There aren't any specific rules governing the limb-lengthening practice because each one is so unique, leaving the number and duration of the procedures up to individual doctors. This leads to a host of unnecessary operations, Hootnick says. Surgeons are apt to do what they do best—operate. Oftentimes, safer options like amputation are overlooked, especially with advancements in prosthetic limbs. Parents, pressured by social standards and desperate to keep their children "normal," don't question the medical advice.
Are prosthetics the better alternative?
For those who have achondroplasia—the most common form of dwarfism—limb lengthening isn’t much of a decision. Without the procedure, little people run the risk of having their spinal vertebrates fuse as they age. The result is severe scoliosis that confines them to a wheelchair.
Still, Hootnick thinks most limb lengthenings are not justified. It's a doctor's responsibility to do no harm, but this procedure causes nothing but harm, he says. Surgeons need to take more responsibility for pushing people down this path, he adds.
"We physicians are able to guide patients in the direction that we think things should go, simply because people seldom have any knowledge of what we're talking about," Hootnick says. "You can't understand the complexities of an operation—you've never had one."
Looking back, Hootnick says amputating Lindsay's shorter leg and fitting her with a prosthetic would have saved the Ellingsworth family a lot of heartache and their daughter a lot of pain. Now 25 years old, Lindsay recently underwent her 11th limb discrepancy–related surgery. She spent most of her teenage years in and out of the hospital, bound by wires from the external fixator. Now she owns a house in upstate New York and works as an emergency medical technician. Her leg problem is always something of a burden, due to the complications from arthritis.
Still, Ellingsworth says he made the right choice, despite his daughter's suffering. Lindsay isn't so sure. She often wonders what it would have been like to have a childhood free of surgery and chronic pain.
"Sometimes I wish I was the one with the prosthetic leg," she says. "There's always that could have been, but I guess with this choice, I'll never know."
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Add CommentNew tech?? If 20 years old or older is 'new' I guess the article is correct.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOh ok, a magnetically driven internal fixator, I finished reading... neat!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisImagine her strength, resolve and toughness! One day this young lady will run a company or be an astronaut or be President of the United States or inventor or teacher or have some other amazing role.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisdiscrete pieces of bone are pulled apart to lengthen legs an average of 1.25 centimeters per day. The body regenerates bone, filling the gap in a matter of hours.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDoes the author realise that is half an inch per day?
Legs can only stretch about 12.7 centimeters at a time so patients must come in for multiple operations.
Does the author realise that is over 5 inches?
Do these things get edited? This is supposed to be a science magazine.
Great education system you have in the USA. Not understanding the difference between metric & imperial measures led to a Mars spacecraft worth billions being lost a few years ago & no doubt many deaths each year through wrong prescriptions & the like.
My independent research on the lengthening process shows that it yields around a millimeter a day so I'm pretty sure the lengths described are incorrect. Carlyle is correct. This is what happens when we stick with an out dated system of measurements.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisObviously you did t research it enough bc Im 100% sure that my X-rays don't lie neither do my Drs. Out of 10 inches of being short, I gained 8 1/2 inches with two lengthenings that were both stretched over an 8month period within 3 yrs of each other.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI know this lady personally and she is the most amazing girl that you will ever meet. She has the biggest heart and the most loyalty that you could ever ask in a person. She never lets anything get her down. She keeps fighting till she wins. I am very proud to say that I know her and she is a friend of mine. You couldnt ask for a better person.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLindsay, please can I get to know more about your procedure. I am 21 this year just under 5ft 7 (173 cm). I am thinking of a height surgery for couple of years now but will only be looking for 3-4 inches max. Is there any recommendation you can give?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCarlyle, maybe we should go the Eastern European model or maybe the Zambian model of living. Before you blubber away about how bad the American way of doings things is, lets first remember that 90% of the world's innovation of the past 100 years has come from our "backwards" ways of doing things. I do realize that there will always be people who hate America out of jealousy and I can't blame you for that. If I didn't live in America, I'd be jealous and hate America too. Most of the rest of the world tries to implement democratic constitutions and the American way of life for a reason and there's a reason we have a massive IMMIGRATION problem, not EMIGRATION.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have a Facebook, you can certainly contact me through there.
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