Hi,
Yes Pat is correct. I had my leg lengthened by Dr. Bose by 6mm. There was only one other patient of Dr. Bose that he also did this with and that was Sheila Feeney who I spoke with. Interesting that our recoveries were almost identical and yes it did take a lot longer than most. I believe my hips were always uneven, that is probably what caused my severe scoliiosis, I have a 37 degree curvature in my spine. Once he evened me out, there were a lot of things that needed to settle down. My back, my pelvis, so many muscles, etc. that needed to adjust to the new leg length and to my body walking correctly for the first time ever. I had to deal with a lot of back pain, while this was all adjusting. I found a chiropractor and a PT helped so much, but make sure you find an excellent one, one that has at least 10 years experience. and also clear it with your doctor first before going.
I had some really deep tissue muscle release done since my operated leg felt like it was pulling every time I took a step, like it didn't want to stretch back that far for the step. It took me about 3 1/2 months before I started feeling somewhat normal again and it wasn't until 7 months post op that I finally could stop thinking about the hip. All stiffness finally gone after sitting, etc. It definitely takes work to get back to normal, it is like learning to walk all over again. Here are some tips on proper gait that I saved from some prior posts on SH.
Walking correctly
Lead with a solid, pronounced heel contact...roll
through the foot, heel-arch-ball-toe. Critical to all this is to
remember to relax the toes. (That's the magical part that took me
the longest to figure out.) When the toes are relaxed, and able to
spread, you achieve the part that Marc was looking for. You can to
keep the foot on the ground longer. (I now find it useful to walk in
gym shoes on the wooden floor of a handball court...and just listen
to the sound of the footfall and steps. If I'm walking correctly, I
can even hear the "metronome effect" that Gordon mentioned.
Gordon's parts on levering at the knee and leg muscle flexion are
quite correct, and will be much more natural and comfortable if you
do let yourself roll heel-to-toe. Marc also emphasized with me the
need to hold the shoulders back and walk straight up. I had
unknowingly developed a forward-leaning motion over the years of
limping. This led to shorter, quicker steps.
In the beginning, I found myself trying to walk too fast, and I
dropped immediately back into limp-mode. As soon I concentrated on
slowing down and thinking about the step, it became easy...and the
limp went away.
Hope this helps.
Vicky