Equipment for Orthopedic Leg Lengthening and Correction Surgery Patients
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What are the essential, recommended, and helpful equipment for orthopedic leg lengthening and correction surgery patients who lengthen with internal nails. There are 2 categories of internal lengthening nails:
Partial weight bearing means a single nail cannot support your full body weight when you are walking and are on one leg. Precice 2.2 is the most popular partial weight bearing nail and the largest Precice 2.2 nail supports up to 75 pounds. Leg lengthening patients with the Precice 2.2 nail must have sufficient bone consolidation in the lengthened legs before walking independently. Full weight bearing means a single nail can support your full body weight, as long as you are not excessively heavy. The larger Precice Max nail supports over 200 pounds. Even if you are below the maximum weight limit, you should always move and walk slowly and cautiously until you have sufficient bone consolidation. Because Precice Max patients have greater independence, they are less dependent on equipment. Here is a list of essential equipment for partial and full weight bearing leg-lengthening patients, based on my experience as a Precice lengthening patient and various LL patients whom I have communicated with. The recommendations for the two categories of LL patients are listed under the equipment title if there are differences. Precice Max means any full weight bearing nail (including mechanical nails like the Betzbone or G-nail) and Precice 2 means any partial weight bearing nail (including the Fitbone). Please note this is not an official list and some patients may find differences of usefulness of items for themself. I am also not liable if this list does not accurately match your own personal usefulness list. There is also a page for Replenishable Supplies for limb lengthening patients. I am an Amazon affiliate. If you buy the product on Amazon by clicking on the product link(s) below, it will help support the Height Journey channel so I can continue to help you out as well. You will never pay any more than buying the product separately on Amazon.
Essential Equipment for Leg Lengthening PatientsWheelchair
Precice Max: Not Necessary
Precice 2: Essential
A necessity. You can use a walker, but you will use a lot of upper body strength and energy on the walker so that you don't put too much weight on your legs that have the limited weight bearing Precice rods. Walker is good for inside your room and to get to the bathroom, but any greater distance, like getting to and navigating around the buildings for your physical therapy or doctor appointments, will require a wheelchair.
Here is the closest wheelchair on Amazon to my wheelchair that I recommend. It's higher priced, but has all the necessary features for leg lengthening patients. Plus it is lightweight (34 pounds) which makes it easier to move around and carry in a car or vehicle. Don't forget the seat cushion, since it's usually not included with the wheelchair.
Walker
Precice Max: Essential
Precice 2: Essential
While Stryde patients usually use a walker the first few weeks after surgery and transition off of it during the lengthening phase, Precice patients will need a walker and wheelchair for the entire lengthening phase. Another difference is that while Stryde patients primarily use a walker for balancing support and training to walk independently, Precice patients use a walker to support much of their body weight to relieve weight on the legs. So a Precice patient moves in a walker by having both legs standing for maximum support, gently move the walker ahead, then simulate a step forward with the arms carrying much of your body weight so the weight on your walking leg is minimized and within the load limit. This makes walker use for Precice patients much slower and tiring, and is only suitable for indoor use.
Walker Accessory Bag
A bag you set on your walker is helpful. Even within your room, when you want to get or put something in the refrigerator or elsewhere, this is very useful.
Toilet Seat with Raised Handles or Toilet Safety Rails
Precice Max: Possibly Essential
Precice 2: Essential
Also called a toilet commode. You will need the raised handles or rails to safely get from your walker to the toilet, and vice versa, without putting too much weight on your legs. The raised seat with handles is preferred for these reasons.
Shower Chair with Raised Handles
Precice Max: Essential
Precice 2: Essential
Just like transporting yourself from a walker to a toilet and vice versa, you will need a shower chair with handles to do so safely without putting too much weight on your legs. And you won't be able to safely stand while showering, so a shower chair with handles is necessary. Also make sure your shower is a hand held flexible shower head, and using bathroom safety mats are helpful.
Bathtub Transfer Bench
You might only have a bathtub available and find the shower chair above is too wide to fit in the bathtub. Then this bathtub bench (or wide shower bench) would be better.
Shower Brush
Needed to take a shower and reach around your body.
Urine Bottles (for men)
Since it's hard to get to the toilet while needing a walker, urine bottles make it easier to make fewer trips to the toilet. A hired caretaker can empty and clean out the urine bottles to save you more time. Urine bottles are for men, and there is currently no useable version for women. If there is a urine bottle out there, or some alternative method, for women, feel free to email me and I will post it. Hint: The best way to fully clean and disinfect a urine bottle is mix a little warm water (about 25% capacity) and about 1 tablespoon of bleach.
Cold Packs
Use reusable gel packs that can be placed in a freezer to make it cold. The first 3 weeks after surgery, swelling around your legs will be bad. Cold packs help alleviate the swelling. Have several of them and make sure you have a strap or something similar to wrap around your legs.
In the Amazon products below, I recommend getting both products for your femurs. The larger pack at the bottom will wrap around most of your leg. The smaller pack at the top can cover the area that the larger pack cannot cover, and it has a strap to wrap around your leg. You'll have to find a second strap for your other leg, like a stretching strap, rope, or medical bandage. If you are lengthening only tibias, the larger pack at the bottom will likely be sufficient to wrap around your tibias.
Essential Equipment for Tibia Lengthening PatientsCalf Stretching Board
Precice Max (Tibias): Essential
Precice 2 (Tibias): Essential
Stretching the muscles and tendons around your calves and ankles is most essential to prepare for tibial lengthening surgery. Before surgery and during the lengthening and consolidation phases, you will need a calf stretching board to stretch and restore your lost dorsiflexion angle.
Plantar Fasciitis Night Splints
Precice Max (Tibias): Essential
Precice 2 (Tibias): Essential
These produce a passive stretch to your calves. As you lengthen your tibias, you lose dorsiflexion angle and equinus contracture (aka ballerina foot) gets worse. If you can sleep in these, that's great. If not, then wear them as much as you can while sitting or lying down on bed. Product is for one splint. If you are doing bilateral tibial lengthening, make sure you buy two.
Strongly Recommended EquipmentHand Extension Grabber
Precice Max: Moderately Recommended
Precice 2: Strongly Recommended
As a Precice patient, I found the hand extension grabber to be extremely helpful. It made my daily life in the lengthening phase at least a hundred times easier. For Precice Max patients, it's not as important but still helpful to reach things from the floor or at a distance without placing unnecessary stress on your internal nails, and makes life a little easier.
Forearm Crutches
Precice Max: Strongly Recommended
Precice 2: Strongly Recommended
For Precice 2 patients, forearm crutches are not necessary during the lengthening phase. It is necessary during the consolidation phase when you are almost consolidated enough to walk independently. They are more versatile than a walker.
For Precice Max patients, it's helpful during the lengthening phase and very early consolidation phase. It takes stress off of your nails, allows longer walking distances, and makes it safer for you until you generate more bone consolidation.
Toilet Stool
Precice Max: Moderately Recommended
Precice 2: Strongly Recommended
Makes it easier to use the toilet. Highly recommended if you are using a raised toilet seat with handles.
Stretching Strap
For flexibility exercises at home. Below is a very useful exercise for leg lengtheners, the hamstring stretch.
Resistance Bands/Straps
Helpful for PT strengthening exercises. Straight leg press example below.
Foam Roller
Helps you with your physical therapy exercises. Here is a useful purpose to help straighten out your legs at the knees (hand extension grabber is also helpful here).
Massage Stick Roller
Massage your leg muscles to relieve muscle soreness, cramping, and tightness.
Ankle Weights
Ankle weights are helpful for leg lengthening patients to build strength in your legs and hips. During the lengthening phase, you can sit on a bed, wheelchair, or chair to do knee extensions. in bed, you can lay on your stomach to do leg curls or lay on your side to do leg extensions.
When you are starting to walk independently and regaining your walking gait, you can wear ankle weights to help get stronger. High steps or marching band steps get you even more exercise.
Electric Heated Pads
After the swelling in my legs from surgery went down, heated pads can help soothe muscles that are sore and weak from physical therapy. They can also be used in the consolidation phase. I recommend buying 2 of them, one to wrap around each of your lengthening leg area. A multi-outlet extension cord will power both. Something to wrap the heating pads around your legs (such as velcro straps, rope, string) is helpful.
KT Massage Ball
It's called "KT Recovery+ Ice/Heat Massage Ball". Place the blue ball in freezer for cold massage, like for swelling or numbness area. Heat the red ball in microwave for warm massage.
Portable Massage Gun
A smaller, portable electric massage gun gives relief to your tight and sore muscles as you are leg lengthening and makes your lengthening phase more pleasant. The smaller types are better because they won't disrupt the callus and bone formation.
Mini Exercise Bicycle Machine
Precice Max: Probably Not Necessary
Precice 2: Recommended
This is helpful for Precice 2 patients to build your leg muscles and stimulate bone formation with pressure and exercise on your legs. It's also portable and convenient. For Precice Max patients, it's unlikely to be necessary because you can get exercise and weight bearing from walking.
Bath Wipes/Facial or Hand Wipes
These disposable wipes are very helpful to wash your hands, face, and other body areas. See the Replenishable Supplies page for the links to the products.
Multiple Large Plastic Cups or Containers
Precice Max: Probably Not Necessary
Precice 2: Strongly Recommended
Very useful for mouth care, like brushing your teeth or using mouthwash. One cup is for your regular water. Have one other cup reserved for spitting out toothpaste or mouthwash, or empty out your water after rinsing and cleaning your mouth area. Below is a 1-quart plastic container.
Possibly Recommended EquipmentRollator (4-wheel walker with hand brakes)
A rollator, also known as a 4-wheel walker with hand brakes, is useful as a supporting device for long distance walking and a convenient small shopping cart. The brakes can lock the wheels to provide a comfortable seat.
For Precice Max patients, it can be used until you are consolidated enough to walk independently and your walking gait is fully restored.
For Precice 2 patients, do not use it during the lengthening phase. You can use it during the consolidation phase from when you are cleared to use forearm crutches to when you are consolidated enough to walk independently and your walking gait is fully restored.
Leg Massager, 3-in-1 Foot/Calf/Thigh Massager with Heat and Compression Therapy
This provides heat and massage via compression therapy throughout your legs for relief. Leg lengthening often affects the muscles all over your legs, not just the segment being lengthened.
Back Support Pillow
When you want to sit up on the bed. You can do some PT exercises while sitting up on the bed with this pillow.
Sock Shoes
Easier than sneakers and socks because as you lengthen your legs it gets harder to bend your knees. More secure than slippers because they don't fall off. It has a hardened, rubberized sole to allow walking and light exercises as well.
E-Stim Machine (TENS Unit)
An E-Stim machine helps with your home physical therapy exercises by stimulating your muscles with an electrical pulse. I did not plan on buying this until my doctor recommended it. It is especially useful during the first 3 weeks after your leg lengthening surgery, because your leg muscles will be at the weakest and that electrical pulse will help give that boost to get the full range of motion with leg extensions, marching band steps, and other PT exercises.
Walking Cane
The moment you are in consolidation phase and you are cleared to walk independently without any assisted device like a walker or crutches is a very exciting moment. However, you will start off walking slowly and awkwardly, and will need a few more weeks of physical therapy to restore your walking gait to normal. During this time, a walking cane will help support you with balancing and provide minor support while you are regaining your normal walking gait. It's also helpful to traverse the stairs by using one hand on a sturdy banister while the other hand is using the walking cane for support.
The first walking cane is the basic walking cane and recommended. The second walking cane costs a little more but it can stand by itself for more convenience.
Weighted Vest
A weighted vest should only be used when you are in mid-consolidation phase or later. It should be used at least a month after you are cleared to start walking independently. A weighted vest adds more weight bearing for better bone consolidation and strengthens your legs, hips, and body for faster athletic recovery.
20 pounds is likely the most you will need.
Stadiometer
Not necessary, but helpful to keep track of you height progress. Even more helpful for Precice patients, because you are most likely on a wheelchair when visiting others. Because you are not standing next to other people, it's hard to tell your height progress. If you were a weight watcher member, you would constantly measure your weight progress on a weight scale. So why not have a stadiometer or ruler or tape measure to measure your height progress as a LL patient? Here are stadiometers that are affordable and portable.
Bathroom Weight Scale
Having an analog (not digital) weight scale will allow you to monitor your body weight to help determine your load limit on your Precice nails. It also helps determine how much support your upper body needs on the walker to relieve weight from your legs. Stand on the weight scale with your walker next to it, then place more support from your upper body on the walker to determine how much weight will be relieved from your legs and Precice nails.
Food Tray
While in a wheelchair in my room, a food tray was very convenient for preparing and eating meals. After cooking my meal in the microwave oven and/or getting food or drinks from the refrigerator, I would place the tray on my lap while sitting on the wheelchair, then place all my food, drinks, utensils, and napkins on the tray, then roll myself in one trip to the table to eat my meal. I also used it to carry or move stuff around my room with the tray on my lap while using the wheelchair.
Work Gloves for Wheelchair
Any kind of work gloves, like for moving, yardwork, handiwork, or car work, is helpful. When you are moving yourself in a wheelchair, work gloves make it more efficient and gentler on your hands.
Door Stops
Useful to prop your bathroom door open, in case you have a bathroom door that keeps closing like mine. Very convenient to prop a bathroom door open so you can easily enter and exit with a walker or wheelchair.
Mobility Scooter
Also an electric scooter, this is useful for a partially weight bearing patient (like the Precice nails) to move around farther than a regular wheelchair. However, it's not for all LL patients because of the area around your space. Some leg lengthening clinics and surrounding areas are mobility scooter accessible, and patients in those clinics find this to be helpful. Do not buy it first. You should visit the leg lengthening clinic first, ask around, and then determine if you need a mobility scooter (and if you should get the 4-wheel or 3-wheel scooter).
Wheelchair Transfer Board
Precice Max: Not Needed
Precice 2: Possibly but Unlikely Recommended
Used to make it easier to transfer to/from a wheelchair to a car seat, toilet, bathtub, or bed. It's unlikely you will need this unless you are very small (under 5'3" or 160cm) and have weak arms. Most likely a small woman or child may need this, but not for other leg lengthening patients. I have never seen or known a male patient use this. Anyway, here is a link in case you do need it.
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