I can talk for myself since I am 5'9.
Altough I think Paley is a salesman , he is also a phenomenal surgeon and his definition of "height neurosis " catches the point .
It doesen't matter at what height you stand , anything under the 6ft mark (or let's say 180cm which is the beginning of "ideal" height for Europe because of different metric system ) can be perceived as not enough and therefore a 5.6 guy can never even come across this forum because ye he does probably wish he was taller , but that doesn't affect his life and he focus on family,money or career and that is so natural for him that not even a research on the topic is worth it .
On the other hand there might be a 5'9 guy (like my case) that has it all under any aspect you can mention and no really issues with life and its still obsessed with this surgery .
Some will say"ye because u don't know this or that,the risks ,you didn't research enough,you need a psychologists,if you can't go trough life at 5'9 you are this or that " but the reality is that we don't pick what we desire and therefore if we feel we are more then 5'9 , that we HATE from the bottom of our heart staying in crowded places because all your blessing/best sides goes unnoticed only because you are not tall but avarage,and that the peace of mind you looking for it's just about 5 cm away from you , well , in my case all the terrible days (countless) I had made my come to the conclusion that it's not worth it to live a life comparing my height to every person/object I encounter in my daily life .
There is a lot involved in this surgery :
Some doctors lies , some says you will be crippled for sure , others u will do great , other that u will recover but never 100% but with good effort and reasonable lengthen you will pay the price of your surgery but to the point where a 10%/20% reduced HIGH sport activity is nothing compared to the emotions you used to have because of your height.
My brother is shorter then me by several inches , he knows I want to do this and HE NEVER EVER thought he could even think about it ,although at the beginning of this neurosis I stressed him out since he is my best friend and just later realized that I could have damaged him but thank God that didn't happen .
He has an actuall pretty girlfriend which is my height and he doesn't care if she has heels or not ,AND on top of that in her family are all tall an "obsessed" with Male height .
She was too .
Point of all this is that people should come in this forum because they already almost 100% decided to do this , not to find an answear because a 5.5 guy that hears a 5.9 say this will most likely think at 2 surgeries and be depressed .
But this is not the point of the forum because as I largely proved with my talk,height and its perception is VERY personal ,therefore it's not about how tall you are but about how you feel about it and I honestly I have also some hidden reasons in my heart that makes all this probably worth it because I would never be free from my brain If I don't manage to change this aspect of myself.
So no surprise more average height guys want it ,every one has a weak point , faith wanted that ours it's really really hard to get rid of while a taller guy with a nose problem, a bad body genetic for bodybuilding,hair loss,crooked teeth or u name it can be easily covered or fixed with less effort .
Height is not that important in real life as it is in this forum ,
So if you are under avarage but think about height once in a while just forget this ,if you are any height (not 6'2 ofc) but constantly desiring to see your best version and be free , then keep the surgery road in mind and evaluate it .
Sorry for the long text but I recently made an account here even tho I ve been reading in the forum for so long and I have so many things unsaid.
Hope at least I answeared to the topic