Surgery To Make You Taller- Best Detailed Guide With 10 FAQs

Surgery To make You taller- Overview, Procedure, And Detailed Information

Many of us always wished we were a bit taller than we actually are. We also tend to have some of the other issues with height, weight, and our physique. Although the problems with our weight and physique can be dealt with using diets and workouts but wondering height is an issue we are worried about.

Although it is not that everyone wants to get taller or short height is not beautiful, it is just a choice most people make and thoughts that daily cross their mind of getting taller. What if you know there is surgery to make you taller? It is quite difficult to imagine but Limb lengthening surgery helps individuals grow their height. Let’s see what it is and answer all the questions you have in your mind.

WhIs Is The Surgery To Make You Taller?

The surgery to make you taller is called limb lengthening surgery is a more scientific way. Limb lengthening is a procedure in which the bones of your arms or legs will be lengthened or elongated in surgery to make you taller.

Another type of surgery to make you taller is cosmetic height surgery or stature lengthening, it is similar to limb lengthening.

The process of this surgery is carried out gradually so that soft tissues like skin, nerves, and muscles along with bones slowly increase in their height or length. You can expect the surgery to make you taller take several months to finish. Many doctors combine surgery to make you taller with acute or gradual deformity correction.

The doctors or surgeons will routinely lengthen the humerus, forearm, thigh bone, shinbone, and the bones are foot that mostly affects the length of your toes.

Limb Lengthening Surgery To Make You Taller

How Does Limb Lengthening Surgery Work (Procedure Involved)

When the surgery will be carried out to make you taller, the doctors will cut the bone for creating two different bone segments. The surgery to make you taller includes a surgical procedure known as an osteotomy.

Some other soft tissue may also be carried out during the same time for preparing the muscles and nerves for the purpose of lengthening them. For instance, surgical lengthening of the part Achilles Tendon might be performed in order to make shinbone lengthening go easier.

While surgery to make you taller is under a doctor, he will apply a lengthening device orthopedic in nature to the bone. These orthopedic devices are inserted inside the bone and so they are called internal devices. One such example of bone inserted internally is a Precise nail.

The orthopedic devices that are outside of the body are termed external fixators like Taylor Spatial Frame and Ilizarov device.

Once the surgery is carried out the bones will be allowed to take rest for five days to seven days. This is done so that the bones start healing themselves after the surgery has been performed. This period where healing takes place is known as the latency period. Once the latency period gets over, the patient starts adjusting the orthopedic device so that it begins to pull apart the bone segments slowly. The process of slowly or gradually separating both the segments of bone is termed Distraction (pulling apart).

As the two segments of bones are pulling apart from each other, the formation of an entirely new bone takes place between them slowly and gradually. This new bone is the one that is responsible for increasing the entire length of the original bone, be it bones of arms or legs. There is a scientific term for this bone known as regenerated bone (you might have heard it in science classes as a kid).

When the distraction phase is going in the bone in which the bones are pulling apart to allow new bone formation between them, the family members along with the patient is supposed to be adjusting the orthopedic device every other day for the bone segments to be pulled apart very slowly. The rate of separation of these bone segments is 1 mm per day after adjusting properly, although it differs slightly depending upon the bone.

This surgery to make you taller works wonderful. As mentioned earlier, the lengthening differs slowly, for example, the distraction period of tibia bone per day is 0.75 mm, whereas the distraction period of the humerus or femur is 1.0 mm per day.

The distraction taking place gradually forces the body to grow constantly soft tissues like blood vessels, nerves, muscles, skin along the new bone. This distraction phase only lasts till the required new bone has reached 2.5 cm or 1 inch in length in one month.

This surgery to grow you taller will require patience as well because you will be in need to visit the doctor several times a month when your distraction phase is going. This is important to figure out if the distraction phase or process is going too slowly or too quickly in an individual.

The doctors will do an X-ray test and based on the results they obtain on the x-ray, they might slow down or speed up the rate at which distraction is proceeding in the bone. As a patient of surgery to make you taller that is limb lengthening surgery, you will be required to attend physical therapies too once, twice, or even five times a week.

After the distraction phase gets over, a new phase called the consolidation phase begins. During this phase, the bone regenerated or the new bone hardens in a structure like a natural bone. In a typical case where lengthening of 5 cm or 2 inches takes place, it will require you to wait for 2 months to acquire the desired length and then 2-3 months more for the regenerated or new bone to solidify. Considering this example, you can estimate the lengthening bone device to stay inside your body for 4 or 5 months.

Healing of this be cannot be accomplished until the regenerated bone has completely solidified, hardened, and calcified. If you wish to heal the bone completely and in the perfect manner, you should not take nicotine or consume it in any form. You are required to eat a wholesome and healthy diet full of proteins and multi-vitamins.

When the consolidation phase has been going on, you will be advised by the doctor to put a little bit of weight on your leg or arm using a walker or maybe crutches as this usually encourages the bones to heal and harden. While proceeding towards the end of this treatment, you can stop using a walker or crutches.

Once the regenerated bone has consolidated fully, the orthopedic device inserted in your leg for lengthening can be removed when there is an outpatient surgical procedure. For providing additional protection to the new bone formed, the doctors may also apply a cast or ask the patient to wear the brace for 4 weeks after the external fixator is removed. Other than this, when the internal devices are removed after the bone has healed, a splint or cast is not required.

Types Of Orthopedic Devices Used In This Surgery To Make You Taller

A variety of different orthopedic devices are used to carry out the surgery to make you taller. Looking and figuring out the situation of a person, doctors use different types of specialized devices like external fixators, spica cast, and internal devices such as precise nail, precise plate, plates, bone staples, plates, wires, and pins.

Let’s see what happens if your bone has been lengthened too slowly or too quickly.

What Happens When The Bone Is Lengthenecd Very Quickly?

Even though it was mentioned earlier that the typical time duration for lengthening of bones is 1 mm per day, every patient who goes through this surgery to make you taller responds in a different manner to the devise and treatment.

In some people, the bones heal very quickly and the bones that are regenerated may harden or get consolidated very quickly and they may heal even before the entire treatment is completed. This is term as premature consolidation as the name suggests. Once the regenerated bone has hardened completely, it will not distract or pull apart any further. In this case, the bones usually heal before they reach the optimum or desired length.

The doctor will ask you to take appointments and meet them regularly, you may also be kept under observation by the doctor to prevent any premature consolidation.

When the doctors witness a premature consolidation on x-rays during visits and check-ups, one option they will opt for is increasing the rate at which the bone segments district or are pulled apart. For example, this rate will increase from 1 mm to 1.5 mm per day.

What If The Bones Have Lengthened Too Slowly?

Even though the typical rate at which lengthening of bone occurs or the surgery to make you taller works is 1 mm per day, in some people, the bones take much longer to regenerate and heal themselves completely with all the muscles and tissues attached. For example, if you had a tendency of smoking just before the treatment began or you are a patient of diabetes, this healing procedure may take a longer time.

Forming of the regenerated bone is very important as it is the bone that acts as a bridge between distracted bones that were pulled apart. The doctors would like you to visit them every 7 days to 14 days when the distraction phase is going on so that they can make sure that the regenerated bone, nerves, and muscles are responding quite well to the device inserted and entire limb lengthening procedure.

In case the doctors witness a poor formation of regenerated bone, they will adjust the orthopedic device inserted in that region to shorten the bone temporarily until the condition of regenerated bone improves. A more aggressive kind of procedure in surgery to make you taller is inserting a bone tissue known as a bone graft. It will be inserted into the gaps of the distracted bone segments.

After the regenerated bone begins to fill in the gaps present between the bone segments, the doctors will allow you to continue and keep going with the lengthening procedure you were following.

Another great issue that mostly occurs in surgery to make you taller is the stretching of soft tissues. The soft tissues like nerves, ligaments, tendons, muscles, etc might resist stretching too much when the process of limb lengthening is going on. This will eventually cause them to become very tight. A non-surgical step involved to treat such tight muscles is increasing the stretching when you are in sessions of physical therapy. You will be asked to attend these sessions 2 to 5 times per week.

Tendon or muscle contractures can also be treated using surgeries if they are highly necessary. If a nerve is compressed or pinched, there will be a surgical procedure known as nerve decompression that can help reduce the pressure on that nerve. This procedure is somewhat similar to carpal tunnel syndrome.

Lengthening Of Each Bone

During the lengthening treatment of each bone, the bone will be lengthened 5 cm or 2 inches. If you are opting for surgery to make you taller by inserting a device in your legs, 2 inches of lengthening will be done simultaneously both in thigh bone or femur and shin bone or tibia. This will make the total lengthening of 4 inches in body posture.

If the case is serious, greater lengthening is also possible in some people in one treatment itself. For instance, if any adult wants large lengthening or they have large limb lengthening goals and wondering if surgery to make you taller will meet their requirements, it can do so. This will be estimated and determined by the surgeons after studying the full case.

To maximize the limb length, some children will be given three different treatments before they turn 16 years of age. This is often combined with some processes like correction of deformity and epiphysiodesis.

Things That Can Prevent From Achieving The Height Increasing Goals

When you are looking for surgery to make you taller, you should also be ready for patience and other activities that come along with it. For the people who are undergoing limb lengthening surgery, attending all the physical therapy sessions and home exercises prescribed or advised by their instructor and surgeon becomes highly important.

Contractures in muscles can even lead to dislocated joints or sometimes stiff joints. In such cases, the surgery to make you taller can be disrupted and the doctors will stop the process of lengthening either permanently or temporarily depending upon how severe the case is. If the surgery to make you taller is stopped temporarily, the doctors need you to allow the bones to recover so that it can be started again.

Keep in mind that if you want surgery to make you taller and have high goals of lengthening then you might have to go through more than one surgery. For instance, instead of going through a single 4-inch lengthening process, you will be required to go through 2-inch lengthening processes 2 times.

Also, there are some patients who need to undergo some additional surgical processes after this surgery is finished if they have any pre-existing orthopedic problems going on.

Functioning Of Lengthened Legs And Arms After Surgery

Children and adults can usually lead an active and normal life same as the life they were leading before. However, there was a case of Carly, whose bones were lengthened when she was just 11 using an external fixation device, but later on, she was again on surgery when she was 27 years of age using a precise surgery device.

Most of the people who have undergone limb lengthening surgery have achieved increased functioning like better walking, improvement in their muscle strength, and flexibility. The success of this surgery to make you taller also depends upon the experienced surgeon, the support staff present within the area, and the physical therapists. Most importantly the success depends on you. You need to attend all the physical therapies or as much as your body is allowing you to attend. Usually, the physical therapy experts provide you with unique exercises, splints, and some other treatments.

These things can maximize the chances of a successful limb lengthening surgery.

Let’s answer the most frequently asked questions on surgery to make you taller.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who can apply for limb lengthening surgery or cosmetic height surgery?

To be considered, if you want to apply for surgery to make you taller, you should be healthy and should not be smoking. Your body must have reached complete skeletal maturity for you to apply for this surgical process for increasing height. The candidates should be stable psychologically with constant support from the family. Usually, there are no specific criteria for your height requirement to apply for limb lengthening surgery. The doctors will study your case separately to know everything.

2. Is the Limb Lengthening surgery or cosmetic stature surgery covered through medical insurance?

the initial hospitalization, consultation, physiotherapy, surgery, and follow-up care provided are not covered through any type of insurance. If any complications arise, later on, the patient will have to pay the required amount to get treated completely and the patient is responsible for all expenses.

3. How much height can be gained through this surgery?

The recommended lengthening in limb lengthening surgery is 2 inches to 3 inches. when performed in the thigh bone or femur. If you wish for lengthening more than 3 cm in s single bone like though bone or shin bone, some complications are most likely to arise later on. If desired by the patient and doctor, another surgery can be carried out after a year or so to increase height.

4. What is the initial consultation?

This step involves making an appointment to carry out a thorough evaluation. During the initial visits for consultation, the doctors will examine the patient and will have a detailed and frank discussion about the stature lengthening or limb lengthening. You will also have to take many x-rays so that doctors can evaluate carefully what type of device to insert and when to perform the surgery.

5. How can we schedule the surgery?

Once your initial consultations are over, the doctors or surgeons will give you a piece of detailed information mentioning all the expenses and procedures you have to go through. As per your convenience, you can schedule an appointment.

6. Which bones are most likely to be lengthened?

Bones such as shin bones, thigh bones, etc are used for increasing the height in this surgery to make you taller. It is recommended to carry out the limb lengthening process simultaneously in the lengthening of both through bones or femur. During this surgery, internal devices like precise stryde or two femoral precise will be inserted.

7. Where should I stay during the limb lengthening process?

You can stay in your house too if the doctor allows you to and you can also stay in the hospital if you wish to do so. If you decide to stay in the hospital, you have to keep an adult caregiver with you.

8. What Happens Once I Have Completed The Lengething Procedures?

After you have completed all the steps required in limb lengthening or this surgery to make you taller, you have to see the doctors every other month until the bones have healed completely. You can expect these monthly visits to last for 5 to 7 months. In few cases, x-rays can also be taken remotely.

There are rare cases when the bones are not able to heal completely, in such cases, additional surgeries are also required. You can wait for approximately one year after the limb lengthening is complete for the removal of the orthopedic device inserted in your bone. Removal of this is important because these devices in form of nails have certain magnets inside, these magnets when not removed timely can preclude the individual from getting an MRI scan in the future.

9. Are there any complications involved in this surgery?

There are many potential complications found out that are associated with this surgery to make you taller or limb lengthening surgery. You will get to know about these complications from your doctor during the phase of the initial consultation when you visit the doctor.

These complications mostly include nonunion, nerve stretch injury, leg length discrepancy, tendon or muscle contracture, etc. The contractors can lead to stiff joints or sometimes to joint arthritis. Some medical conditions of complications in surgery can include fat embolism or deep vein thrombosis.

In very rare cases, the bones might fail to completely heal or recover after the surgery. In such cases, bone graft surgery might be required. The nerves involved might become too stretched due to which surgeries can be carried out to decompress this nerve.

If there are issues with the tightening of tendons and muscles, tendon-lengthening surgery may be performed to cure this issue. However, it is important to note that these problems are not most likely to occur but in some cases, they might show, in such cases, there are additional surgeries that can be carried out to remove complications.

When the lengthening occurs in this surgery to make you taller either too slowly or a failure occurrs in placing the magnetic field generator directly on the internal magnet in the orthopedic devise precise stryde can cause premature healing of bones. If any such conditions seem to occur, the bones might be re-cut for allowing the process of limb lengthening to continue freely.

10. What are common results after limb lengthening has taken place in individuals?

The majority of patients that go through surgery to make them taller have achieved great results without seeing any complications at all because they have followed all the practices they were required to, like physical therapies, cooperating with doctors, timely check-ups, monthly visits, etc.

Those who witness any sort of complications usually end up achieving good outcomes once additional surgeries are performed on them for removing the complication involved. You should know that this surgery to make you taller needs patience and is a long process. In some cases, it might even take 2 years to entirely recovering. Returning to normal condition feel great after you have achieved your height goals.

If you feel you are ready for this surgery to make you taller, you should consult your family members first and then make an appointment with an expert or experienced surgeon that have already performed successful limb lengthening surgeries.

This was everything you needed to know on limb lengthening surgery to make you taller.

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