Elevated Shoes
Claim: Can get 2 inches or more taller
Pros:
1) This LL alternative gets the most height.
2) Often hard to detect unless it is excessively high (maybe around 3 inch or more).
Cons:
1) Uncomfortable to wear, unlikely you will wear it for the long term.
2) Once your shoes are off, you lose the height increase.
3) Relative height increase is not as much as advertised, because other people wear shoes. If the average height gain from regular shoes is 0.75 inch, then the 2 inch elevator shoes yields a relative height increase of 1.25 inch
Cuban Heel Shoes
Claim: Can get 2 inches or more taller
Pros:
1) This LL alternative gets the most height.
Cons:
1) Very visible. People who notice will know your actual height is shorter.
2) Same cons as elevated shoes.
Shoe Lift Inserts
Claim: Get taller, typically up to 1 inch
Pros:
1) Low price, often under $15 a pair.
2) Works with your existing shoes.
3) May help your feet and legs by providing cushion.
Cons:
1) Inside of your shoes have limited space. 1 inch inserts are the most that can fit, but is often lower (more like 0.5 inch).
2) Uncomfortable. Can cause blisters on feet.
3) May shorten your shoe life span with the wear and tear.
4) Your body weight will soon compress the shoe lift inserts, reducing the height gain. So the 1 inch show lift will be compressed to something like 0.75 inch.
Sole replacements for shoes
Claim: This replaces the soles on your shoes to look taller. You can get 0.5 to 1.0 inch taller with sole replacements, though over 1 inch gets very noticeable. American Heelers is a popular company that does this:
https://www.orthopedicshoelift.com/Pros:
1) Often hard to detect, if it is less than 1 inch.
2) Can use with your existing shoes and is comfortable. Most likely to wear it for the long term.
3) Considerably cheaper and safer compared to LL. You can get 0.75 inch height with American Heelers for $200 total, as I did. But if you get an average 2.6 inch LL for $90,000 total, then 0.75 inch ratio would be about $26,000 with LL.
Cons:
1) Expensive. In the American Heelers website, if you want 0.5 inch height, it is $69 plus $20 for honeycombing (drilling holes for lighter weight and flexibility) per shoe, so $178 per pair. Then it is $10 to $15 per 0.25 inch extra height per shoe. And this comes on top of your existing shoes. But more cost effective than LL (see Pro #3 above).
2) Once your shoes are off, you lose the height increase. But if your height increase is not too much (like 1 inch or less), it's hardly noticeable with your shoes off.
ChiropractorClaim: Improve your posture. Many patients report getting taller by about 0.5 inch after a visit.
You know the pros and cons.
