United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Tia

OUCH !!! no i can't say i have ever considered it !!

I don't think so. How could they make my arm three inches longer at this stage???

Ouch
Kath

Hi
I think what they do is chop 3inch of your good arm to even them up abit .......lol
karl

Hey Karl.....I have short arms to begin with... Take and inch and a half off of the good one NOT... ops I forgot I don't have a good arm anymore... LOL... Then I would need two step stools to reach anything in the cabinet.

OK I will get serious.
How can a full grown person have their arms lengthened? When your arm never grew to the proper length. Perhaps today with all the surgery etc and nerve transfers etc the children’s arms will be almost equal -- but I don't think that birth injured arms ever get to equal length so how could we have surgery?
What would they do?
Even if those with contractures in the elbow and under the arm had them released the arms would never grow after maturity... How much could be gained in length?
Most obpi report that our arms are much shorter mine is 3" on the right side.

This question might get really informative answers on the General Board because the parents are more up to date on surgery and different types of surgery.
Kath

i had my arm straightened considerably when i had the athrodesis done but if anything...daft as it sounds... it seems to be shorter than ever..work that out lol!
as for lengthening i think what they do is to insert metal rods straight through the arms (at the point they want it to grow)and they have to be turned and it forces the bones apart therefore more grows in place.its something like that anyway, i watched a television prog. about it.
The treatment lasts for months and is supposedley VERY painful...Not something i would consider!!
Anyway, didnt we discuss this before...and everyone agreed that nobody even notices the difference in length until its pointed out to them

Take care,
Janny

Thanks Janny

I think we did. I just had to point out to one of my kids that my arm was 3" shorter... they forgot and borrowed a jacket... LOL... complained about one sleeve being too short... LOL... one way of keeping the girls out of my things...

That sound so bad and painful... I did not realize that the bones would grow like that so it must be good for young people or children... Some of us here have to worry about our bones growing old...

That is except my bone scan turned out great! I have the bones of a young adult... LOL... now if I could only be one again and know what I know now... LOL...
Kath

i know im way far back in the posts but i would do anything to have it look like the other ...would insurance cover it? or how much do u think it would cost??

No, they use what is called an Ilizarov device. They insert metal pins in your arm, break it in one sopt and every day you turn a key and it moves the bones apart a mm at a time. Takes many months to get the length to be the same and leaves scars and is painful.

Not many people with OBPI get it done if any have for that matter. You have to be super careful about infection the entire time you have it on, and like any surgery it carries risks.

I had a friend who had it done for her leg as she had been in a severe auto accident as a 9 year old. It was long and painful.

http://www.limblengthening.com/aboutll.html

tld0472 wrote:Have any of you considered the limb lengthening surgery to straighten your arm or have any of you had the surgery?
Tia

I had mine lenghtened in 2006 about 2 inches. I wore an Ilizarov Fixator for 8 months & rotated my own bone...extremely painful! It did lengthen my arm. Gained some rotating function but also lost some too