A controversial height-boosting operation which involves breaking the bones in people’s legs has come under scrutiny in China after two people went public with their regrets about undergoing the procedure.
Earlier this month, Henan TV in central China reported that a woman from eastern Jiangsu province, spent 600,000 yuan (US$84,000) to travel abroad for the surgery she hoped would make her 13cm (5 inches) taller.
The name of the country was not revealed in the report.
However, instead of feeling the relief and joy she was expecting after the procedure, she suffered a series of physical problems.
In addition to a bone infection, the woman is unable to run or even walk quickly, and has difficulty breathing.
“My life has been totally ruined. If there was an operation to reverse this, I would have it at once,” she said.
Also, a 29-year-old man from central China’s Henan province who said he felt inferior because he was only 164cm tall, had the same kind of surgery at a public hospital in China, which cost more than 100,000 yuan (US$14,000).
He said, not only was he dissatisfied with his height after the operation, he ended up with legs of different lengths.
“I am not much taller than before. What’s more, I am now disabled,” he said.
Medical experts said the limb extension procedure involves breaking leg bones, separating them and fixing them back together with an extenal metal device, which is then stretched.
According to a 2006 regulation by the country’s Ministry of Health, limb-extension surgery must only be applied to people with congenital deformities or whose bones are of different lengths because of an injury, tumour or infection.
It is banned as a cosmetic procedure.
This is not the first time the mainland media has reported on people undergoing height-increasing surgery. But previous reports were about people who had the procedure for medical reasons.
In 2022, a 19-year-old woman in southeastern Jiangxi province whose original height was 154cm became 6cm taller after the surgery. However, she could not stand because of knee and ankle joint problems caused by the procedure.
