Leg-Lengthening Procedures Are Becoming More Popular in America

For years now, procedures like tummy tucks, facelifts, and breast augmentation have really become a common practice. Years ago, when others might have looked down on these practices, now they are just commonplace.

In today's world, a different type of procedure is going more popular. It's a procedure where someone who doesn't want to be short anymore can have an operation to lengthen their legs.

For the young man featured in this NBC article, he says he was constantly thinking about his height and wanted to do something about it. The 26-year-old man who NBC is calling Alex to protect his identity says he was not happy being 5 feet, 7 inches tall because he has been the butt of jokes and ridiculed all of his life.

The surgeon who did Alex's procedures is Dr. Shahab Mahboubian from the Height Lengthening Institute in Burbank, California. He says the process is not for everyone, and there are two surgeries, months of physical therapy, and much pain involved in the process to make your legs grow longer.

The article explains how it works:

The $75,000, four-hour operation, which is not generally covered by insurance, involves cutting the thigh bones in each leg and inserting rods inside them. Then over the next three to four months, the rods are lengthened by up to 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) per day, via an external remote control. New bone grows over the rods.

Dr. Mahboubian says the number of people getting this surgery is about two times higher than it was in the last few years.

As far as Alex, he spent around $100,000 for the entire procedure combo from start to finish. He now stands 5 feet, 10 inches tall instead of 5 feet, 7 inches.

Alex says he was painfully aware of his issue, and he is glad to have gone through this entire process.

Financially, one study that was mentioned in the article suggests that taller men make much more money than their shorter counterparts.