Breaking your legs to make yourself taller.

http://www.slate.com/id/2221843

by peter123 • 17 years ago

22 27 17 years ago

aarongough2• 17 years ago

I think the whole argument against this kind of procedure revolves around the fact that operations such as this are complicated, painful, dangerous and expensive.

Once cosmetic surgery is so advanced that it is simple, fast, reliable and painless will people have any issue with it?

I'd be interested to hear opinions... Would you have a cosmetic procedure done if it was not a big deal?

The next step after commonplace cosmetic procedures is routine performance enhancement! Boron carbide skeleton, here I come!

pchristensen• 17 years ago

This TED talk about performance enhancing prosthetic legs (including making you taller) covers a lot of these issues:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/aimee_mullins_prosthetic_...

aarongough2• 17 years ago

Great link! Very thoughtful talk...

philwelch• 17 years ago

In that case, cosmetic surgery would be just like dying your hair, which is extremely commonplace.

LogicHoleFlaw• 17 years ago

Dying your hair used to be controversial. These days you just do it.

noelchurchill• 17 years ago

This operation sounds horrible!

geoka3• 17 years ago

It looks horrible too. A family member has undergone a similar one in Russia, although in her case it was a necessity (she could not walk a mile without her feet starting hurting). They break your bones and install fixtures with metal rods driven through your feet/ankles/shins. Then they use these fixtures to control the way your bone fragments knit back together over a period of several months.

It is hard to imagine that someone would put herself through this for pure cosmetic reasons.

vaksel• 17 years ago

Pretty sure everyone's feet start hurting after walking a mile, especially if you drive everywhere.

Instead of getting surgery, how about spending a few minutes working out and building up your legs? A few wall squats, a bunch of jumping jacks, and some towel hopping and you'll be just fine, without involving surgery that'll screw up your life 20 years later.

kragen2• 17 years ago

Many intelligent people spend many hours every week of their lives and many dollars doing things for purely cosmetic reasons: putting on makeup, picking out clothes, buying clothes, painting interior walls, waxing and detailing their cars, taking photographs of things because they're beautiful (rather than because they need to remember something about them), painting on canvases, performing plastic surgery, getting tattoos, tattooing other people, piercing ears, brushing and cutting and styling hair, listening to and playing music, dyeing fabric...

Although in the case where the canvas is oneself, you can raise the objection of narcissism or selfishness, I think these pursuits are fundamentally worthwhile and even noble.

ironkeith• 17 years ago

I believe that Rivers Cuomo (Weezer) also travelled to Russia to have one of his legs lengthened (he previously suffered from some pretty severe back problems). So there are reason for lengthening legs beyond wanting to be taller.

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bio/index.jsp?pid=149273

ShabbyDoo2• 17 years ago

I wonder why he felt the need to go to Russia. There are many competent physicians in the US doing Ilizarov procedures.

pj3• 17 years ago

it's cheaper. just like off-shoring IT. Lots of patients needing complicated or expensive medical procedures go to India, China, Thailand, etc...

teilo• 17 years ago

Gattaca, anyone?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattaca

quickpost• 17 years ago

Awesome movie. I literally just watched it today and it was totally inspiring.

If anyone needs a break, you can watch the whole thing here (Parts 1-10): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6zvCmQAHQc&feature=chann...

_pius• 17 years ago

If only she'd heard of high heels and platform shoes before the surgery ...

ShabbyDoo2• 17 years ago

This likely was the method employed:

http://www.ilizarov.org.uk/content.htm

I have talked to wearers of such cages. Not fun, but they are a great alternative to amputation.

jerf3• 17 years ago

What a Puritan. "Hey! She thinks she'd be happier if she was taller? How can I stop that legal adult from making a decision I disapprove of?"

What's the compelling basis for us collectively to stop her?

pj3• 17 years ago

How about the burden on an already overwhelmed medical system because doctors are focusing on nonhealth related distractions.

jerf3• 17 years ago

The "already-overwhelmed" medical system in Russia? Paid for out of pocket (I assume, the article doesn't say but I have never heard of an insurance that would pay for that)?

(Besides, the laws of economics tend to ensure that supply will match demand when the market is left alone. If we weren't working so hard to disconnect all the market forces that go into causing that Econ 101 result, maybe our system would be less "overwhelmed". The food I purchased today did not take food out of your mouth; the medical services this woman purchased don't have to take medical services from you.)

mattmaroon• 17 years ago

As a shorter person myself, that is amazing to me. I've heard of that surgery and am baffled that anyone would go through that. (Also, I'm fairly sure athletes don't go through that because it leaves your leg bones too weak.)

I mean, being short is generally not a good thing, except when you're in coach on an airplane and have ample legroom. But it's not bad enough that I'd willfully even break a toe to correct it.

paragraft• 17 years ago

Wow. A friend of mine had an Ilizarov frame for some 5 years at least (born with a shorter leg on one side, they were aiming for 4 inches I think) starting at age 10 or 11, and after seeing what an absolute mission that was for him, I'm staggered at the idea that someone would undergo that procedure for cosmetic reasons. It's seriously non-trivial surgery: installation was 13 hours, and he became far more familiar with various painkillers than any kid that age deserves to.

jrandom• 17 years ago

Wake me when they can give me surgery to make me smarter.

Breaking your legs to make yourself taller.

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