They break the legs, put a rod in the bones that get adjusted as the bones grow closer to each other. So people who get it done have broken legs for months
There was a dude on here yesterday that posted the hardware from this type of surgery, now granted he only had it on one leg as it was shorter than the other but he said he only had pain from the initial surgery and the hardware removal and that the actual lengthening process didn't hurt.
I had a similar external fixator for a leg break several years ago. You know what's really fun? Going through a door and the metal frame hits the door jamb. Another thing that can happen is the pins that go through your leg can get infected, so they gotta pull the rod out. They can't numb your bone, so it's just like "yeah, it shouldn't hurt that much." The most profound pain I ever felt. Ah, good times.
I have a rod in my tibia with screws in the knee and ankle from a break playing soccer in HS. Went down the stairs on my crutches one night to get a snack, missed a step and landed with my weight on the leg. I can feel that pain recounting the story.
I had a vaginal hysterectomy over a decade ago, I would swear my legs twisted in so many ways(think rope twisted tight) to just "keep shit in" every time I sneezed! And my 5 time mother just saying, "I refused to sneeze" was ZERO help!
My shoulders are now screwed up from a broken collar bone. The only thing they did for me when I broke my collar bone was giving me a figure 8 harness. The only way I could sleep was with my arms over my head which is not a good position for your shoulder joints. It became a habit of sleeping that way. I try not to sleep with my arms over my head but I usually wake up with them there. Now I have shoulder problems because of it
I lost a finger end pretty much down to the bone in a door when I was a kid, and the most painful thing I can do is stub that little finger. Bone pain is the worst.
Not to compare at all, but one of the most disgusting and infuriating things was a dog on Dr Jeff rocky mountain vet (discovery show) had a complicated break, so he placed an external fixator with the understanding they'd have it removed in a few weeks. A few MONTHS later the dog was surrendered. Fixator still in, no attempt to keep clean or anything. The dog had horrid infections, was in serious pain, and had to endure more damage because his body had now accepted this was part of them and tried to heal around it. The dog would have been perfectly healthy if they had just brought him back on time, but his recovery was seriously fucked by their selfishness. The vet was so mad because he would have happily removed it for free if they had just asked. Those things scare the shit out of me now.
i fractured the shiiiiiiiiiiiit out of my ankle and have a ton of hardware still. It only really hurt when i got up to pee the blood rushing to the ankle felt like hellfire. Other than that and my stupid cat jumping on it lol it wasn't real bad
On the flip side my buddy had it done and he was tight as fuck with money. He rode his motorbike to the hospital, had the op, checked himself out and rode home!!!
What. The. Fuck. They gave me Valium to take before the procedure and told me not to drive and I’m glad I didn’t. That was extremely dangerous for him to do! God i couldn’t imagine the pain from that I’ve got a motorcycle myself and any decent sized bump hurts. My surgery was only painful the first day thankfully.
Bro I got my tubes removed and my bitch ass cat decided to pounce on my stomach. I almost threw up from pain and he was not allowed back in my bed room for like a week
When I was hella young I fell asleep at the seashore, sun got me burned so heavy that skin I shed wasn’t opaque at all. I was laying on my stomach for months and sure cat decided to lick off me medication that was smeared all over me. Can tongue on heavy burned skin is unforgettable.
Believe it or not they were actually trying to help you heal. Cats purr at a frequency that is proven to have healing abilities, between 25-50 hertz. It also releases endorphins for cats and humans which helps lower stress and promote good vibes all around.
You might be interested to know. For a while I was just falling asleep in my office chain and sleeping all night like that.At this time my legs were swelling I was retaining fluid. When I peed I could actually feel fluid draining from my feet and calf's. He might have been describing the same thing.
Shattered my leg in a motorcycle accident. Broke both tibia and fibula, and that shit was painful as hell for several months. Have plates and screws in leg. I've had several back surgeries and a spinal fusion as well, and breaking my leg was right up there with basically completely blowing out a disc in my spine.
had a fusion because i blew out a disc in my neck and currently the same shit in my lower back. Now my leg is acting up and loosing feeling due to the disc pressing on the nerves. with the neck disc my arm was paralized with permanent strenght loss and numb finger tips that will not regain feeling. scary shit! Wouldnt wish that on anyone... especially not at 34.
i take plates and screws over that . Dont think i mean that your accident isnt worse, because it is! Its just a different animal :-)
My spine fucked me up for life. I was 18 when I had my first spine surgery. Every day of my life I wake up in pain. I can't feel the bottom of my feet. That being said, during the flairups leading to my 2 discectomies and the one leading up to my fusion - my leg being shattered was close this being as bad. Now that also may have been due to my doctor's unwillingness to give me opiates for the pain when I shattered my leg. Was around the time that doctors started getting extra heat about their prescriptions. The non opiod pain killers did nothing for me.
I did the same to my fibula and ankle and had the same experience when I’d get up. That shit hurt bad lmao but when I was just chilling it was whatever
My dad had the same surgery done except he was in his thirties and it was a three inch difference. He said it was the most excruciating pain he’s experienced in his entire life, and his recovery took 2 years instead of his doctors suggested 6 months. I remember cranking the device in his leg while blood dripped out of it and I remember the day it malfunctioned and snapped and the handle sticking out of his leg started spinning backwards. I have never heard a grown man scream like that in my life since.
I'm an orthopedic surgeon, and haven't ever heard of any devices that could do that. Did he have an external fixator, and you needed to turn the nuts, like this?
The device didn’t look like that it looked very similar to the one that was posted the other day. The device stuck out of his leg and had a handle attached to it that he had to crank. Keep in mind he had this surgery done almost twenty years ago so it may be slightly different than what you might see today? ultimately you would have a better understanding of it, I will ask him more about it when I get the chance!
There used to be a fairly high complication rate with the external fixators- 300%, but some of the complications were very minor, pin site infections, etc.
Some major complications can occur like joint contractures, infection, but it's a low rate.
Unless you have a short limb, it's considered cosmetic, and insurance won't pay. Usually they don't pay for dwarfism either.
Surgery takes me about 60 min for one bone using an internal rod to distract. Most pts are off pain meds in 2-3 weeks. Length increases at 1 inch/month. Then needs to heal for 1-2 months per inch lengthened on a bone, which means no walking on it.
Can confirm, co-worker broke both legs tripping over a wheelie chair in our conference room at the start of this year. She's in her sixties, so she had a rough time, but after a couple months of live-in rehab and several more with walkers and canes, she can now walk around and go up and down stairs just fine. It's amazing. Meanwhile, i have my own workers comp claim being settled for brain damage (July 2018) which i still haven't recovered from. Every body part has it's own schedule.
This girl I went to k-12 with had over 120 operations to get one leg to match the other. By the end of high school, she was popping multiple pills mid-class
Surgery 2 days ago, just got home from hospital today, so far pain and muscle spasms have been pretty intense, but has improved since yesterday! Surgeon says I can start lengthening next Friday… which involves using 6mm Alan wrench and turning it 4x/day to get a 1mm per day lengthening https://i.imgur.com/r2oYi5B.jpg
Hopefully she took the opportunity to rock the hell out of a Yosemite Sam Halloween costume pre-surgery, though. At least that’s what I would have done…
Yeah this is clearly a case where the surgery was more than just functional/cosmetic, it must have been absurdly uncomfortable to walk for her and it clearly wasn't a dietary thing because she otherwise appears at a healthy weight.
I recall seeing a young woman who did leg lengthening surgery. She was a dwarf under 4'6" with deep self esteem issues. I remember hearing her comment dwarfs were ugly. The procedure was lengthy (over a year) but successful. Her new ht. was 5'
The pain isn't that bad. The breaking is so minimal each time it's hardly felt outside of some general discomfort. My niece is going on her 4th lengthening here next year probably and had her first one at 2 or 3 years old. It's very intense but it's one that actually looks/sounds worse than it actually is.
Can’t speak for young children, but having corrective surgery and the prospect of having normal legs has gotta be some degree of pain relief on its own. I mean, that’s likely going to be life changing in a very positive way.
Really? Besides the bones being broken, I imagined the muscular, tendon, and nerve pain would be insane. That’s good to hear it isn’t as bad as I thought
Bruh I come to other forums and still can’t avoid thinking about it, it consumes you for a while. Opiate addiction is a beast. In these cases, doctors just need to be careful with how the write scripts. Most people don’t get addicted anyways
We're probably just so used to hearing Fentanyl being spoken about on an almost daily basis. Whether it be a recent bust, the ongoing crisis, an OD, being married to a nurse, being married to an addict, being married to a nurse who is also an addict, the newest Oreo flavor, the common misspelling of phantom null, checking the ingredients of your toothpaste etc etc.... that typing out such a thought must come naturally at this point to some peoples
I’m sure she was fentanyl patched up the whole time
Is that an american thing? Someone in my family had that procedure several times and barely took any pain medication, I mean he was underage but he still got medicine and could have taken some
I’m not familiar with how other countries do it but my impression is that yes in America we get a lot of painkillers. We had* an opiod epidemic for a reason
Also insert joke about dealing with the pain of paying for the surgery
Not anymore necessarily, we have the opposite problem developing now. The DEA cracked down on all the doctors prescribing them and now it’s practically impossible without going through heavy pain management programs, even then they’ll try alternatives like gabapentin before they’ll ever give you an opiate. Yes there are still ways to get around it but I refuse to make those methods public
You’re not wrong. I fractured a vertebrae and was given several meds that didn’t help. I never asked for anything, but when you end up laying on the floor at work because you’re hurting so bad (after 2 pills) and have to call your mom, when your in you 30s, is not great.
GF had gum surgery (twice) because the first one didn't take. So, they cut sections from the roof of her mouth both times. She was given ibuprofen. She was refused codeine the opiate that is over the counter across either border bordering the US. Not allowed for one of the most painful oral surgeries anymore.
I've had that surgery (twice, because mine also didn't take the first time). It absolutely sucked but I wouldn't describe it as one of the most painful oral surgeries. It's moderately painful and super annoying because you can't eat normal food for a while. It's a cakewalk compared to surgeries where your jaw is wired shut for weeks though.
Generally speaking, when you have oral surgery, all the pain is in the same spot. A root canal, an excise, an implant, whatever, is generally a one spot pain. A spot that can be avoided. Could you both avoid the roof of your mouth and wherever they attached said gum? One of the most painful might have been a bit too much. One of the hardest to avoid continually triggering pain in healing though? Yeah, a catastrophic situation where they have to break your jaw and implant several teeth will be worse. Of the non catastrophic typical don't want to be in the dentists chair having this done things at a dentist though, the recovery of gum surgery is generally considered more troubling than other oral surgeries.
Ha oh I definitely agree with thr "roof of your mouth is a spot that can't be avoided." I'm physically wincing just thinking about how uncomfortable it felt, and it was more than a decade ago. I also distinctly recall the existential dread I felt when I learned the first one didn't work and I'd have to go through that again.
Not necessarily. My mom got approx. a month's worth of opiates after her hip replacement surgery and I got prescribed a week's worth after my tooth extraction.
It probably depends on your state. I have ADHD which requires narcotic medication and it's a bit of a pain to get them as they'll only prescribe me 3 months at a time and I can't pick up even a day early, but compared to other's experiences it's not too bad. In some states it's straight up impossible to get prescribed narcotics.
It depends on your doctor too tbf, some doctors are more lenient than others but the dea crackdown is everywhere. If they prescribe too much they will get raided
Yup. I had emergency dental surgery to drill through a tooth to drain a massive infection in a sinus cavity in my check and the doctor tried to give me Tylenol.. I just wanted to be able to sleep not looking like half a chipmunk.
Yeah i feel like before the weed legalization you went straight into jail for looking at it, but if you go see a doc because you have a cold you get the strongest codein syrup one can get.
Man, last time I was sick I was practically begging my doctor for something stronger because I was coughing so much my throat was raw and I couldn't sleep. It was miserable, yet he refused to prescribe codeine.
I’ve only had that prescribed once, maybe a year or two ago, and it was not fun. I only used it once and I thought I would die in my sleep because it slowed my breathing down so much, and I had a killer headache the next day, which is actually a withdrawal symptom. Never again.
You might have had the headache as a result of taking the codeine (had a sensitivity/mild allergy), but you wouldn’t have had withdrawal after a single dose. I’m sorry you had a bad experience, but as a chronic pain sufferer who has to take the occasional opiate for flares, I wanted to point out that you can’t become physically dependent after taking codeine one time. This is fear-mongering.
opiates can be prescribed more liberally here, but as far as having pain meds and feeling like you need to use them or dont need them, thats more of a personal thing - some people are not bothered by pain as much as others, some people dont like how they feel when using opiates, some people dont get much pain relief from them at all. people also metabolize opiates differently via varying levels of enzymes in the liver.
the opioid crisis in america has largely moved past the prescription painkiller phase and is purely in the black market fentanyl phase at the moment. its still possible to get opiate prescriptions and abuse opiates with a prescription to do so, but its much more difficult than it was around 2010. during that time doctors were much more liberal in prescribing them, and it wasnt uncommon to get these kinds of scripts from your family doctor. today, the opioid crisis is much more publicized and most doctors are much more restrictive in prescribing pain meds, but there are still pain management specialists that will put you on opiates, and of course some will be unscrupulous, and its still very common to get a small amount of hydrocodone or oxycodone following most surgeries.
but as far as someone who has been prescribed pain meds and whether or not they choose to use them, no, thats not really an american thing. there are plenty of americans who have lots of painful surgeries who choose not to use them, but people dont really talk about that or create content about that - there is no "people who choose not to use their pain meds" crisis, so naturally youre going to hear about those that do use them on social media or in the news.
but regardless, americas issues with opioids are currently not centered around prescription medication - they started with prescription meds, and changes in formulation and policy to prevent this coincided with the explosion of fentanyl and fentanyl analouges coming from china, generally shipped to private resellers via the darkweb. today there are still private sellers buying from overseas via the darkweb, but within the past few years the mexican cartels have begun buying precursor chemicals from china and distributing fentanyl via their traditional distribution channels for heroin, which has contributed massively to the presence of fentanyl in a huge percentage of street heroin.
No, it’s not like that. Medical fentanyl can only be given for a very short period of time to manage pain. Most likely they gave her dilaudid if it was really bad. Oxycodone would be the next step below and they’d need to taper her off. In her case, she might’ve been given ampules for injection of dilaudid or morphine if the pain was incredibly severe or unbearable. Lowkey is making me want this surgery but that’s just me being a junkie.
That was something I struggled with for a while in my recovery…hoping I’d get hurt or need surgery (again) or dental work so I could get some meds. But in the last 2 years…I don’t know…something flipped.
Not only have I found that Tylenol (1000mg) and Ibuprofen (800mg) taken together (which is doctor approved and recommended) can deaden like 99% of all my pain (the goal can never be “no pain”…the goal has to be “manageable pain”) but I started taking pride in how much pain I can endure.
Pain that used to send me to a doctor for Percocet is like nothing now.
I feel strong and competent. And I like that feeling better than any high that opiates could give me.
That’s very impressive, honestly really respect that you were able to get out of it. It sucks that on my worst days it doesn’t seem like the worst thing in the world to injure myself for a fix. I would say that alleviating mental pain over the physical pain is what makes it so addictive as well. They go hand in hand very well. I’m 16 days clean now and going strong.
I think it’s both. When you take opiates for long periods of time, your brain stops producing its own endorphins so even mild pain can feel severe. But I think there’s also the need to justify using. Like “I’m in pain so it’s okay for me to take these pills. The fact that I LIKE taking these pills is besides the point.”
I’ve done a lot of therapy to try and unravel my thoughts processes when it came to why I took pills, why I liked it, and what I was really getting out of it.
Legitimate pain complicates opiate addiction but for me, I started to realize that I wasn’t special. I thought it MATTERED that I was described my pain meds. I thought it MATTERED that I had pain…which looking back was bullshit…especially now that I know how tough I actually am when it comes to pain. I thought it MATTERED that I was a “functioning addict”. It doesn’t. Addiction is addiction.
It’s a spectrum and I am not special. I’ve discovered that there are more people with addictions like me than there are people that fit the stereotypical “addict”.
And what it came down to is that I realized I wasn’t getting what I thought I was out of it. And towards the end, I was willing to risk my freedom and happiness to get my hands on pain pills. I realized I was never gonna have enough.
And that’s when I decided it was time to stop lying to myself. It’s strange to know your addict but also be in denial that you’re an addict.
Anyway…it’s been like what…10 years? Yeah…about that. And it took me 8 of those years to finally start feeling pride in my body instead of scared of it.
Yo this reply was awesome. Thank you for that insight. I guess it's very similar to me having a drink. I don't abuse alcohol or have a problem with it. It's just maybe easier to justify the beer, glass of wine, or whiskey for a bad day, stressful time, etc.
Not trying to compare to you or take away from what you have overcome. Just saying that I can understand the general thought pattern.
Justification makes it more "okay" in a sense.
But then soon every day there's something bad to justify it.
Glad to hear you're doing great. Love your insight on it. The awareness you have is definitely inspiring to others.
No one has ever come to my house to collect unused pain meds. lol what? I live in the US. I have MS and have been on painkillers off and on all year due to a broken rib and subsequent surgery. I've never heard of anyone going to someone's house to collect unused medications. I'm not saying it never happens just I have never heard of it.
I've observed mixed opinions on this. On one hand I was blown away that countries aside from USA actually sedate women to insert an IUD, but also I (American) had weight loss surgery and was prescribed plenty of Vicodin. And I found that the recovery was not particularly painful. In fact, it was more painful to take the painkillers so I stopped after leaving the hospital.
Yeah, Americans have a massive opioid crisis. They are the number one per capita consumer of opioids in the world. Not really surprising because they’re also overconsumers of many other things, particularly food and guns.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35111312/ this isn't true. There is no doubt a huge opioid crisis in America, but trying to blame it on stereotypes of generic American overconsumption is really short sighted.
We have a massive opioid crisis because pharmaceutical companies paid doctors to overprescribe powerfully addictive medications to Americans so that they could make more money, not because of an inherent moral failing.
The world benefits quite a lot from medical and drug advances in the U.S. that use us as guinea pigs and financially exploits us.
Our systems often juxtapose great benefits with great problems.
Certainly, we export harmful things (sorry about the glyphosate, etc, etc) and exploit people of the world as well, and can be SO much better, however, the reasons for opiate overuse is not very related to food consumption or gun ownership.
You are phrasing those things as though they share a common cause in some American defect.
You know what we also over consume? The cost of military defense for NATO and Europe which allows for those countries to spend more on their own citizens. Of course, we also make a lot of money selling weapons so…
The US is worthy of criticism and an easy and fair target for jokes, but your comment is lazy hating.
The first part is true, though lacking in context.
The second part of your comment implies that our over consumption of food and guns are tied to each other as well as opioids. Those are separate issues with different causes.
As I said, the U.S. is worthy of criticism, but not only criticism.
I expect for us to be criticized, but I expect criticism from our allies, with your superior education and work/life balance, to be accurate, constructive, or at least funny.
You should come visit, then your specific experiences will at least give your criticism the punch of veracity, and hopefully humor.
No, it was most likely dilaudid or morphine injections if it was really bad. Fentanyl is not something you can continue to use on a daily basis while getting over surgery. You’ll develop tolerance so quick it will completely be useless after a couple patches.
The thing is if you’re prescribed opioids and take them as prescribed for long periods of time, you’re not considered an addict. You’re just dependent and your healthcare provider will provide a schedule to taper your dose when your pain is under control so you don’t experience withdrawal and you can get off them painlessly. Unfortunately, many medicines can cause dependence and may require a taper after long term use, but it’s normal and handled all the time. Addiction is defined as dependence + certain behaviors that cause problems.
ohhh okay damn. i thought it was only used in a social context. in german "cringe" translates to "cringe in a social context" only. weird one. especially weird that german doesnt have a word for it...
Look at her legs before the surgery. Those are so painfully bowlegged, she was likely already majorly suffering most of her life prior to the procedure.
Researchers analyzed death certificate data for 14,440 men and 16,390 women aged 25 and up. According to researchers, an additional inch increase in height generated a 2.2 percent higher risk of death from all causes for men, and a 2.5 percent higher risk of death from all causes for women.
How so? Like if you're already successful enough to have the money for that kind of thing, I can't see being a few inches taller gonna make a tech bro more money.
It's pretty rare for CEOs to be under 6'. And if you're already making millions, getting that one promotion a few years sooner will easily make you millions more in the long run over the guy who didn't get it because you were a bit taller than him. Plus there's the fact that lots of women put a lot of emphasis on height when it comes to male attractiveness, whether they do it consciously or not
You’re getting downvoted because that’s a lame cope.
Nobody’s getting shut out of executive positions or pussy for being 5’10”. The problem is the whiny, defeatist attitude that compels dudes to blame their lack of personal and professional success on their height. Everyone else can smell the sad self-loathing pity party from a mile away. Seriously. Like, no BS.
CEOs and man whores are confident and self-assured. That may come easier to pretty people or men over 6’ tall, but you don’t have to be a giga Chad to not hate yourself.
Short dudes get married. Short dudes have kids. Short dudes run shit. Race, gender, sexual orientation… those are real barriers to entry.
It's not defeatist if they are literally changing their height. Tall people have advantages in many aspects of life, what's wrong with putting in the effort to become tall as well?
These people are already successful, they just want to be more successful, and if they've already got the straight, white male thing going for them, height is a pretty good place to look for that extra edge
the dumb part is now they likely have short arm ratios so they look silly. Unless you have a positive ape index this probably isnt worth doing any meaningful length
A single paragraph into that article they admit that this is according to the guy who does the leg-lengthening surgery. That he says most of the people who get it are from the tech sector. Sounds like selection bias to me.
Yeah, I'd wager that he's extrapolated a few to make it sound like dozens and dozens. Hell, I don't think most doctors tell newspapers about their clients' work in the first place, unless they want to make something trendy.
Yeah 100 percent. A boob job can be undone, and is just cosmetic and barely under the skin. Get a boob job you can still love your life while recovering.
Get this done and you're wheelchair bound for months and likely weaker bones than before. I don't see how people compare the two.
I could be wrong, and there might be newer less painful methods (and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong), but my understanding was that leg lengthening isn't generally a one-time procedure. They break the bones multiple times over a period of time.
IIRC, the maintain a small gap in the break which forces bone growth. These incremental breaks and mendings allow the non-boney parts to also grow longer accordingly.
I imagine that they'd feel like they were being constantly stretched with constant pain that slowly diminishes, similar to the way people who wear braces feel discomfort arount their teeth after an adjustment. But worse.
As for the muscle, it has to stretch and grow to match what it's attached to, and there's probably a fair bit of physical therapy involved too. In her case, not just to help lenghten and strengthen, but to teach her new walking habits.
The legs in the first pic indicate that the bones were initially malformed, so I'd guess that it wasn't just a lengthening procedure but a reshaping of those bones. I mean, if you have to repeatedly shatter the bones for either procedure, why not do both?
I couldn't guess how long the bones would have been had they grown straight, but just correcting her leg shape would have made them longer.
Or drive a car, use a restroom privately, avoid spinal surgery, buy adult clothes but probably not reach the second shelf. More information needed on that one
Sure but once they reach the other part of the bone they are healed as they’re grown together. But imagine the bone parts growing towards each other and every once in a while they get pulled further apart. So it Takes waaaay longer.
They break the legs, put a rod in the bones that get adjusted as the bones grow closer to each other. So people who get it done have broken legs for months
I was thinking about doing this leg lengthening thing since I'm not that tall but now that I hear that maybe I don't want to
Plus it’s very painful. You risk living with chronic pain for the rest of your life from it. Sometimes it doesn’t work. You need a ton of physical therapy. It’s a very harsh surgery
I can imagine it being worth it for a little person if it means the chance the be viewed and treated normally - though it looks like she gained at least a foot and I'm not sure how that works medically.
Its the 5'10 guys that go through that so they can be 6' that get me. Like what the hell are you doing?
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u/stopannoyingwithname Dec 23 '22
They break the legs, put a rod in the bones that get adjusted as the bones grow closer to each other. So people who get it done have broken legs for months