearly full-time. I do get quite a few looks while I'm walking around on crutches. It's sometimes hard to deflect questions my colleagues have for me, but this isn't so much of an issue for me.
Once I hit 8 cm, I'm hoping that I can stretch less and instead focus on stamina and strengthening. I'm holding off on buying new clothes until I've reached a body shape that I'm happy with.
Quote from: mc623 on March 22, 2023, 09:55:14 PMDecided to do a small update today.
Post-op day 96, 7.5 cm
Looking in the mirror now, any shame I used to feel over my height is almost gone. As above, I'm 7.5 cm in right now, and would probably appear a bit taller if I could fix my duck ass. I've decided to stop at 8 cm as I'm pretty happy with the way things are, and would really like to get my life back together. Currently clicking at 12 clicks a day, soon to decrease to 10 until stopping at 8 cm.
I'm still stretching 4-5 hours a day, which in truth is quite exhausting. Fortunately, I have no wide legs whatsoever, so I'm assuming all that stretching is doing something - hopefully this can provide some reassurance for people who are concerned about a "soft" release vs a "full" release, granted I'm not going for 10-11cm like other patients. I have a small amount of duck-ass, but nothing major. I don't really expect this to improve until I stop lengthening and regain the muscles in my posterior leg and abdomen.
By far, the hardest centimeter for me was between 6-7, where the tightness and fatigue were so extreme that I thought about quitting every day, however, after hitting 7 cm, the tension has decreased quite significantly, which is probably due to reducing to 12 clicks per day. Sleep has also improved significantly, but I still wake up around 3 AM, having to stretch for about 10 minutes before I can sleep again.
I'm still using crutches to ambulate, but can make do with one crutch going short distances, or no crutches at home.
I did have repeat x rays ordered by my family doctor, which demonstrates fairly good callous formation between the segments of distracted bone.
I'm doing more in-person work now, but not nearly full-time. I do get quite a few looks while I'm walking around on crutches. It's sometimes hard to deflect questions my colleagues have for me, but this isn't so much of an issue for me.
Once I hit 8 cm, I'm hoping that I can stretch less and instead focus on stamina and strengthening. I'm holding off on buying new clothes until I've reached a body shape that I'm happy with.
You're going to need to continue to stretch for probably a solid month after stopping clicking, at least. After that I would work on strengthening. At least thats how long it took for me to loosen up to where I could walk normally again and I only did a bit over 3CM.
I have avoided strengthening because I feel like it could make me tighter and work against me. So im stretching first, strengthening second. But that just my plan.
Hi mc,
Thanks for the update! Would you say it's been more complicated progressing from 5cm to 7.5cm in regards to lengthening and walking?
Also, you're still stretching for a super long period of time. Is it really necessary?
Hey congrats on your lengthening!
I too have the same personal stats as you!
Age: 30
Height 162cm
Weight: 53 kg
Goal: at least 8 cm
Ethnicity: East Asian
I'm also considering Becker on the tibias as well. I was wondering what country you are from? I'm from the US and I'm wondering if you had easy access to xrays and PT as i'm still trying to figure things out with that since in the US, you would need doctor referrals from both.
Quote from: goodlooks on March 22, 2023, 11:50:48 PMHey congrats on your lengthening!
I too have the same personal stats as you!
Age: 30
Height 162cm
Weight: 53 kg
Goal: at least 8 cm
Ethnicity: East Asian
I'm also considering Becker on the tibias as well. I was wondering what country you are from? I'm from the US and I'm wondering if you had easy access to xrays and PT as i'm still trying to figure things out with that since in the US, you would need doctor referrals from both.
Hi!
I’m from Canada, you need referrals for X-rays here , but I just let my family doctor know about it, and he was happy to requisition them for me. PT here is private - you can pay out of pocket for it, but if you want your insurance to cover it you will have a prescription from a physician. Hopefully this will not be too hard once they see you on crutches.
Is there any reason you are going for tibias first? 8 cm seems like quite a lot to do on your tibias.
Quote from: Kanye Western on March 22, 2023, 11:33:51 PMHi mc,
Thanks for the update! Would you say it's been more complicated progressing from 5cm to 7.5cm in regards to lengthening and walking?
Also, you're still stretching for a super long period of time. Is it really necessary?
The only truly challenging phase excluding the immediate post-op period was from 6-7 cm @ 0.66mm/d. I don’t know why I had so much more stiffness then, but it resolved fairly quickly at 7 cm once dropping to 0.6 mm/d.
I continue to stretch 4-5 hours a day. It’s pretty boring, but you can watch tv, or play video games during the stretches once you’re good at them, with the exception of the IT band stretch which is excruciating. It’s probably not necessary, but my duck-ass is relatively mild compared to some other betz or Becker journals. There are some betz/becker journals here that have significant wide legs despite the soft IT band release, so I’m particular about trying to prevent it as much as possible. I don’t have much else to do during the day when I’m not working anyways.
Informative. Becker said first 3cm would be hard but seems like you’re doing well.
I’ve taken 3 weeks off work initially just to get over post op pain, do you think this is enough?
I’ll just be standing whilst on laptop, so I’ll be able move around little. Do you think I’d be able Dutch crutches during my lengthening stage?
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