Bone-lengthening hardly sounds like a fun and enjoyable process, but thanks to new advancements in orthopedic medicine, it is now surprisingly manageable.

A number of children are born with conditions like fibular hemimelia that cause their legs to grow into different lengths. While the discrepancy can sometimes be resolved with a simple shoe insert, it tends to become more noticeable during adolescence. Until now, lengthening that shorter leg required a months-long process that involved sawing through the bone crosswise and bracing the pieces of few millimeters apart to force new bone to grow in and fill the gaps.

One young adult named Andrew dealt with this older style of surgery, and it was detailed by a Stanford doctor. “When Andrew’s lower leg was lengthened with the old, external fixator, the process was slow and painful. The pins going through his skin and muscle tugged with every bend of his knee, and his ankle and foot were immobilized in a gigantic horseshoe-shaped brace. The pin sites were prone to infection. Lengthening took three months, and he was on crutches for another three months while his new bone hardened.”

A brand new bone-lengthening innovation uses a telescoping rod that remains hidden inside of the bone itself and responds to a magnet-powered motor to help the bone lengthen and grow. Andrew’s mom described the difference by saying, “The fact that there was nothing on the outside of his leg after he recovered from the initial surgery was huge. It really saved us a lot of hassle, because we battled infections the entire time with the external device.”

Orthopedic doctors are eager to utilize this advanced new technique to help children live life without the burdens and difficulties of legs that aren’t the same length. The magnet-powered telescoping rod is a huge step forward to more efficient bone-lengthening and can make the procedure more accessible to children around the country.