14 DAY TRIAL // Some guys and gals are ready and willing to do just about anything to attain what they believe is the perfect physique. They will even break their bones if that's what it takes to look less like themselves and more like red carpet walkers. Seriously.
Thus, there is an actual cosmetic surgery procedure that goes by the name of limb-lengthening operation or the Ilizarov technique, after the Soviet Union doctor who pioneered it, and that promises to give people longer legs. It's insanely painful, but some think it's well worth it.
What this bizarre surgical procedure entails
First off, fair warning: if you're one of those folks who can't even stand the thought of scalpels cutting into flesh and screws digging deep into bones, this would be a good moment to quit this article. If not or if you're already too curious to drop the topic, just go on reading.
As detailed in the infographic below, the Ilizarov technique boils down to having surgeons break folks' bones and fit them with a so-called telescopic rod. This rod serves to pull the broken bones apart about 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) per day.
As the broken bones get pulled apart, tissues grow to fill the resulting void. If repeated over the course of 3 months, the procedure promises to add about 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 centimeters) to an individual's height. Several months of physiotherapy later, a brand new and considerably taller person emerges.
Not unless the site of the intervention gets infected or the physiotherapy fails to do the trick and help the person who subjected themselves to this procedure regain their ability to walk, in which case, well, bummer. Cold, hard and seriously painful bummer.
Why would anyone do this to themselves?
Admittedly, such limb-lengthening operations emerged as a means to help people born with dwarfism and kids with uneven limbs. However, it looks like some people choose to let doctors break their bones simply because they think that being taller would make them better looking, Oddity Central reports.
Of these people, some are height dysphoria patients, which means that they are deeply dissatisfied with how tall they are and cannot overlook this problem that they think they have. When psychotherapy fails to help them feel better, they turn to surgeons for support.
“They’re unhappy with their height,” explains Dr. Dror Paley, an orthopedic surgeon from Florida, US. “It’s one of those few psychologic-psychiatric disorders that you can actually cure with the knife,” the specialist further details the struggle that these people go through.
Then again, it appears that, in recent years, the intervention has become quite popular among people who opt for it purely for cosmetic reasons. By the looks of it, it's guys and gals in the US, Europe, China and especially India who are big fans of this surgical procedure.
