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A man who used to be 5ft 7ins tall now stands at 5ft 10ins tall after undergoing leg lengthening surgery.<\/p>\n
In January 2022, the 26-year-old man identified simply as Alex, underwent leg-lengthening surgery to increase his height by three inches.<\/p>\n
He chose to undergo the painful procedure after years of teasing and jokes about his height.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He says he now feels “incredible” after growing taller, but blames society for normalising mocking “short kings”.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He told\u00a0NBC: \u201cMy goal was never to be tall. It\u2019s to be in a place where no one comments on my height.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alex, who suffered from short stature dysphoria, a body image anxiety, was so distressed about his height that he would walk the streets crying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite only being two inches shorter than the average height for a man in the US, he was desperate to “put an end” to distasteful teasing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After initially dismissing the operation as “insane”, Alex finally decided to take the plunge last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The procedure was originally meant only to correct discrepancy in the legs, but some men, like Alex, are now going under the knife for cosmetic reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alex\u2019s surgeon, Dr Shahab Mahboubian, of the Height Lengthening Institute in Burbank, California, said: \u201cI even have 60 [to] 65-year-old guys that have come to me to undergo the procedure because it just doesn\u2019t stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The ‘short’ jokes keep going on and they feel inferior.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alex spent a total of $100,000 and four gruelling hours in theatre.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cIf all it is, is pain and money, alright.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But limbs don\u2019t magically grow overnight. Dr Mahboubian explained that each thigh bone is sawn into and a rod is inserted inside. Over the next three to four months, the rods are lengthened by up to 1mm per day, via an external remote control.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As new bone slowly grows over the rods, physical therapy is also required four to five times a week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alex had to relearn how to walk properly and used a walker as he regained mobility.
Finally, a year later, the rods were removed in an hour long operation.<\/p>\n
It’s been two months since Alex’s second operation and he said he no longer has concerns about his height.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recovery is behind me and I feel incredible,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He added that no one should \u201cfeel the need\u201d to have the procedure, and blamed society at large for mocking short men.<\/p>\n
A number of men are resorting to surgery to increase their height.<\/p>\n
Videos showing men who have undergone the leg lengthening surgery have been shared on Twitter, with people referring to it as the \u201cBBL\u201d for men.\u00a0<\/p>\n
See below.<\/p>\n