A controversial height-enhancing surgery that involves breaking bones in the legs has come under heavy criticism in China after two people publicly said they regret having the procedure.
Earlier this month, central China's Henan TV reported that a woman from the eastern province of Jiangsu had traveled abroad to undergo surgery, spending 600,000 yuan (US$84,000) to make herself 13 centimeters (five inches) taller.
The report did not name the countries.
But rather than feeling the relief and joy she had hoped for after the surgery, she was plagued by a series of physical problems.
A “height-enhancing” operation left this man with unequal-length legs. Photo: UDN.com
In addition to the bone infection, the woman is unable to run or walk fast and is having difficulty breathing.
“My life has been completely ruined and if there was an operation to reverse this I would take it in a heartbeat,” she said.
A 29-year-old man from central China's Henan province, who said he felt inferior because he was only 164cm tall, underwent a similar operation at a Chinese public hospital, but it cost him more than 100,000 yuan ($14,000).
He said that after the surgery, not only was he not happy with his height, but his legs were now different lengths.
“I'm not much taller than I used to be, and on top of that I now have a disability,” he says.
Medical experts say limb-lengthening surgery involves breaking and separating the bones in the leg, fixing them with external metal devices and then lengthening them.
The surgery involves breaking the bones in the leg and then using a metal extension device. Photo: Baidu
According to a 2006 regulation from the country's Ministry of Health, limb-lengthening surgery should only be performed on people with congenital deformities or whose bones are of different lengths due to injury, tumours or infection.
It is prohibited as a cosmetic treatment.
This is not the first time that mainland Chinese media has reported on people undergoing height-enhancing surgery, but previous reports have focused on people who had the procedure done for medical reasons.
In 2022, a 19-year-old woman living in southeastern Jiangxi province was originally 154 cm tall, but after surgery she grew six centimeters taller. However, she was unable to stand due to problems with her knee and ankle joints caused by the surgery.
