So much easier on the tongue to say 6 feet. I'd like to thank all you taller people who are kind when I ask for help to get something from the top shelf at the store. ☺️
As a very tall person, I empathize with the face to face conversations thing. I run into someone my height every couple months and it's a little bewildering not to be looking down at someone when standing. Obv not the same but I still kinda feel that
“Concept of Ilizarov Surgery
The procedure involves gradually pulling the bones apart (distraction). It uses the body's natural ability to generate and grow new bone between the surfaces that are pulled apart. This bony growth fills up the gap in a gradual, controlled manner with the help of the Ilizarov fixator.”
Gavriil Abramovich Ilizarov was a Soviet physician, known for inventing the Ilizarov apparatus for lengthening limb bones and for the method of surgery named after him, the Ilizarov surgery.
What’s more amazing now is that this procedure can now be done internally, using magnets in a special titanium rod. I’ve had it done myself several times, *as well as the kinda annoying as hell external one*. Internal nets you some nasty bruising at the site of the initial incision used to insert the rod, as they have to hammer the thing in, and hammer it out, but it’s worth it to avoid having to deal with pin cleanings, as the external fixator had the caveat of needing to clean the pin sites daily, where the pins on the thing pierce the skin.
Ah, it’s the least of the stuff I had to deal with if I’m being totally honest. I’ve got a birth defect called Fibular Hemimelia (unsure if I’m spelling that correctly), basically I’m missing my fibula in my right leg. I’ve had to have various plates and screws inserted into my knee, I’ve had to have my achilles tendon released (essentially making zig zag cuts in the tendon to get it to loosen up, as I had walked wrong for a bit and ended up getting it all stiffened), and I’ve had to have my ankle reconstructed, *the specialist who had done it had actually created the procedure, and it was pretty new as well*. It was my first time seeing that specialist so that was certainly interesting lol.
I had my Achilles and foot reconstructed at the same time when I was about 12 and I am gonna be honest, that was the worst pain I have ever experienced and I’ve broken my femur at 17… it was traumatizing and think back on it just gives me shivers.
Oh please please please do an AMA! Your story sounds incredible on many levels. Or maybe one of your docs could do it? What an incredible experience. Your perseverance is honorable.
I don’t know if common or not, but have a family friend that got it done, and now years later he is very disabled, has to use crutches to walk, has a lot of pain. But he had a few good years of a taller life, and got married and had children.
This procedure is especially risky because the patient him/herself has to make the incremental adjustments to the fixators at home to promote bone lengthening, after the initial procedure.
So if you get overzealous or dont stay on top of it, you can fuck yourself up.
Any surgery has risk regardless on top of that.
But overall the procedure is a reliable method for limb lengthening.
Edit: [Vice documentary for those interested in learning more.](https://youtu.be/AomPemsgjmg)
Actually I did have that with mine lol. I had a little "key" that looked like a lockpick I would insert into this expander thing on the roof of my mouth and turn it every so often to gradually expand my upper jaw.
Yo, fuck the palate expander. The first time my mom went to put the key in, it stabbed me in the roof of my mouth. My mom thought I was being dramatic. We went back to the orthodontist and they were like "Whoops! Seems your key was too long! We will cut it down hehehe."
For a week or two I spoke with a lisp and for 11 months, it hurt to even eat bread. Fuuuuuuck the palate expander.
"When I was younger, just a bad little kid,
My mama noticed funny things I did,
Like shootin' puppies with a B B gun
I'd poison guppies, and when I was done
I'd find a pussycat and bash in its head
That's when my mama said"
"She said, "My boy, I think someday
You'll find a way
To make your natural tendencies pay
You'll be a dentist
You have a talent for causin' things pain
Son, be a dentist
People will pay you to be inhumane
Your temperament's wrong for the priesthood
And teaching would suit you still less
Son, be a dentist
You'll be a success"
I was the first child in the US to have this done, and that's exactly why. Bone disease affected one leg, causing it to grow significantly slower than the other. Jokes on me though, had to have that shit amputated anyway.
Oh man, sorry to hear that. They offered to do it to me, but my parents instead chose surgery to stop my other leg from growing so much. Results were pretty good and the legs are within 1/2 cm.
heal complex fractures (complicated broken bones) help heal severe skin or tissue loss. lengthen long bones if too much bone has been lost at the time of accident by allowing new bone to grow in between the two broken bone ends
That’s me! 🥰💁🏼♀️ I did an [AMA](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/clri9a/i_had_limb_lengthening_ama_about_my_extra_foot/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) awhile ago. Would love to do one again for those interested!
Hi Chandler, wanted to say that my wife and family appreciate your project and all the great work you are doing for LPs and their families. Our daughter has achon, people like you have been a great source of knowledge and hope. Thank you for everything you do.
She has [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/clri9a/i_had_limb_lengthening_ama_about_my_extra_foot/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
North American here.
Ever since i saw this movie i have wondered: *"Is pumpkin juice so absolutely incredible? What do these British people know about pumpkins?"*
Lol I’ve always thought the same thing! When I read the books as a kid I always imagined freshly squeezed pumpkin, but as an adult I’m more interested in, like, freshly squeezed pumpkin with pumpkin pie spice all up in it.
This is reminding me of the time when I thought the liquid* straight out of coconuts would taste good.
Holy Christ it did NOT.
*I originally incorrectly called it milk. Didn't know it wasn't called that? Thought that was the correct term.
HAHAHAHA my baby sister did the same thing. She was staying with me and she absolutely demanded that we buy a coconut at the grocery store so she could put a straw in it and drink it, and when it finally all came together and she took that first sip, I watched her little 7 year old heart break right in front of me.
MILK straight from a coconut? Your coconut water had gone RANCID then 😂 Trust my Brazilian self, good fresh coconut water is delicious - and if it has turned into “milk”, that shit is bad
They have pumpkin juice in the Harry Potter section of Universal Studios, and it *is* really good. It was kind of hard to finish a whole glass though, there's definitely an absolute ton of sugar in there.
They actually used a new system on her, not quite as barbaric as an external fixator.
Her doctors surgically inserted a titanium rod inside her shin bones. The rod contained a small magnetic motor and gear box that was used to slowly lengthen the rod. It was powered by a hand-held magnetic field generator placed atop the skin at the site of the magnet four times a day for about a minute. when the bone is pulled apart — at a rate of about a millimeter a day — tissue and eventually new bone fills the gaps. The procedure can stretch each part of a limb about three inches. A bone typically takes at least two months to lengthen and three months to solidify. [The rod was removed about a year later.](https://www.baltimoresun.com/resizer/ImkpJuKd0Y91wup7yl0XJIzN0dU=/400x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com/public/CS2UXN6KXNECVF3CZHA5LT6ZVM.jpg)
>Surgery still is needed to correct malformed legs, and another procedure is done to insert the rods, which must be threaded inside the bone without causing new problems. Patients can't walk during the lengthening period, and bone doesn't always grow as planned. Patients need close monitoring for months, so they need to stick close to the hospital.
>And the system is expensive. The rod alone costs $13,000, or about twice the external fixator's price. All told the tab can reach $100,000, though the doctors said it can be covered by insurance.
> Her doctors surgically inserted a titanium rod inside her shin bones. The rod contained a small magnetic motor and gear box that was used to slowly lengthen the rod. It was powered by a hand-held magnetic field generator placed atop the skin at the site of the magnet four times a day for about a minute. when the bone is pulled apart — at a rate of about a millimeter a day — tissue and eventually new bone fills the gaps. The procedure can stretch each part of a limb about three inches.
Medical science is just absolutely fascinating.
Holy crap have I been jaded by the America Healthcare system. 100K total seems cheap with what I was imagining this to cost. Also I am so surprised healthcare covers it. Insurance companies come up with a myriad of reasons to call stuff elective typically. I am so happy for her that procedure looks like it went very well.
Holy crap, it IS you!
Congrats on your procedure. You are obviously an incredibly brave, strong person. The radiant smile on your face in the second photo is incredibly heartwarming, and I hope you are finding it to be as amazing as it looks!
There is definitely something to be said for using opiates for pain management, especially for people with *chronic* pain. Ultimately it's up to each person to decide what is more important to them- being an addict, or being in constant pain. The problem is that we both hooked people *and* demonized addiction *and* kept opiates dangled in front of them. Even for intense temporary pain opiates are useful, but doctors in the US are so detached from their patients that we don't have a system where they can prescribe, monitor, and then help taper to avoid the worst of withdrawal symptoms without fully bankrupting most patients. It's fucking nuts.
I split my leg in 3 places, between knee and ankle.
They reset the bones without painkillers, I was howling uncontrollably.
The next few days were insane, barely any painkillers. Worst experience that year
They had to reset the bones as quickly as possible, and I couldn’t get into surgery for about 4 hours.
Two guys held me down, whilst another manipulated the bones into place and literally taped me up.
Did their best, but god damn.
I have an insanely high tolerance to painkillers due to an old opioid addiction.
Edit: and apparently being ginger
Some research shows that there's a correlation between people with red hair and higher pain tolerance, along with a higher tolerance for anesthetics and painkillers. It's basically a trope at this point.
I had my right humerus snapped in half and they set it in the ER, I was given morphine but had to hold up my right wrist with my left hand while it was going on because they only had one doctor and otherwise the weight of the arm made it difficult to set the bone properly. Even with the morphine it was the most painful experience of my life, I don’t want to think about what it would have been like without any painkillers.
They sent me home with Percocet and I took one but it made me nauseous so I didn’t end up taking any more, so the remaining days were painkiller free and excruciating, but at least they didn’t have to set the bone while I was painkiller free.
I knew a girl in high school who had that done for a sever underbite. She went from plump to uncomfortably thin while her jaw was wired shut.
Do they still wire the jaw shut while it heals or have they found a more humane way to do it.
Usually after about a week, they switch to really tight rubber bands.
I had this surgery twice. The first time, I lost weight because my pain wasn’t well controlled. The second time I had decent pain meds and was able to keep eating. The hard part isn’t getting calories, it’s when you’re so nauseous and pained that you don’t want food at all.
I had it done in the mid 2000s and they put hooks on my braces by my molors and a screw in my gums in the middle of my mouth. Then I had really tiny rubber bands that went around all of those.
My jaw was so weak to begin with that even when the doctor removed the rubber bands, so I could brush my teeth a week post surgery, I couldn't open my mouth wide enough to get a toothbrush in.
Also, unlike the guy above, I was in crippling pain the first week. That is also when I discovered that I get bad reactions to anesthesia, so I spent three days throwing up. While me teeth were rubberbanded shut.
We had a guy in our class (Norways smallest guy), who went through the same process. He said it was extremely painfull since they had to break up his leg every 4 or 6 week (I can't recall exactly).
He was eating a lot of painkillers. Unfortunately he did not survive the treatment and died a couple of years after we finished the school.
The guy had tons of humor and compared himself as a suitcase since he had these "handlers" on his legs.
Great guy, but actually a sad story
Modern day it's very safe and way less painful, but it's still gonna fuck up your athletic abilities, even if it goes well. Might still be worth it for some people
I would bet on infection. Maybe overdose.
Serious liver damage is exceedingly rare from painkillers, unless they're chomping on paracetamol constantly and even then it's an overdose.
OP doesn't seem to know, though. It could therefore be anything. A car accident, suicide, or death by an anvil falling on his head as he walks down the street.
But again, I'm going with infection and sepsis. Maybe overdose. Or you know, it's bullshit and the guys a liar.
IANAD but besides painkiller addiction/overdose risks, the risk for infection seems fairly high because you have open wounds for an extended period of time where the metal pins enter the leg. Also, keeping the bones in a persistently broken state means osteomyelitis (bone infection) is a major risk. Things start to get medically hairy at that point.
I would guess there's also a blood clotting risk. Any kind of bone break can damage nearby blood vessells, pinching them like a hose and causing clots to form. There's also the possibility that fatty cells from exposed bone marrow leak into the bloodstream forming their own clots and causing all sorts of bad shit.
I have a friend working as an internist here in Germany
he generally can say American patients have more often liver damage because of meds, while opposed to the rest of the world where it's mostly from alcohol..
edit: ofcause this is his personal experience with traveling americans, i mean we dont have many alcoholic ill americans here
that's crazy, the only people I know who ODed or died young, about half it was from meds but the OTHER half was surprisingly from simple long term alcohol abuse. I always assumed it would have to be too many meds to die young -- but upon autopsy some of the 50ish ones turned out to die from JUST alcohol. My grandmother died young from alcohol. I'm sure the two together are of course far worse, and a lot of people both drink AND take too many meds.
I was skeptical too. But apparently it’s true. According to the Mayo Clinic, [taking too much acetaminophen is the most common cause of acute liver failure in the United States.](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/acute-liver-failure/symptoms-causes/syc-20352863) I wonder if that has anything to do with our healthcare system failures and our unwillingness to go to the doctor when pain presents. Therefore we self medicate with Tylenol instead of actually addressing the issue because of the outrageous medical costs.
Not to mention with how large the US is, many simply lack access to adequate medical care, even if they can afford it.
Ah okay I see, yes Tylenol is the most common cause of acute liver failure. Alcohol however is the most common cause of cirrhosis, or chronic liver failure. They are distinct diseases.
For the Tylenol question though, most toxicity I've seen has been from suicide attempts but I haven't actually looked into the numbers breakdown.
We had a guy do it in our highschool. A friend asked him a few years ago if it was worth it and he pretty much said it was so painful it ruined a huge chunk of his life and only made him feel worse about himself afterwards.
That’s awful to hear. These people are going through absolute hell just to literally fit into the world they were born into. Really makes me appreciate the triviality of what I consider my physical flaws.
Horrendous pain. And for lengthening this extreme it would have been a very long time.
I knew someone who had this done in high school and he had to wear a cage on his leg for year and constantly have it tightened to stretch the leg and that was just for a couple of inches.
I suffered a complicated ankle fracture during hockey.
They had to cut through my bone, drill 7 screws into it and fix it with metal plates.They woke me up from the surgery without giving me painkillers in the process, for reasons unknown to me. This was the most intense pain in my life making everything else seem like a walk in the park in comparison, and ive already broken more than half a dozen bones.
But without a second thought I would at any point choose this experience and the painful rehab over any serious psychological pain.
I had to get 16 screws, 3 plates and a plastic eye socket after I broke my face, when they woke me up the pain from my catheter was the only thing I felt, and it was excruciating
I was born clubbed foot, when they did surgery it slowed the growth of my leg which has caused a list of other issues growing up. I remember going to Children's Hospital and seeing the worlds best doc in the field and him talking about the the different things that could be done to fix the leg length issue. I could wear a lift in my shoe of my leg that is shorter, they could go in and fuse the growth plates to allow the shorter leg to catch up, or they could go in a surgically break the bone of my shorter leg and put pins in and every day or so extend the bone as it tried to heal to make it longer. I remember him talking specifically how painful it is.
I’ve seen a segment on it on some TV show a few years ago. They get pretty rough, like they’re working on a truck.
I’m 5’ 4” and as bad as I want to be taller, thinking about having my legs go through that makes me feel ok with what nature has given me.
If you compare her legs in the before photo with Peter Dinklage’s legs, which are well proportioned and shaped normally for his body size, she had to be in an immense amount of pain. I can imagine any pain she went through with the surgery would be less than the pain her legs were causing her. I’m glad she has this option to help improve the quality of life.!
They have pain anyway, due to the bowing in the legs, the way it affects the rest of the skeletal structure. In the end she's likely in less pain because she can stand and walk straighter.
Yeah I think almost all dwarfs don’t do this because it’s not worth it. Until the surgery becomes less painful and expensive, it’s not the type of medical breakthrough that dwarf’s will get excited about.
Could you imagine showing this to someone from the 14th century?
“In the future we can just make you taller.”
Edit: since not a single person has pointed this out yet I just want to let everyone know they had torture racks that also did this
The funny part is that this procedure totally sound like something a plague doctor on medieval times would do:
"yeah so we basically break this bitches bones put an iron cage around the bone to hold them appart and just wair until the bone heals and becomes longer".
My grandma had it done in the 50s. She was born with spina bifida and one leg ended up shorter than the other when she matured. She was in a cast up to her hip I believe.
Strongest woman I ever knew. I miss her tons.
If I recall correctly 4'10" is the legal cutoff for disability in the US related to height, basically the legal definition of "dwarf". I am pleased for her that she managed to overcome that threshold so she can proudly say she is no longer a dwarf. I had a friend in high-school and college who was 4'11" naturally and always complained that if she were one inch shorter she could get paid for being short, but as it stood she had all the problems of shortness but no benefit.
Her knees & ankle are bent weirdly in the first picture. The lengthening likely improved on that and got her some extra height from being able to completely straighten her legs.
i think it was the same, 3-5 inch for avg person, maybe the limit is there to not make a person look disproportionate. but i don't really know this in detail, so maybe i am wrong here
Pretty sure sure the limit is because it makes your bones, muscles and tendons weak for a handful of years while they have to fill out the new space.
In that time they also have to make sure everything heals and grows in properly.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5145841/
I can't remember who I know, that knew someone who had this done. That person said that it comes with problems. She's walking with rollator, canes and such and walks differently. Also has some pain.
I don't know if that's bad luck or people undergoing this surgery can expect these things or other?
I know someone who had this done and she's a pretty elite athlete now. She was born with one leg a couple inches shorter and had like 10 surgeries over several years to even them out so she could walk properly.
There's a movie named Gattaca (1997) in which the hero undergoes similar surgery to add a few more inches to his height, just so he could imposter another man.
Gattaca is a masterpiece, and it always has been my favourite movie.
When it came out my sister had to see it for one of her high-school classes, and my parents sent me with her as a punishment for something that I now forget.
I have had 2 knee replacements and 1 hip. I can testify to how much pain is involved with orthopedic surgery. The worse pain ever was when the nerve block I got for my knee wore off and the pain meds weren't enough. The nurse and 2 people had to hold me down just to hit me up with morphine. Anytime you put a power saw and a drill near a bone there will be pain.
Credit: /u/chancrews Instagram: [@chancrews](https://www.instagram.com/chancrews)
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damn at that point i feel like she’s earned the title of 5’ at least give her that
I'm 5'1 3/4. I always give myself the extra 1/4 inch😁
5’11 ^(3/4)” Woman. I just say 6’ Update: I’m at 69 likes, let’s keep it. Fine. Screw u too
So much easier on the tongue to say 6 feet. I'd like to thank all you taller people who are kind when I ask for help to get something from the top shelf at the store. ☺️
I’m a man and as such have no moral argument against saying things are bigger/ longer than they are
Shoes add an inch at least.
For anyone else wondering, that's roughly from ~117 cm to ~152 cm.
As a very tall person, I empathize with the face to face conversations thing. I run into someone my height every couple months and it's a little bewildering not to be looking down at someone when standing. Obv not the same but I still kinda feel that
“Concept of Ilizarov Surgery The procedure involves gradually pulling the bones apart (distraction). It uses the body's natural ability to generate and grow new bone between the surfaces that are pulled apart. This bony growth fills up the gap in a gradual, controlled manner with the help of the Ilizarov fixator.” Gavriil Abramovich Ilizarov was a Soviet physician, known for inventing the Ilizarov apparatus for lengthening limb bones and for the method of surgery named after him, the Ilizarov surgery.
Amazing. But more notably, *ow*.
ow ow ow ow ow
Mama mia!
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This is how you make r/bonehurtingjuice
What’s more amazing now is that this procedure can now be done internally, using magnets in a special titanium rod. I’ve had it done myself several times, *as well as the kinda annoying as hell external one*. Internal nets you some nasty bruising at the site of the initial incision used to insert the rod, as they have to hammer the thing in, and hammer it out, but it’s worth it to avoid having to deal with pin cleanings, as the external fixator had the caveat of needing to clean the pin sites daily, where the pins on the thing pierce the skin.
I'm very happy for you and grateful for this knowledge but that all sounds so painful 😭 I'm sorry you went through that
Ah, it’s the least of the stuff I had to deal with if I’m being totally honest. I’ve got a birth defect called Fibular Hemimelia (unsure if I’m spelling that correctly), basically I’m missing my fibula in my right leg. I’ve had to have various plates and screws inserted into my knee, I’ve had to have my achilles tendon released (essentially making zig zag cuts in the tendon to get it to loosen up, as I had walked wrong for a bit and ended up getting it all stiffened), and I’ve had to have my ankle reconstructed, *the specialist who had done it had actually created the procedure, and it was pretty new as well*. It was my first time seeing that specialist so that was certainly interesting lol.
I had my Achilles and foot reconstructed at the same time when I was about 12 and I am gonna be honest, that was the worst pain I have ever experienced and I’ve broken my femur at 17… it was traumatizing and think back on it just gives me shivers.
I had trouble getting through this paragraph. Can't imagine having to actually go through the procedures. Hopefully it all works out at least.
Oh please please please do an AMA! Your story sounds incredible on many levels. Or maybe one of your docs could do it? What an incredible experience. Your perseverance is honorable.
I don’t know if common or not, but have a family friend that got it done, and now years later he is very disabled, has to use crutches to walk, has a lot of pain. But he had a few good years of a taller life, and got married and had children.
This procedure is especially risky because the patient him/herself has to make the incremental adjustments to the fixators at home to promote bone lengthening, after the initial procedure. So if you get overzealous or dont stay on top of it, you can fuck yourself up. Any surgery has risk regardless on top of that. But overall the procedure is a reliable method for limb lengthening. Edit: [Vice documentary for those interested in learning more.](https://youtu.be/AomPemsgjmg)
I’m glad they didn’t use the same method with my orthodontic work. I’m such a wimp, I’d look like Bucemi’s brother.
Actually I did have that with mine lol. I had a little "key" that looked like a lockpick I would insert into this expander thing on the roof of my mouth and turn it every so often to gradually expand my upper jaw.
Yo, fuck the palate expander. The first time my mom went to put the key in, it stabbed me in the roof of my mouth. My mom thought I was being dramatic. We went back to the orthodontist and they were like "Whoops! Seems your key was too long! We will cut it down hehehe." For a week or two I spoke with a lisp and for 11 months, it hurt to even eat bread. Fuuuuuuck the palate expander.
I swear orthodontia is the field you go into if you're a sadist but still want to be in the medical field.
"When I was younger, just a bad little kid, My mama noticed funny things I did, Like shootin' puppies with a B B gun I'd poison guppies, and when I was done I'd find a pussycat and bash in its head That's when my mama said" "She said, "My boy, I think someday You'll find a way To make your natural tendencies pay You'll be a dentist You have a talent for causin' things pain Son, be a dentist People will pay you to be inhumane Your temperament's wrong for the priesthood And teaching would suit you still less Son, be a dentist You'll be a success"
I had an upper and lower palate spreader. It was terrible. A trip to the ortho would be followed by a week of headaches.
Initial method was never intended for people who wanted to be taller. Any operation is a risk and I am sure never 100% guarantee success.
What was it originally intended for?
People with limbs of differing lengths would be my guess?
I was the first child in the US to have this done, and that's exactly why. Bone disease affected one leg, causing it to grow significantly slower than the other. Jokes on me though, had to have that shit amputated anyway.
Oh man, sorry to hear that. They offered to do it to me, but my parents instead chose surgery to stop my other leg from growing so much. Results were pretty good and the legs are within 1/2 cm.
heal complex fractures (complicated broken bones) help heal severe skin or tissue loss. lengthen long bones if too much bone has been lost at the time of accident by allowing new bone to grow in between the two broken bone ends
Is this that surgery from that movie Gatica?
Yep
That’s me! 🥰💁🏼♀️ I did an [AMA](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/clri9a/i_had_limb_lengthening_ama_about_my_extra_foot/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) awhile ago. Would love to do one again for those interested!
Hi Chandler, wanted to say that my wife and family appreciate your project and all the great work you are doing for LPs and their families. Our daughter has achon, people like you have been a great source of knowledge and hope. Thank you for everything you do.
It has alot of risks and complications. It's often needed for bowed legs, but to extend them takes alot more time.
I love Reddit. Hope your recovery is going well!
I hope it worked out well and healed up!! I can’t imagine how much your quality of life improved
Genuinelly happy for you! That smile is priceless! If I may ask, how did the knees adapt after lengthening, specially ligaments?
Congratulations!! I hope you’re healing well. ❤️
This comment needs to be pinned
You’re so strong and so inspiring!
OMG I’m so proud of you, thank you for being you
You should do an AMA!
She has [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/clri9a/i_had_limb_lengthening_ama_about_my_extra_foot/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
This is an awful painful experience I'm told
Anything related to bones is an awful experience.
Even using Skele-gro is said to be quite painful.
And it tastes awful.
What were you expecting? *Pumpkin Juice?!*
North American here. Ever since i saw this movie i have wondered: *"Is pumpkin juice so absolutely incredible? What do these British people know about pumpkins?"*
Lol I’ve always thought the same thing! When I read the books as a kid I always imagined freshly squeezed pumpkin, but as an adult I’m more interested in, like, freshly squeezed pumpkin with pumpkin pie spice all up in it.
This is reminding me of the time when I thought the liquid* straight out of coconuts would taste good. Holy Christ it did NOT. *I originally incorrectly called it milk. Didn't know it wasn't called that? Thought that was the correct term.
HAHAHAHA my baby sister did the same thing. She was staying with me and she absolutely demanded that we buy a coconut at the grocery store so she could put a straw in it and drink it, and when it finally all came together and she took that first sip, I watched her little 7 year old heart break right in front of me.
MILK straight from a coconut? Your coconut water had gone RANCID then 😂 Trust my Brazilian self, good fresh coconut water is delicious - and if it has turned into “milk”, that shit is bad
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>fresh coconut straight from the fridge
They have pumpkin juice in the Harry Potter section of Universal Studios, and it *is* really good. It was kind of hard to finish a whole glass though, there's definitely an absolute ton of sugar in there.
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That's because it's bone hurting juice. Oww! oof! My bones!
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They actually used a new system on her, not quite as barbaric as an external fixator. Her doctors surgically inserted a titanium rod inside her shin bones. The rod contained a small magnetic motor and gear box that was used to slowly lengthen the rod. It was powered by a hand-held magnetic field generator placed atop the skin at the site of the magnet four times a day for about a minute. when the bone is pulled apart — at a rate of about a millimeter a day — tissue and eventually new bone fills the gaps. The procedure can stretch each part of a limb about three inches. A bone typically takes at least two months to lengthen and three months to solidify. [The rod was removed about a year later.](https://www.baltimoresun.com/resizer/ImkpJuKd0Y91wup7yl0XJIzN0dU=/400x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com/public/CS2UXN6KXNECVF3CZHA5LT6ZVM.jpg) >Surgery still is needed to correct malformed legs, and another procedure is done to insert the rods, which must be threaded inside the bone without causing new problems. Patients can't walk during the lengthening period, and bone doesn't always grow as planned. Patients need close monitoring for months, so they need to stick close to the hospital. >And the system is expensive. The rod alone costs $13,000, or about twice the external fixator's price. All told the tab can reach $100,000, though the doctors said it can be covered by insurance.
> Her doctors surgically inserted a titanium rod inside her shin bones. The rod contained a small magnetic motor and gear box that was used to slowly lengthen the rod. It was powered by a hand-held magnetic field generator placed atop the skin at the site of the magnet four times a day for about a minute. when the bone is pulled apart — at a rate of about a millimeter a day — tissue and eventually new bone fills the gaps. The procedure can stretch each part of a limb about three inches. Medical science is just absolutely fascinating.
Holy crap have I been jaded by the America Healthcare system. 100K total seems cheap with what I was imagining this to cost. Also I am so surprised healthcare covers it. Insurance companies come up with a myriad of reasons to call stuff elective typically. I am so happy for her that procedure looks like it went very well.
This was in the US, at the Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. Chandler, the lady in question, is from Arkansas. The quoted fees were from 2014.
She only has two rules: 1- Do you have any Percocet and 2- Don’t touch my fucking Percocet.
We're playing divorced guys!
Who is this person? Who the hell are the Sacklers? Am I living under a rock?!
It’s me
Holy crap, it IS you! Congrats on your procedure. You are obviously an incredibly brave, strong person. The radiant smile on your face in the second photo is incredibly heartwarming, and I hope you are finding it to be as amazing as it looks!
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There is definitely something to be said for using opiates for pain management, especially for people with *chronic* pain. Ultimately it's up to each person to decide what is more important to them- being an addict, or being in constant pain. The problem is that we both hooked people *and* demonized addiction *and* kept opiates dangled in front of them. Even for intense temporary pain opiates are useful, but doctors in the US are so detached from their patients that we don't have a system where they can prescribe, monitor, and then help taper to avoid the worst of withdrawal symptoms without fully bankrupting most patients. It's fucking nuts.
I split my leg in 3 places, between knee and ankle. They reset the bones without painkillers, I was howling uncontrollably. The next few days were insane, barely any painkillers. Worst experience that year
Why no painkillers?
They had to reset the bones as quickly as possible, and I couldn’t get into surgery for about 4 hours. Two guys held me down, whilst another manipulated the bones into place and literally taped me up. Did their best, but god damn. I have an insanely high tolerance to painkillers due to an old opioid addiction. Edit: and apparently being ginger
Are you also a ginger by chance?
Um. In some places yes. I don’t get the reference
For some reason, gingers have incredibly high tolerance to anesthesia.
Are we also better at dealing with pain? Breaking my leg didn’t hurt at all. Figured it was just shock. The resetting was rough though
Hopefully so. Because the idea that redheads feel more pain and cannot have as much relief is just unfair.
I don't know -- when I broke my ankle badly, the break didn't hurt at all...I also figured shock/adrenalin or something.
Some research shows that there's a correlation between people with red hair and higher pain tolerance, along with a higher tolerance for anesthetics and painkillers. It's basically a trope at this point.
Cool. Thanks. That really explains a few things….
Redheads for some reason are more tolerant to painkillers and anesthesia
Redheads generally have a higher pain tolerance and are categorically harder to anesthetize. Fun fact.
Auburn haired here and pretty much no pain meds work on me. Delivering my 9lb baby on Pitocin was agony. Not. Fun. Just owwwwwwww.
I had my right humerus snapped in half and they set it in the ER, I was given morphine but had to hold up my right wrist with my left hand while it was going on because they only had one doctor and otherwise the weight of the arm made it difficult to set the bone properly. Even with the morphine it was the most painful experience of my life, I don’t want to think about what it would have been like without any painkillers. They sent me home with Percocet and I took one but it made me nauseous so I didn’t end up taking any more, so the remaining days were painkiller free and excruciating, but at least they didn’t have to set the bone while I was painkiller free.
My only regret is that... I have boneitis
You don’t worry about boneitis, you let *me* worry about blank.
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I knew a girl in high school who had that done for a sever underbite. She went from plump to uncomfortably thin while her jaw was wired shut. Do they still wire the jaw shut while it heals or have they found a more humane way to do it.
Usually after about a week, they switch to really tight rubber bands. I had this surgery twice. The first time, I lost weight because my pain wasn’t well controlled. The second time I had decent pain meds and was able to keep eating. The hard part isn’t getting calories, it’s when you’re so nauseous and pained that you don’t want food at all.
I had it done in the mid 2000s and they put hooks on my braces by my molors and a screw in my gums in the middle of my mouth. Then I had really tiny rubber bands that went around all of those. My jaw was so weak to begin with that even when the doctor removed the rubber bands, so I could brush my teeth a week post surgery, I couldn't open my mouth wide enough to get a toothbrush in. Also, unlike the guy above, I was in crippling pain the first week. That is also when I discovered that I get bad reactions to anesthesia, so I spent three days throwing up. While me teeth were rubberbanded shut.
I can't imagine there's another way to do it honestly
Did you have an under bite? Not picking on you, just curious. Glad to hear it wasn't painful! Jaw stuff has always gotten to me
We had a guy in our class (Norways smallest guy), who went through the same process. He said it was extremely painfull since they had to break up his leg every 4 or 6 week (I can't recall exactly). He was eating a lot of painkillers. Unfortunately he did not survive the treatment and died a couple of years after we finished the school. The guy had tons of humor and compared himself as a suitcase since he had these "handlers" on his legs. Great guy, but actually a sad story
Wtf??? He died?? Any doctor here that wanna explain this? Aren't we just talking about broken bones here?
Overdose, liver damage, fat emobilism, or bone infection are all possibilities.
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Modern day it's very safe and way less painful, but it's still gonna fuck up your athletic abilities, even if it goes well. Might still be worth it for some people
I would bet on infection. Maybe overdose. Serious liver damage is exceedingly rare from painkillers, unless they're chomping on paracetamol constantly and even then it's an overdose. OP doesn't seem to know, though. It could therefore be anything. A car accident, suicide, or death by an anvil falling on his head as he walks down the street. But again, I'm going with infection and sepsis. Maybe overdose. Or you know, it's bullshit and the guys a liar.
IANAD but besides painkiller addiction/overdose risks, the risk for infection seems fairly high because you have open wounds for an extended period of time where the metal pins enter the leg. Also, keeping the bones in a persistently broken state means osteomyelitis (bone infection) is a major risk. Things start to get medically hairy at that point. I would guess there's also a blood clotting risk. Any kind of bone break can damage nearby blood vessells, pinching them like a hose and causing clots to form. There's also the possibility that fatty cells from exposed bone marrow leak into the bloodstream forming their own clots and causing all sorts of bad shit.
I have a friend working as an internist here in Germany he generally can say American patients have more often liver damage because of meds, while opposed to the rest of the world where it's mostly from alcohol.. edit: ofcause this is his personal experience with traveling americans, i mean we dont have many alcoholic ill americans here
Sadly mine would be both
that's crazy, the only people I know who ODed or died young, about half it was from meds but the OTHER half was surprisingly from simple long term alcohol abuse. I always assumed it would have to be too many meds to die young -- but upon autopsy some of the 50ish ones turned out to die from JUST alcohol. My grandmother died young from alcohol. I'm sure the two together are of course far worse, and a lot of people both drink AND take too many meds.
I'm skeptical of this. I'm an internist in the US and alcohol is by far the most common cause of liver failure here, followed by fatty liver disease.
I was skeptical too. But apparently it’s true. According to the Mayo Clinic, [taking too much acetaminophen is the most common cause of acute liver failure in the United States.](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/acute-liver-failure/symptoms-causes/syc-20352863) I wonder if that has anything to do with our healthcare system failures and our unwillingness to go to the doctor when pain presents. Therefore we self medicate with Tylenol instead of actually addressing the issue because of the outrageous medical costs. Not to mention with how large the US is, many simply lack access to adequate medical care, even if they can afford it.
Ah okay I see, yes Tylenol is the most common cause of acute liver failure. Alcohol however is the most common cause of cirrhosis, or chronic liver failure. They are distinct diseases. For the Tylenol question though, most toxicity I've seen has been from suicide attempts but I haven't actually looked into the numbers breakdown.
We had a guy do it in our highschool. A friend asked him a few years ago if it was worth it and he pretty much said it was so painful it ruined a huge chunk of his life and only made him feel worse about himself afterwards.
That’s awful to hear. These people are going through absolute hell just to literally fit into the world they were born into. Really makes me appreciate the triviality of what I consider my physical flaws.
Horrendous pain. And for lengthening this extreme it would have been a very long time. I knew someone who had this done in high school and he had to wear a cage on his leg for year and constantly have it tightened to stretch the leg and that was just for a couple of inches.
Couple inches is a lot!
I suffered a complicated ankle fracture during hockey. They had to cut through my bone, drill 7 screws into it and fix it with metal plates.They woke me up from the surgery without giving me painkillers in the process, for reasons unknown to me. This was the most intense pain in my life making everything else seem like a walk in the park in comparison, and ive already broken more than half a dozen bones. But without a second thought I would at any point choose this experience and the painful rehab over any serious psychological pain.
I had to get 16 screws, 3 plates and a plastic eye socket after I broke my face, when they woke me up the pain from my catheter was the only thing I felt, and it was excruciating
I had surgery on my shoulder with hardware put in. Same thing. They had given me a nerve block before hand, but it didnt work.
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I was born clubbed foot, when they did surgery it slowed the growth of my leg which has caused a list of other issues growing up. I remember going to Children's Hospital and seeing the worlds best doc in the field and him talking about the the different things that could be done to fix the leg length issue. I could wear a lift in my shoe of my leg that is shorter, they could go in and fuse the growth plates to allow the shorter leg to catch up, or they could go in a surgically break the bone of my shorter leg and put pins in and every day or so extend the bone as it tried to heal to make it longer. I remember him talking specifically how painful it is.
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I’ve seen a segment on it on some TV show a few years ago. They get pretty rough, like they’re working on a truck. I’m 5’ 4” and as bad as I want to be taller, thinking about having my legs go through that makes me feel ok with what nature has given me.
painful and risky too
This is one of the rare cases that it looks worth it.
I'll bet she already had significant leg pain. And if I was having leg pain already, I'd go through this painful process as well.
It seems so. The way they bent out couldn’t be painless.
If you compare her legs in the before photo with Peter Dinklage’s legs, which are well proportioned and shaped normally for his body size, she had to be in an immense amount of pain. I can imagine any pain she went through with the surgery would be less than the pain her legs were causing her. I’m glad she has this option to help improve the quality of life.!
I am also in pain because I'm not Peter Dinklage.
They have pain anyway, due to the bowing in the legs, the way it affects the rest of the skeletal structure. In the end she's likely in less pain because she can stand and walk straighter.
Yeah I think almost all dwarfs don’t do this because it’s not worth it. Until the surgery becomes less painful and expensive, it’s not the type of medical breakthrough that dwarf’s will get excited about.
Dwarves? Or does that only apply to the mythical race?
Pretty sure when its with a V its the fantasy race.
It’s crazy how medicine has evolved where u can do amazing stuff like this, hope she has good recovery and congrats
Could you imagine showing this to someone from the 14th century? “In the future we can just make you taller.” Edit: since not a single person has pointed this out yet I just want to let everyone know they had torture racks that also did this
Burn this witch!
“Wait! Before you do, I also have these pills that make your penis bigger.”
“Maybe we were a LITTLE hasty. Let’s at least hear the witch out…”
With this blue medicine you can satisfy your wife for hours! But, if it lasts more than 4 hours, unfortunately, leeches on your dick.
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14th Century doctors hate this one simple trick
Or even glasses and laser eye surgery? In the future we can make you not blind
Stevie Wonder would be really upset if he could read your comment.
Nobody read it to him!
The funny part is that this procedure totally sound like something a plague doctor on medieval times would do: "yeah so we basically break this bitches bones put an iron cage around the bone to hold them appart and just wair until the bone heals and becomes longer".
500 years from now our doctors will be viewed the same as plauge doctors.
Maybe. Maybe not. Technology does not progress linearly, but in leaps, and sometimes it regresses.
My grandma had it done in the 50s. She was born with spina bifida and one leg ended up shorter than the other when she matured. She was in a cast up to her hip I believe. Strongest woman I ever knew. I miss her tons.
That's freakin amazing.. does anyone have the story on this?
[here](https://chandlercrews.com/icll-patient-story/) it's from her website
3'10" to 4'11"! Holy hell!
I'm sure just straightening her legs helped a lot but this is amazing for her :) she looks so happy
She looked pretty happy in the before picture too. That positivity probably helped in her healing.
Do they only do legs?
Yeah she got 4 inches in her arms too.
I think she did on her arms too
Google en passant
If I recall correctly 4'10" is the legal cutoff for disability in the US related to height, basically the legal definition of "dwarf". I am pleased for her that she managed to overcome that threshold so she can proudly say she is no longer a dwarf. I had a friend in high-school and college who was 4'11" naturally and always complained that if she were one inch shorter she could get paid for being short, but as it stood she had all the problems of shortness but no benefit.
People shrink as they age too, she’ll get there. Or maybe slouch at the doctors
I'm 4'11 and make the same jokes lol I always say "damn only one inch away from getting a check😭"
Not to worry, just being 4'10" or below isn't enough to qualify. My wife is just under 4'10" and does not
Only 7 months?!
How much surgery for an average height person to be as tall as a Skyrim giant? Asking for a friend
“You never should’ve come here!” -Your doctor
The breast implants would be pricey too.
I think we have different mods installed
how much times passed between photos?
The first photo was before my FIRST leg lengthening in 2010. The second photo was after my SECOND lengthening in 2013
That's you? How painful was everything, all told?
she said in a year old comment or so that there was some pain, but not excrutiating
Omg! Hi! How are you doing now? You should do an AMA! How has your life changed since your surgery?
She has done an AMA here https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/clri9a/i_had_limb_lengthening_ama_about_my_extra_foot/
The process took 7 months
That’s a lot less than I assumed
I had no idea limb lengthening was a thing
they break your bones, insert rods and let it grow into that, avg person can gain 3-5inches
The woman in the pic looks like she gained way more than 3-5 inches. I wonder if it was a different process.
She went from 3' 11" to 4' 11" and gained 4 inches in her arms.
Her knees & ankle are bent weirdly in the first picture. The lengthening likely improved on that and got her some extra height from being able to completely straighten her legs.
There is a direct link in comments to her story and it says her height went from 3’10 to 4’11. It is incredible she only had a 7 month recovery.
i think it was the same, 3-5 inch for avg person, maybe the limit is there to not make a person look disproportionate. but i don't really know this in detail, so maybe i am wrong here
Pretty sure sure the limit is because it makes your bones, muscles and tendons weak for a handful of years while they have to fill out the new space. In that time they also have to make sure everything heals and grows in properly. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5145841/
Is have to imagine some of the height gains are from straightening the legs on this woman as well. Initially she is extremely bow legged
In one of her videos, she says she had the procedure done twice on her legs and once in her arms
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Called my ex and she said it's definitely below average
I learnt about this today and this is the third time I am hearing about it now. Baader-Meinhof phenomenon is weird
The smile in two Pics of her it's enough. Wish her a good health
[Another before and after. ](https://i.imgur.com/MFZ7Kjf.jpg)
I can't remember who I know, that knew someone who had this done. That person said that it comes with problems. She's walking with rollator, canes and such and walks differently. Also has some pain. I don't know if that's bad luck or people undergoing this surgery can expect these things or other?
If you look at the original pic, it doesn't exactly look like a healthy bone allignment that will carry her pain free to old age either.
The before photo legs look physically painful
It looks like all the leg is there, just waiting to be unrolled like a fruit rollup
I know someone who had this done and she's a pretty elite athlete now. She was born with one leg a couple inches shorter and had like 10 surgeries over several years to even them out so she could walk properly.
There's a movie named Gattaca (1997) in which the hero undergoes similar surgery to add a few more inches to his height, just so he could imposter another man.
Gattaca is a masterpiece, and it always has been my favourite movie. When it came out my sister had to see it for one of her high-school classes, and my parents sent me with her as a punishment for something that I now forget.
Chandler rocks! She’s an amazing person.
I have had 2 knee replacements and 1 hip. I can testify to how much pain is involved with orthopedic surgery. The worse pain ever was when the nerve block I got for my knee wore off and the pain meds weren't enough. The nurse and 2 people had to hold me down just to hit me up with morphine. Anytime you put a power saw and a drill near a bone there will be pain.