Dr. Axel Becker is a specialist in leg lengthening, a specialist in plastic, aesthetic and reconstructive surgery, a specialist in orthopedics and trauma surgery and carries out cosmetic leg lengthening in his special clinic in Freiburg. For this purpose – only here – a minimally invasive leg lengthening method BETZBONE®, developed by him and unique in the world, is used.
Read why leg lengthening can cause knee pain and what the solution to this problem is.
Knee pain during leg lengthening can occur if the ligament structures and muscles in the side and front knee areas are not synchronized with the (bony) thigh lengthening. So whenever the balance between the bony extension and the muscular extension is not right. The ligament structures around the knee start in the lower leg area and not in the thigh area.
So if the bone in the thigh is lengthened, tension builds up. In the muscles as well as in the ligaments that surround the knee.
Ligaments and muscles become tight during the lengthening process is not extended to the same extent, this tension builds up continuously and causes the pressure in the knee joint to increase. The result is knee pain and, in the worst case, an axial deviation of the lower leg occurs due to the lateral ligament structure (the IT band) being too tight.
The slow build-up of pressure in the knee also explains why knee pain during leg extension does not occur at the beginning of the extension, but rather when the structures are maximally tensioned.
The solution to knee pain as part of leg lengthening is relatively simple
If knee pain occurs as a result of leg lengthening, it always means that the bony lengthening and the muscular lengthening are not in harmony. In other words, the extension speeds of bones and muscles must be identical. Otherwise, the extension/clicking will build up more and more tension and even more pressure in the knee every day.
The solution: slowing the lengthening (fewer clicks) and increasing the level of stretch in the muscles and ligaments. This also relieves existing knee pain.
