Is Height Extension Just Arbitrary?

Who is the most suitable candidate for height extension?

The widespread use of lengthening surgeries in recent years inevitably brings with it a question: Are these surgeries performed for arbitrary reasons or as a result of medical reasons and necessity? If there is an inequality in both legs in terms of leg length, lengthening surgery is performed to correct this. However, even if the person is short in stature, regardless of a structural reason or disease, aesthetic lengthening surgery is applied. Even for aesthetic purposes, before the operation, detailed anatomical and radiological tests of the patient should be performed to determine whether the patient is suitable for surgery or not.

If we want to examine the patients who underwent lengthening surgeries in three groups, we can say the following: In the first group, there are people who are congenitally short. A height of 140 centimeters for women and 160 centimeters for men is considered normal. People below this level are considered short. There is also a part that we consider as dwarfism. They form the most important group in height increase. In the second group, there are those who have a height difference between the two legs and therefore need equalization. The third group is that people who we consider normal with everything we call cosmetic height increase their height voluntarily.

What is lengthening surgery?

Lengthening surgery is the name of the surgical interventions applied to individuals who want to increase their height for various reasons and to attach magnetic-based nails to this opening, to the leg by opening the bones. Today, magnetic-based nails are used in lengthening surgeries, where no external device is visible, no damage is caused to the skin integrity of the patient, and the comfort is more. Thanks to these nails, by expanding this opening a certain amount every day, the body’s self-renewal feature is benefited and taller is provided. This procedure can be applied not only to the legs but also to the arms. But these surgeries are often performed on the legs. Although it varies from person to person, the length of the person can grow 8-10 cm. These surgeries should be performed by experienced physicians who are experts in their fields, the patients should not be given unnecessary hope, and the patient should be told about the height to be gained by the surgery after the anatomical structure, bone structure and general health examinations are completed. It should be clearly explained what can be done medically, even if the patient comes with high expectations or is persistent.

Who is the lengthening surgery performed for?

Children born with congenital dwarfism, and those with one leg shorter than the other, are among the people who are primarily treated for lengthening surgery. Apart from this, although they do not have a structural disease, they are short in stature, so people who do not feel well psychologically and want to increase their height are also given height extension surgery. The most important point here is to examine the benefits and harms of lengthening surgery for aesthetic purposes very well in the preoperative period, and to provide the patient with the necessary information in a clear and understandable way. Because lengthening surgeries are not processes that end with a single surgery. After the operation, a challenging and long treatment is required. It is important that patients receive psychological support for this long treatment process. Apart from this, physical therapy should also be included in the process, and the patient should patiently follow the doctor’s recommendations and apply them completely. If the lengthening surgery is performed for medical reasons, it is important to ensure the active participation of the parents in the treatment process if the patient is a child.

Every patient’s recovery process is different.

Each patient’s ability to withstand this process psychologically, medical reasons, psychological reasons, anatomical structure, bone structure and tissue condition are different from each other. Therefore, their expectations are also different. For this reason, before the operation, the patient and the physician should establish a good communication, the physician should explain all the processes to the patient in a way that he or she can understand, and be sure that the patient understands and assimilates them. It is important to undergo a psychological preparation process before the operation, and to know what difficulties will be encountered, especially in the postoperative period. A healthy relationship between the patient and the physician affects the postoperative process positively. Involving family members in this process, being patient and understanding with the patient, encouraging them to continue when they have difficulties, helps to get through the process more easily.

Lengthening should remain within anatomical limits.

Although the dimensions in bone lengthening vary from person to person, it is possible to extend the neck up to about 10 centimeters as an extension in healthy limits. Bone lengthening actually varies from person to person within anatomical limits, normally it is correct to extend a bone by one third. This length is about 10 centimeters. There are conditions that limit physicians in height increase and affect further height increase. These conditions include the general structure of the tissues, the condition of the soft tissues, the condition of the bone tissue, and the patient’s adaptation to it. In particular, the condition of the anatomical structure is decisive. Conditions such as the ratio of the legs to the body, the compatibility of the lengths of the lower legs and the upper legs, and the harmony with the general anatomical structure need to be determined very well. Otherwise, there will be a problem in the ratio of one side to the other, and the image will be bad. All these must be done by calculating on some radiological measurements and determining within the framework of mathematical formulas. While it is sometimes healthy to increase height by 5 centimeters due to these conditions, sometimes it is healthy to increase height up to 8-10 centimeters.