What was once a last resort for accident victims and people with severe leg deformities has taken an unexpected turn. More and more people are willingly signing up for grueling surgeries to make themselves taller or in some cases, shorter. It’s no longer just a fringe trend; both men and women are spending tens of thousands of dollars and undergoing months of recovery to gain a few inches or lose some height, Euronews reported.
These aren’t simple procedures — we’re talking about surgeons literally cutting into leg bones and slowly stretching them apart or removing sections entirely. The recovery is brutal, the risks are serious, and the pain is intense. Yet in a world obsessed with appearance and increasingly accepting of cosmetic surgery, people are deciding it’s worth it.
Leg-lengthening surgery, sought by a growing number of people — especially men — was first developed in the 1950s. The procedure involves cutting the leg bone and using a device to separate the pieces gradually. Over several months, new bone fills the gap, allowing patients to add five to eight centimeters in height. While some see desired results, recovery is slow and painful. Complications such as infections, nerve damage and joint stiffness frequently arise, and health officials warn that permanent disability is sometimes a consequence.
Meanwhile, a different trend is emerging in Turkey. Some clinics have begun offering leg surgery to women who wish to appear shorter. Surgeons remove a portion of the femur or tibia, then secure the bones with metal rods as they heal. Patients typically spend weeks recovering — often needing crutches or wheelchairs — and must then undergo months of physiotherapy. A single Istanbul clinic reports having performed 10 of these surgeries since 2023, with height reductions reaching up to 5.5 centimeters.
Motivations for pursuing these surgeries vary. Some men seek added height for confidence or dating, while some women, citing social pressure about size, want to be shorter for similar reasons. Others undergo these procedures to correct uneven leg lengths.
Analysts predict that the global market for limb modification could nearly double, surpassing $8 billion by 2030. Still, experts caution that serious risks persist with both lengthening and shortening surgeries, including slow bone healing, muscle weakness and even life-threatening complications. Despite these risks and warnings, the industry continues to grow.
