Can a bone increase in length after you have reached sixty years old? This happened to me. I was evaluated by x-ray with a shortened right leg of 3/4 inch in 2003 by an orthopedic surgeon and was verified in 2004 by another orthopedic surgeon. The second surgeon had operated on my low back for a ruptured disc in 1998 and 2003. I was prescribed an adjustment of my right shoe. A visit last week to the surgeon that performed my back surgery confirmed with x-ray that my legs are now normal equal length.
I had noticed over the last two years that there was minor pain in my left hip that became a noticeable limp. Just three weeks ago, I went to pick up the morning paper (I rushed out barefoot) and noticed that my gait was normal. I was confused. Had my right leg increased in length? The next morning on the way to the gym, I stopped at a Walmart and purchased a normal pair of gym shoes. My limp disappeared as I worked out. I made the appointment with the surgeon and found my legs are equal length.
If you are a reader of this blog, you know that I have successfully repaired my cartilage and required no more back surgery. This included a repair of stenosis through nutrition at C3-C4. The stenosis was causing severe sleep apnea as this is the location for the nerve to the lungs. This was accomplished with an increase of all vitamins and minerals. I had no idea that it could affect the bone growth plates to allow my bone length to remodel to my genetic map. It is interesting to note that over a ten month period in 2005 my height increased by approximately three inches. Imagine 23 vertebral discs and each increasing in thickness by about one tenth inch. The cartilage had repaired and freed me of disease.
I believe the remodeling of my right femur was from the increase of several significant factors for bone and cartilage health. This includes vitamin D3, vitamin A (from cod liver oil), methyl folate (not folic acid), gelatin for bone and cartilage protein, iodine, selenium (from Brazil nuts), manganese, sulfate, and magnesium as the key factors. The shoe lift worked just fine until 2014 or eleven years. The change started when I added iodine, selenium, gelatin, and sulfate. I added increased amounts of these in 2013 as I researched the need for cartilage repair. There may have been the factor of Metadichol as well. I started to supplement infrequently with nanoemulsion of policosanol in 2015. Based on the gene studies and intracellular receptor studies of nano-policosanol by Dr. Raghavan, this may have also had an effect.
What are the mechanisms of this action? I don’t have a clue. However, my thoughts from at least ten thousand hours of reading on nutrients has lead me to this belief, without describing actual mechanisms. The methyl folate along with B vitamins as cofactors (methylation cycle) leads to the increase of chondrocytes through stimulation of mesenchymal stem cells. I believe the methylation cycle is one of the most significant repair mechanisms of human physiology, but nothing works in isolation. Vitamin D3, vitamin A, iodine, and selenium act for differentiation of the chondrocytes in cartilage as well as the bone growth plate and the bone remodeling pathways. These same vitamins and minerals act in many mechanisms of repair for our organs. The addition of sulfate acts in many ways with the most important being detoxification, gut lining repair, neuron development, bone mineralization, and cartilage stability. The addition of gelatin assures that the necessary proteins are available. The result, bone and cartilage repair. Iodine and selenium are very significant for hormonal control through the thyroid and associated endocrine actions. With iodine deficiency during pregnancy, the worst case is cretinism and associated bone deformity and mental capacity loss. WHO says that iodine deficiency is the leading cause of mental disorders.
I tried to keep the intake of vitamins and minerals at levels that have been described for health as stated by many research papers. I tried not to exceed levels that are known to cause damage. An example is vitamin D3. I consume 10,000IU/d whether I spend time in the sun or not. This tends to keep my serum vitamin D level at high normal of 60 to 90 ng/ml of 25(OH)D. This is much higher than the current government suggestion of 600 IU per day of vitamin D3. My intake of iodine is much higher than the suggested 150 mcg/d. I take either Iodoral or Lugolâ’s solution for an intake of 12.5 mg/d of iodine/iodide combination. This is one hundred times higher than the recommendation but is consistent with the intake of the Japanese population. There is no suggested intake for sulfate and this is a huge error in medical science. I consume 3 to 4 grams of MSM per day.
I am not suggesting that you try any of this. Research in multivariate vitamins and minerals is very limited as modern science continues in its fallacy of one cure for one disease. Vitamin D3 for only bone health is an example of one that has gotten us into extremely poor health outcomes. Who knows, maybe God has stepped in to help only me recover after three decades of chronic pain and illness. Now at 66 YO, I am grateful every day for this blessing and will continue to communicate with you how to live without drugs for chronic illness and pain. Was my bone-length increasing a miracle? It certainly is an answer to prayer. On this Pentecost Sunday when the Holy Spirit first came to Christians two thousand years ago, I am praying for your health, both spiritual and physical. –Pandemic Survivor
My eBook about recovery: Healed from Chronic Pain
Resources for more reading: Â Bone Growth in Length and Width, the Yin and Yang of Bone Stability, F. Rauch
Vitamin D Deficiency Survivor 