Recently, height reduction surgery has gain attention in medical profession. Humans are created or made to have different physical features. Features like complexion, height, body size and structure makes each of us unique. Height is one of the distinctive features. some are tall, some are short and others average.

However, some people are not satisfied with their height. I believe you have come across someone wishing he or she is more taller or shorter. Becoming more taller is like an everyday or regular saying. In fact, there are so many myths that mention different foods that would make one grow taller.

Hardly do we hear or see a tall person wishing to be short but there are some persons who wish to reduce their height. Remember that some people are bullied because of their height, try to see yourself in their shoes and imagine the kind of mental stress and pain they go through because of their inadequacies.

Even though we are preaching self love and high self esteem, know that you are free to make changes to your body, so, if you are tired of bending down to walk into buildings or tired of squishing into cars too small for your height, know that there are ways of reducing your height.

Just like there are ways of increasing height ( although there are no scientific evidence, but research has observed some factors ), there are ways of reducing height.

One of the ways is by using height reduction pills. These must be recommended and prescribed by a doctor. Another way of reducing height is by undergoing a surgery. Yes, you heard me right. All thanks to science and technology, we can literally do everything.

Height reduction surgery is one of the rarest surgical procedure. This is because of the few number of persons who want their heights to be reduced. Also, considering how expensive it would be in this part of our world, not everyone can afford it.

WHEN SHOULD THE SURGERY BE PERFORMED?

Being too tall is not a disease, just like being short, it is mostly genetics. Besides, there are activities, professions where being tall is an advantage. Professions like basketball, modelling, military and others. High height or extreme tallness is associated with a disease called gigantism which is a disease where bones grow without control due to failure of the pituitary gland.

It is advised to have height reduction surgery in the following cases:
(1) After excision of affected bones as a result of injury or inflammation.

(2) When one leg becomes shorter and the situation is corrected by shortening the other .

(3) Knitting of bones in the limb after tumour removal.

In the above cases, one leg is operated on because of health reasons. But when a person is not satisfied with his or her height, a surgical procedure and possible. This surgery is done on both legs. 

HOW IS HEIGHT REDUCTION SURGERY DONE?

You should know that this procedure requires intensive surgery and time to recover. It involves serious undertaking for both the patient and the doctor.
To successfully conduct a height reduction surgery, a surgeon will cut open your leg to remove a portion of the tibia, femur or occasionally both bones depending on the application.

Then, to successfully have the bones heal, they place metal plates, screws, or rods in to hold the bones together and give them the help they need to heal in place. 

The fixator devices used to hold the bones correctly can either be a metal rod or metal plate. A metal rod is inserted into bone centers and is removed after a year.

Metal plates are screwed onto the bone.
Height reduction surgery is done under epidural anesthesia so that the patient does not feel pain while on the table. The procedure takes 50 – 90 minutes depending on the complexity.

RISKS OF GETTING YOUR HEIGHT REDUCED THROUGH SURGERY

Just like any surgery, height reduction comes with risks which may include: Pain/discomfort,   bleeding,   Infection, loss of function, bones failing to rejoin during healing, bones healing out of alignment and   muscle weakness.
Some of these risks are expected. Risks like pain, loss of function, muscle weakness. However, it is advised to add physiotherapy to the healing process to avoid some of these risks.

RECOVERY AFTER THE SURGERY

After the surgery, you may not be able to move about freely for some months, it is advised to call a loved one and ask for help. It does not in any way mean you are weak, this is because you need all the help you can get to recover faster.
You may find yourself in leg casts or on clutches for a while till the doctor is satisfied with your healing process.

After bone shortening surgery, people are unable to move about freely for a month or more. It’s common for it to take 6 – 12 weeks to simply regain control and function of the knee. Finally, once all is said and done, you need to return for the final surgery where the pins are removed. A full recovery from surgery to get shorter can be up to 2 years.  

Notwithstanding the risks associated with it, if you feel that height reduction is the best for you, we encourage you to search relentlessly for the best doctors around. 
Your health is important, so is your self-esteem. Good luck

CONCLUSION

In this post titled ” Height reduction surgery”, we have shown how the procedure is carried out, the advantage as well as the risk involved.