Limb lengthening surgery in Turkey

The principle is distraction osteogenesis. The bone is divided, a device holds the ends apart, and you turn or activate that device a little each day. Bone forms in the gap because it is pulled apart slowly enough to heal continuously. Go faster and the bone does not form; go slower and it fuses before you have finished.

• The soft tissues are the limit, not the bone

  Nerves, muscles and tendons lengthen more reluctantly than bone. Most of the serious complications and most of the pain come from them, not from the bone itself.

• Consolidation takes longer than lengthening

  After you stop lengthening, the new bone is soft and has to harden before you can bear weight. That phase is typically longer than the lengthening phase.

• Physiotherapy is the treatment

  Daily stretching and joint work, for months, is what prevents contractures. People who skip it lose knee or ankle movement, sometimes permanently.

• There is a limit to how much

  Gains are constrained by what the nerves and muscles tolerate. Pushing beyond that is how permanent nerve damage and stiff joints happen.

Lengthening for a genuine discrepancy between two legs, or for a deformity, is reconstructive surgery with a clear medical purpose. Lengthening both legs purely for height is a different matter: it takes a healthy body and imposes a long, painful and risky process on it. Some surgeons decline it altogether, and reputable ones who do perform it insist on a psychological assessment first and turn people down. Being assessed rather than simply booked is a sign you are in the right place.

• Mobility is limited for months. Crutches or a walker for a long period, and adaptations at home. Stairs, bathing and getting around all need planning before surgery, not after.
• Physiotherapy most days. This is the single largest predictor of how you end up. It is also uncomfortable and it is not optional.
• Pain is a constant companion. Not the surgical pain of the first week, but the ongoing ache of tissues being stretched, managed over months.
• Time off is measured in months. Sedentary work may resume partway through. Physical work does not until the bone has consolidated.
• It is psychologically hard. Long immobility, dependence on others and slow progress are widely reported. Planning support in advance matters.

• Frame or internal nail. The largest single factor, because the motorised implant is expensive.
• One segment or two. Lengthening the thigh bones, the shin bones, or both in sequence, changes the cost and the timeline substantially.
• Length of stay and follow-up. How much of the lengthening phase is supervised locally, and how many review visits are included.
• Physiotherapy. Whether it is included, for how long, and whether it continues after you go home.
• Device removal. A second operation. Check whether it is in the quoted price.

The clinic list on this page shows the current price for each hospital with a label saying what it covers. Related orthopaedic procedures are covered on the scoliosis treatment and shoulder arthroscopy pages.

• British Orthopaedic Association, limb reconstruction guidance.
• NHS, limb lengthening and reconstruction services.
• General Medical Council, cosmetic interventions guidance.
• Turkish Ministry of Health, health tourism authorisation for hospitals.