Thursday, April 25, 2013

If You Want to Grow Taller, What Are the Options?


Most people would agree that being tall is a valuable attribute in our society. If you aren't sure about this, let me tell you some interesting statistics:


  • If two people who are equally qualified, go for a interview for the same job. The taller person will get the job in 72% of cases. That means the taller person has a three times better chance of getting the job than the short person.

  • In all but 3 of the Presidential elections in the last 110 years, the taller man has won. 

  • Women will tend to rank shorter man as less desirable than taller men. Even if (using objective measures) the taller man is uglier than the shorter man.

  • Shorter men are much less likely to get married (probably as a result of the above point)

  • On first impressions, people tend to attribute positive characteristics to tall people and negative characteristics to short people.

So, it's pretty clear that shortness is a liability. Which leads the logical person to look at how they can deal with this situation? What are the options available to the person that wants to do something about their height (And remember you don't have to be short to benefit from a few extra inches in height.).

In this article I want to talk about the three main methods available to people who want to increase their height.

1. Growth Hormone supplements. 

Growth hormone is sometimes given to children with short stature and can result in reasonable increases in height. Although there is some controversy about this, it is carried out and obviously does have some benefits. 

The issue lies with giving growth hormone to adults to increase height. Growth hormone has recently been touted as an elixir that can reverse aging. It attracts big price tags and is offered at exclusive clinics to customers eager to slow their aging. Whether it truly has "fountain of youth" properties is not clear. We are still waiting for the proof. What is most clear is that giving growth hormone for increasing height is not advisable. Here is why:

When a child is growing, their bones grow at points called growth plates. Giving growth hormone can result in increased bone growth at those growth plates found in the long bones (e.g. in the legs). However, after the growth plates have closed (around the late teens/ early twenties) then growth hormone has no effects on these bones. Therefore you could give lots and lots of growth hormone to someone in their thirties and it would have no effect.

So, growth hormone is useless after a certain age. But it does have other effects. The most obvious one is on your wallet. Growth hormone courses can cost up to $20,000. The other issue is that taking excess quantities of growth hormone can have serious side effects, including bloating, major organ damage, heart failure and even premature death.

So basically, taking growth hormone for height is not only ineffective, it is also expensive and potentially lethal.

2. Height Surgery

Height Surgery is a very effective way of increasing height. Originally it was performed to help people with limbs of different length, but more recently to give height to people with short stature. It originated in Russia, but is now being performed around the world.

The basis of the procedure is to break the long bones and then allow them to heal over a period of several months. By careful mechanics, the new bone that heals is made to be longer than it was before the bones were broken. There can be gains of 3-4 inches with this surgery.

The main issues with this type of surgery are the risks associated with any procedure that requires the patient to be put to sleep. But these risks are very small. There are also risks of infection. The cost of the procedure is very high, around $100,000. The other issue is that the procedure requires long periods in bed (up to 8 months) while the external fixation devices are adjusted and tightened. The procedure can be very painful, but pain relief is given.

So, limb lengthening surgery works very well, but is very expensive, time consuming and as well as pain has some other risks involved like infection and anaesthesia.

3. Natural Methods for Height Increase

Which leaves us with how to grow taller naturally. Natural methods focus on things you can do to help with height increase that don't involve drugs or surgery. Natural methods use a combination of exercises, diet and cosmetic strategies to bring about increases in height. 

Some people appear shorter than they are due to postural problems like slouching, knock-knees, tilted pelvis etc. These postural problems can be improved by doing certain exercises. In addition compression of the inter-vertebral discs can result in height decrease. Exercise to improve the strength of muscles and ligaments supporting the spine can prevent this compression.

In other cases, poor nutrition can contribute to poor bone health which affects stature. There is also a possibility of improving "perceived" stature by sartorial (dressing) techniques.

Using natural methods requires effort and responsibility to be taken by the individual. You will need to apply the system in your life. People who expect things to happen without effort will be disappointed.

So, natural methods are cheaper and safer than other methods, but they require effort and application to make them work. Some people may find this taking responsibility for their height increase difficult to do. Of course it all comes down to how much you want to increase your height.

I hope that has given you a clear overview of the options available for height increase. Increased height can be a real advantage in our society and if you have the motivation to do something about it, then there are definite options available. Good luck!

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