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[PyroarGuy]

So, I'm 21 and have been considering the surgery for about a year and a half now. I'm a bit shy of 5'9, (I know that isn't "short," but for the profession I am entering (I am not an athlete, don't worry), height is considerably important. I wear lifts now everyday, but it is a pain in the ass, and I pretty much feel like a walking, talking fraud. It is also anxiety provoking to have to avoid situations with girls I am seeing, as well as friends, (such as the beach, taking off my shoes in other peoples homes). I have the money to get the procedure, and I really want to do it. The only thing truly holding me back is fear and doubt. What made some of you guys make the leap from "thinking about doing it" to actually doing it? Was it over night? Did you reach some conclusion or have a come to Jesus sort of moment? I'm very curious. Thanks!

[KiloKAHN]

There were some events in high school and college that made me begin to hate myself and others for their attitude toward me based on my height (it was clear it was height related due to explicit comments). Was tired of being depressed over it and knew I couldn't live a full life that way, so I began to save money over the years with a lot of hard work and saving. Once I had the money I consulted with a series of doctors that I could afford. After deciding on one there was no turning back because I had already requested the time off of work, saved up the money, spent a lot of effort going to another country, flown between multiple cities, and consulted various surgeons. After that it would have taken more effort to turn away from the surgery than go through with it in my mind.

I suppose from the point I first seriously considered it as a must up to the date I had my surgery, it had taken about 4 years.

[PyroarGuy]

There were someevents in high school and college that made me begin to hate myself and others for their attitude toward me based on my height (it was clear it was height related due to explicit comments). Was tired of being depressed over it and knew I couldn't live a full life that way, so I began to save money over the years with a lot of hard work and saving. Once I had the money I consulted with a series of doctors that I could afford. After deciding on one there was no turning back because I had already requested the time off of work, saved up the money,spent a lot of effort going to another country, flown between multiple cities, and consulted various surgeons. After that it would have taken more effort to turn away from the surgery than go through with it in my mind.

I suppose from the point I first seriously considered it as a must up to the date I had my surgery, it had taken about 4 years.

Yeah, this kind of explains how
I feel. Also, just from wearing the lifts, it has become quite clear to me that it height makes a huge difference. When I wear them, I stand at about 510/511, and people treat me with more respect, girls are WAY more interested. Part of it most likely has to do with confidence, but I'll have girls approach Me and hit on me without me even engaging them at all, which rarely happens without lifts. It's just a better world. Do you at all regret getting the surgery? What is the most significant change you've found as a result of getting the surgery?

[Penguinn]

I've wanted to grow taller for a long time. There was no "considering LL" after I found out it wasn't Chinese torture devices like I previously thought, it was just a matter of when and where.

[Medium Drink Of Water]

What made me take the leap was finding out about doctors overseas who would do it for a price I could afford.  I'd known about it for years, but for financial reasons I knew it was out of reach.  I didn't have any doubts about doing the surgery.  For me, the pain and risk would be well worth it.

[microman]

about 3 years, i used to think i tcould just wear 4cm lifts but i found i could not wear them for more than an hour, i will still be wearing 1cm lifts post op.

looks like i will be getting 6.5cm anyway so it worked out very well.

[PyroarGuy]

Are your lives drastically different than before?

[jfk]

Are your lives drastically different than before?

No. Not much. I just feel better.

[mb53]

I'm curious: what is your profession?

[DoingItForMe]

Are your lives drastically different than before?

Yes. How do I describe the feeling... It's like that feeling you get when you're really sick, and then you finally get well again. Nothing in your life changed from before. But the feeling of being "normal" again, feels great. Now imagine if you've been "sick" for your whole life, and now you're finally "cured". I had the same feeling after I got braces. I had the same feeling after I got Lasik surgery. Everything just feels "right" with you. And I think the feeling of being taller trumps getting braces, but the feeling of being able to see 20/20 without glasses or contacts trumps the feeling of being taller.

Is there a difference between the way people treated me? Not really. I was well respected when I was 5'6" and I'm still well respected at 5'9". There were quite a few people who looked down on me for being short. But I simply cut them out of my life and found people who cared more about my personality rather than my height. Those people exist if you look for them. Then finally, the only person who couldn't look past my height and my harshest critic was myself. I'm one of those overachievers who strives to be good at everything I do. And I've improved every aspect of my life. I essentially ran out of things I could improve, so my height became my only "weakness" or "flaw". And like a blemish on an otherwise nice, clean shirt, I wanted to fix it.

I first learned about the surgery about 10 years ago, when it was still mostly external. I didn't bother looking into it further, because it sounded like I could risk myself being crippled. Fast forward to 2 years ago, when I learned about internal LL from a YouTube video about a former LL (Apo). I researched it and studied it hard. I knew that I wanted to be taller, because I used to wear shoe lifts and liked being taller. I liked the way it made me feel. And I wanted to make the change permanent. But all the risks and time lost made me reconsider whether the trade off was worth it. I also waited until Precice 2.1 came out before I attempted it, so that made me wait another year.

So I spent the past 2 years trying to cope with being short. I tried to convince myself that I can be happy being short. I went traveling around the world with my girlfriend. I tried to do everything to keep my mind off my height. And for a while, it worked. I didn't care about being short. But after those 2 years past, I realized that there was something wrong with me mentally. My height started haunting me again. I just can't get past being short. I didn't care what others thought of my height. But when I looked in the mirror, I wasn't happy with my reflection. And then I knew that my only option was LL. That's when I called up Dr. Paley office and scheduled an appointment. Once I set my mind to a goal, I go and do it.

Now that I've reached my goal of 8 cm increase, I'm pretty happy with myself. I no longer see anything "wrong" with me that I can't work on. I lost a lot of my flexibility and leg muscles, but those are things that I could work on. So it doesn't make me unhappy. Now when I look in the mirror, I'm pretty happy with the reflection that stares back at me.

[PyroarGuy]

I'm curious: what is your profession?

Actor

[PyroarGuy]

My main fear is the long term consequences. I know all the risks and stuff, but personally how do you feel now? Do you feel crippled? Are you always thinking about your bones breaking somehow or something. Does it hurt all the time? I don't wanna ruin my life.

[Alu]

Depending on how far you want to go with "acting" you might want to heavily consider this instant whether you want to do this before say you manage to break through and make a name for yourself (implying you want to/can); people will judge harshly for doing such an operation if they ever find out. (So a Tom Cruise can never do it, but a basic T.V ad actor won't have problems hiding it).

As far as your concerns, yes we don't have a definitive conclusion on LL because every single case is so nuanced, due to lengthening amounts, conditions, methods, so forth, that some will have it better then others. Ultimately, my conclusions are that doing between 4-5 cm on a single segment will ensure absolute best recovery and proportionality. During the lengthening process and consolidation process, as the others have pointed out you will feel very limited.

[DoingItForMe]

My main fear is the long term consequences. I know all the risks and stuff, but personally how do you feel now? Do you feel crippled? Are you always thinking about your bones breaking somehow or something. Does it hurt all the time? I don't wanna ruin my life.

Don't expect to be doing much for 6 months. I thought that I could get work done while lengthening and recovering. Nope. I was dead wrong. Most of my day is spent popping pills, physical therapy, getting food, sleeping, stretching, exercising in the pool, showering, etc. You end up so tired after all of it that you can barely get any work done.

Like I said, if you go with a good doctor who focuses on safety, you will minimize your risks. But that doctor will stop you earlier before you reach your goal if he feels that it's unsafe to keep going. There are cases were people ended up fine and normal. And then you have cases like ProgramDude who broke his femur while trying to stretch, a whole year after his surgery. So yea, like Alu said, each case is different. Whether you'd have long term consequences is a gamble. Just know that with a good doctor, you'll most likely not end up crippled. If you do internal tibs, you have about a 30% chance or maybe higher of getting permanent knee pain when you kneel. Internal femurs, I don't think I have any permanent pains. I don't think any of the other patients who did internal femurs with me felt any permanent pain. The worst "permanent" effect is that you'll lose a lot of leg muscles and you'll lose your butt, and you'll lose a lot of flexibility and athleticism. I put "permanent" in quotes, because you can theoretically gain it all back. Just don't expect to do it in less than 6 months. I'd say it'd take over a year.

[PyroarGuy]

Depending on how far you want to go with "acting" you might want to heavily consider this instant whether you want to do this before say you manage to break through and make a name for yourself (implying you want to/can); people will judge harshly for doing such an operation if they ever find out. (So a Tom Cruise can never do it, but a basic T.V ad actor won't have problems hiding it).

As far as your concerns, yes we don't have a definitive conclusion on LL because every single case is so nuanced, due to lengthening amounts, conditions, methods, so forth, that some will have it better then others. Ultimately, my conclusions are that doing between 4-5 cm on a single segment will ensure absolute best recovery and proportionality. During the lengthening process and consolidation process, as the others have pointed out you will feel very limited.

It's funny you say this because I was discussing this exact point with someone yesterday. I really so confused and angered by the stigma that LL has. Nowadays, plastic surgery is so main stream, from boob jobs, to nose jobs, heck, even changing genders for fk sakes! But LL, for some unbenounced reason, is frowned upon. I have done pretty well at this point in my career and do not want to jeopardize it, but wearing lifts constantly sucks. It's painful, makes me feel like a phony, and is just a burden all around. I would prob go with Dr. Paley (he seems the most reliable from what I've read here). I'm just scared that I make a choice that ends up fking up my life. But at the same time, if I don't do it, I know I'll always regret not doing and having the life that I want to have and be able to feel comfortable and confident in my own body.

[PyroarGuy]

Don't expect to be doing much for 6 months. I thought that I could get work done while lengthening and recovering. Nope. I was dead wrong. Most of my day is spent popping pills, physical therapy, getting food, sleeping, stretching, exercising in the pool, showering, etc. You end up so tired after all of it that you can barely get any work done.

Like I said, if you go with a good doctor who focuses on safety, you will minimize your risks. But that doctor will stop you earlier before you reach your goal if he feels that it's unsafe to keep going. There are cases were people ended up fine and normal. And then you have cases like ProgramDude who broke his femur while trying to stretch, a whole year after his surgery. So yea, like Alu said, each case is different. Whether you'd have long term consequences is a gamble. Just know that with a good doctor, you'll most likely not end up crippled. If you do internal tibs, you have about a 30% chance or maybe higher of getting permanent knee pain when you kneel. Internal femurs, I don't think I have any permanent pains. I don't think any of the other patients who did internal femurs with me felt any permanent pain. The worst "permanent" effect is that you'll lose a lot of leg muscles and you'll lose your butt, and you'll lose a lot of flexibility and athleticism. I put "permanent" in quotes, because you can theoretically gain it all back. Just don't expect to do it in less than 6 months. I'd say it'd take over a year.

If I did go through with the surgery, I would to femurs, 6cm I am guessing. That would put me at about 5"11, perhaps even 6 foot, which would be a fkin dream come true.  I'm pretty active now though, which I would hate to never be able to be again. I go to the gym about every single day, play basketball, and go for runs. Will I still be able to do this after the 6 months to a year after the surgery?

[PyroarGuy]

I did go through with the surgery, I would to femurs, 6cm I am guessing. That would put me at about 5"11, perhaps even 6 foot, which would be a fkin dream come true.  I'm pretty active now though, which I would hate to never be able to be again. I go to the gym about every single day, play basketball, and go for runs. Will I still be able to do this after the 6 months to a year after the surgery?

For some reason this got attached to the quote thingy. Oops

[PyroarGuy]

What made me take the leap was finding out about doctors overseas who would do it for a price I could afford.  I'd known about it for years, but for financial reasons I knew it was out of reach.  I didn't have any doubts about doing the surgery.  For me, the pain and risk would be well worth it.

How do you feel nowadays? Healthy? How's waking, moving, etc? What's life like now

[DoingItForMe]

I did go through with the surgery, I would to femurs, 6cm I am guessing. That would put me at about 5"11, perhaps even 6 foot, which would be a fkin dream come true.  I'm pretty active now though, which I would hate to never be able to be again. I go to the gym about every single day, play basketball, and go for runs. Will I still be able to do this after the 6 months to a year after the surgery?

For some reason this got attached to the quote thingy. Oops

6 cm only? You'll be fine. You should be able to walk in 5 months then (if you're doing Precice 2). And then sports/working out probably 2 months after that. Of course, everybody heals at different rates. Even my two legs are healing at different rates. One is about ready to go full weight bearing in a month, and the other will probably takes 2+ months longer. But on average, it'd be 1 mm per day and each day you lengthen adds another day of consolidation. So 60 cm would be around 2 months plus maybe a week more of lengthening to make sure that you got the full 6 cm. And then another 2 more months after that before you can walk again.

When will you be competitive at sports again? Not for a while... You just spent 5 months sitting around and not moving your legs much. You will not be in top athletic condition after it. But you will be able to play sports in 6 - 12 months after surgery. It's just risky, because someone got a stress fracture after running on tough terrain. And programdude fractured his leg a year after his surgery. So, personally, I wouldn't start really abusing my legs until after maybe 1.5 years. I do NOT want to go through another fracture and surgery again.

[PyroarGuy]

Yeah, PD story about his femur snapping really made me wince. The thought of that   happening makes my balls recide back into my body. Il don't get me wrong, I don't need to be Lebron James, but I'd like to still be able to work out, run, and play some sports.

[PyroarGuy]

Do you guys still think about your height everyday, or is it since you are more comfortable in your own body, you don't even think about it anymore?

[DoingItForMe]

Do you guys still think about your height everyday, or is it since you are more comfortable in your own body, you don't even think about it anymore?

Well since I'm still going through recovery, yea, I still think about my height everyday. It's still pretty new to me. The feeling is like, "Yay, I'm finally not that short anymore." And then followed by, "I can't wait to be able to walk again." I went through the same thing when I had Lasik. I was amazed that I could finally see clearly without glasses. And then after a while I got used to it. Same thing with when I became a millionaire. I was amazed that I pulled it off. And then after a while it became routine for me to make another million dollars. The way I view it is that you establish a new "normal", and then you stop thinking about the change. All I know is that I'm really happy that I don't have to think about being short anymore. That kind of negative thinking really plagued me for the past decade of my life.

[PyroarGuy]

at any point during the process have you felt like you made a mistake or regretted doing it?

[Devildog 0331]

Well since I'm still going through recovery, yea, I still think about my height everyday. It's still pretty new to me. The feeling is like, "Yay, I'm finally not that short anymore." And then followed by, "I can't wait to be able to walk again." I went through the same thing when I had Lasik. I was amazed that I could finally see clearly without glasses. And then after a while I got used to it. Same thing with when I became a millionaire. I was amazed that I pulled it off. And then after a while it became routine for me to make another million dollars. The way I view it is that you establish a new "normal", and then you stop thinking about the change. All I know is that I'm really happy that I don't have to think about being short anymore. That kind of negative thinking really plagued me for the past decade of my life.

This is exactly what I think about. You became a millionaire but you were not happy with your height and u made a change. I dont want to do two surgeries. Im only 5' 4" Im only going for 6.5-7cm which would put me slightly over 5' 6".

At 5' 6" how did you feel towards your height?

Did you ever find yourself just looking around and counting how many people were actually shorter than you which I assume not many.

Do you honestly think I could be happy at 5' 6"?

Did you ever wear lifts?

I live in New York and noticed most women are slightly taller than me by 1-2".

[Medium Drink Of Water]

How do you feel nowadays? Healthy? How's waking, moving, etc? What's life like now

Walking and moving are almost completely back to where they were before LL.  My center of gravity is a little higher so my balance is a little worse.  My legs are longer so I have a little bit less agility.  It's almost all biomechanical changes.  The only thing I don't like is that it feels weird to kneel on a hard surface now, and that doesn't seem to be going away.

Do you guys still think about your height everyday, or is it since you are more comfortable in your own body, you don't even think about it anymore?

I still think about height.  It's hard not to focus on how tall other people are and compare yourself to them, even after the surgery.  The comparisons are more favorable now, though.  I'm not always the shortest person around anymore.  People who used to tower over me are now just a little taller, and I can accept that.

[PyroarGuy]

Walking and moving are almost completely back to where they were before LL.  My center of gravity is a little higher so my balance is a little worse.  My legs are longer so I have a little bit less agility.  It's almost all biomechanical changes.  The only thing I don't like is that it feels weird to kneel on a hard surface now, and that doesn't seem to be going away.

I still think about height.  It's hard not to focus on how tall other people are and compare yourself to them, even after the surgery.  The comparisons are more favorable now, though.  I'm not always the shortest person around anymore.  People who used to tower over me are now just a little taller, and I can accept that.

In the back of your mind, are you always cautious or nervous that your bones will just break? Sorry for so many questions. I just really wanna understand what I would be getting myself into and get info from other people's experiences.

[Medium Drink Of Water]

I am not afraid that my bones will break.  I've climbed fences and jumped off roofs with no problem.

The guy whose leg snapped had lengthened his femurs, and here's one weird thing I've noticed: femur patients get big bulbs of callus forming in the gap, and I don't know why.  My bones never got any bigger around than they were originally.  That leads me to wonder if the issues are related.  Is the body trying to overcompensate for some issue that it's sensing in the leg?  The quads and hamstrings are the most powerful muscles in the body.  Is stretching them out creating too much tension on the bone?

[PyroarGuy]

I am not afraid that my bones will break.  I've climbed fences and jumped off roofs with no problem.

The guy whose leg snapped had lengthened his femurs, and here's one weird thing I've noticed: femur patients get big bulbs of callus forming in the gap, and I don't know why.  My bones never got any bigger around than they were originally.  That leads me to wonder if the issues are related.  Is the body trying to overcompensate for some issue that it's sensing in the leg?  The quads and hamstrings are the most powerful muscles in the body.  Is stretching them out creating too much tension on the bone?

That's weird, cause I have found that people were saying femurs were safer. Who did you go to? What internal or external? How do your legs look now?

[Medium Drink Of Water]

I think that both tibias and femurs have their pros and cons.  This observation of mine is just a potential con for doing femurs.

[DoingItForMe]

In general, I never regret anything I do, because I always take a lot of time to think about what I'm doing and make my best decision at the time. So whatever decisions I go with, I back myself up and just keep going with it. I don't second guess myself after the decision has been made. I wouldn't be as successful/happy as I am today if I did second guess myself each time.

But it doesn't mean that I don't have moments when I think, "Man, I wish I could walk again." There are many things I can't do because I'm confined to a wheelchair. My long term girlfriend broke up with me during my lengthening. I think she lost a lot of respect for me for doing the surgery. I also was a bit crazy when I was loaded with Oxycodone, so I don't blame her. But I knew the trade off. I had to do what I had to do to make myself happy. And being short was the only thing making me unhappy at the time

I'm also still slightly worried that I'm going to have these minor muscle aches in my thighs forever. Though, Dr. Paley told me that they'd go away. If I take tynelol, they go away, so it's not that big of a deal.

Generally speaking, everything "negative" about my surgery will be fixed over time. When I can walk again, and there's no permanent pain, then I'd say with 100% confidence that I had no regrets.

At 5' 6" how did you feel towards your height?
I felt short, for sure. But I was still taller than half the female population. I had no trouble in the dating world, and as a millionaire, a lot of people respected me. So I must say that my height never held me back from anything. I never felt deprived of a great life. Many people wish that they had my life. Yes, there were a few girls in my earlier days who rejected me based on my height. I know this because I'd ask them why they rejected me even though I had so much going on for me. When they say it's my height, it shows me that they are too shallow, and then I move on. It was no big deal. I ended up dating much better girls than those who rejected me anyway, so it's not like I was held back by my height.

Did you ever find yourself just looking around and counting how many people were actually shorter than you which I assume not many.
Yea. I do that at my new height now, too. I'm pretty sure that I have height neurosis, which is why I do this. It comes from many years and years of people making fun of me for my height or rejecting me for my height. It came to the point where I truly believed that I was unattractive for being short. And then I could never look at my own reflection in the mirror ever again, because I didn't find myself attractive. And that's when I knew I had to do something about it.

Do you honestly think I could be happy at 5' 6"?
Absolutely, yes! And even at 5'4", you could be happy. I wouldn't recommend LL unless the person is already happy with everything else in their life. LL is the last resort. It should be the last thing you do to improve yourself, because of how much trade off there is involved. There are many cheaper and healthier ways to improve yourself besides LL. You'd be much happier if you worked out more, traveled more, had more supportive friends, and became richer.

Did you ever wear lifts?
Of course. I recommend that people wear lifts for a while before deciding to do LL. Some people have this fantasy in their head where they think that people will like them if only they were taller. I say, prove it. Go wear 2 inch shoe lifts and prove it that your social life improved by a lot because of it. What I noticed is that not many people care. I realized that I was the only one who cared about my height. But I still wore lifts anyway. And I still wanted to be taller.

I live in New York and noticed most women are slightly taller than me by 1-2".
Maybe because they wear heels, and the average height of women is 5'4" - 5'5". The point is that you don't have to date every woman in NY. Just find someone compatible with your height. It's a bit harder, but it isn't as hard as LL. LL is rough. Rougher than finding a woman who's shorter than you. That's much easier to do, when half the woman in America are shorter than you. Adding 2" to your height, probably means that maybe a few more women you meet will be shorter than you. But you have to ask yourself, are those few women really worth all that money and time? The answer is no. No woman is worth breaking your legs on purpose over.

[alps]

Did you ever wear lifts?
Of course. I recommend that people wear lifts for a while before deciding to do LL. Some people have this fantasy in their head where they think that people will like them if only they were taller. I say, prove it. Go wear 2 inch shoe lifts and prove it that your social life improved by a lot because of it. What I noticed is that not many people care. I realized that I was the only one who cared about my height. But I still wore lifts anyway. And I still wanted to be taller.

but how can you wear lifts around people who have known you at your previous height? obviously they would know. they wouldn't treat you same either.