A classmate of mine in 3rd grade spent an entire year in more or less constant pain when one of his legs needed growth plate surgery. He had metal pins stickin

A classmate of mine in 3rd grade spent an entire year in more or less constant pain when one of his legs needed growth plate surgery. He had metal pins sticking out of his legs, and like you would with braces, they were forcibly separated a millimeter or so a week for a year. This is like having a broken femur for 12 months that's intentionally never allowed to heal so the bone has to keep regrowing to fill in the gap. i don’t recommend it for aesthetics! in his case, it was required and something they wanted to do before his growth plates closed completely. As a result he's had a normal adulthood.