Wow, you may be able to do something about your height after all! And this is phenomenal news for those suffering from dwarfism, because there really are a lot of things they have to do differently due to their lack of height. A man from New York has grown 6 inches already from the surgery and continues to grow! Get the details below.
That’s right. Thanks to a controversial new surgery that’s only being performed by a handful of doctors in the United States, people can now “grow†if they’re unhappy with their height. In fact, one New York man who appeared on ABC’s 20/20 on Friday night grew six inches—and continues to grow—due to the surgery. Often times, those suffering from dwarfism are the ones who have the surgery performed. But, more and more, doctors are finding that people are doing it for cosmetic reasons.
Now, there is, of course, a catch to the limb-lengthening procedures that are taking place right now. For starters, they’re extremely painful. Essentially, they involve a doctor breaking a patient’s legs, re-attaching them with a rod, and then pulling the bone apart very slowly every day to gain up to one millimeter of length. As the bone gets pulled apart—that hurts just thinking about it, doesn’t it?—new bone grows around it and things like muscles, nerves, and skin regenerate as well. But it takes time and results vary from patient to patient.
The procedure is also often very expensive. In the U.S., it costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $85,000 to get the procedure done and then patients need to go through physical therapy afterwards, which is obviously an additional expense. Further surgeries may also be necessary and there’s no telling what other additional expenses could pop up in the future. Plus, you’ll need to buy a whole new wardrobe for yourself if you have the procedure done, which is obviously something you’d need to consider. It’s a lot to take on just to “grow†a few inches.
