Quick question..

[che]

Out of interest, what's the name of that surgical procedure for the vertically challenged who wish to grow taller? In which the surgeon purposely breaks the several parts of the leg bone, then stretches the flesh then fixed with a metal frame (Forest Gump style) for the bone to to heal result with longer leg bones?

[nicola_red]

I actually had this done but I don't think it has a particular name.  (I could be wrong!)  My consultants always just referred to it as 'leg lengthening'.  But the metal frame is called an external fixator if that helps.

[nicola_red]

Further to that I did a quick google and can only find it referred to as leg lengthening so I think I was right - here's a site with more info:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002965

che, I'd be interested to know why you asked, just cos I had this op...?

[che]

Nicola thanks for answering, I mainly asked the question just out of interest. But admittedly even though I'm of 'average height' I do get a bit sensitive about it especially when I'm around taller people particulary with me being in my 20s image is an important thing.
And I'll be in denial if I said it was not in the back of my head, and I'm toying with the idea of wether I should consider doing something like this in the future.


Anyway, theres a couple more questions I'd like to add if that's OK by you.
-Where did you get the procedure done? I doubt the NHS (UK) will this sort of procedure. particulary with case of average height it's more cosmetic (albeit mentally) than a solution to some disablity.
-How long did you have the metal frames for and how long was till back walking? And what did you do during that period of disabilty?

[nicola_red]

Hi che,

I actually only had the procedure on one leg cos I was born with congenital hip dislocation and as a result had one leg shorter than the other.  The resulting limp was causing my spine to curve and if not corrected I would probably have eventually ended up in a wheelchair.  Therefore it wasn't considered cosmetic and I had it done on the NHS in my home town of Preston, Lancs.  I was in touch with some other patients undergoing the same procedure including one who had it on both legs, but she was a 'dwarf' (possibly a politically incorrect term, not sure what the right word is!)

I had the fixator in my leg for just over 18 months which is longer than average.  The problem was that my bone was refusing to knit back together - nobody knew for sure why.  In the end they took the fixator out and put a metal plate inside my thigh and also did a bone graft from my hip to hold it all together.  I was on crutches for just under 2 years and during that time I couldn't work and was claiming disability benefits.  I also lost some of the bend in my knee due to just not bending it for the whole time I had the fixator in - I had some other surgery to try and fix that, with varying degrees of success.  So it's not without risks.

I hope this has helped a bit - please ask if you want to know any more.

[FTVS]

I saw a documenatary on this about a  little girl who had it done. It looked horrifically painful and the girl gave up after a few months.

[nicola_red]

Not horrifically painful FTVS.  There was a couple weeks of bad pain and a lot of middling pain which was easily controllable by prescription painkillers.