I guess now would be a good time to explain why almost all forms of height increase ideas and product don’t work. In any process, there is usually a series of steps that has to happen for it to work out. In those steps, there is usually one step that is the slowest and that step is called the rate limiting part. A process or “reaction” can only be as fast or work as much as the slowest part can be. When it comes to achieving height increase, the part that really limits whether one can grow is the fact that after one passes puberty and reaches”physical maturity” the growth plates also known as epiphyseal plates which was originally cartilage has started to thin out and after a certain amount of estrogen is released into the system, the cartilage is slowly ossified until the epiphyseal plates disappear and fuse with the bones surrounding it leaving only a line known as the epiphyseal line. When we were still growing the growth plates are located on both sides of our long bones, like the femur and humerus.

From the Wikipedia Article on Epiphyseal plates, click HERE

Role in bone elongation

Endochondral ossification is responsible for the initial bone development from cartilage in utero and infants and the longitudinal growth of long bones in the epiphyseal plate. The plate’s chondrocytes are under constant division by mitosis. These daughter cells stack facing the epiphysis while the older cells are pushed towards the diaphysis. As the older chondrocytes degenerate, osteoblasts ossify the remains to form new bone. In puberty increasing levels of estrogen, in both females and males, leads to increased apoptosis of chondrocytes in the epiphyseal plate. Depletion of chondrocytes due to apoptosis leads to less ossificationand growth slows down and later stops when the entire cartilage have become replaced by bone, leaving only a thin epiphyseal scar which later disappears. Once the adult stage is reached, the only way to manipulate height is modifying bone length via distraction osteogenesis.

The growth plate has a very specific morphology in having a zonal arrangement. The growth plate includes a relatively inactive reserve zone at the epiphyseal end, moving distally into a proliferative and then hypertrophic zone and ending with a band of ossifying cartilage (the metaphysis). A mnemonic for remembering the names of the epiphyseal plate growth zones is ” Real People Have Career Options,” standing for: Resting zone, Proliferative zone, Hypertrophic cartilage zone, Calcified cartilage zone, Ossification zone. The growth plate is clinically relevant in that it is often the primary site for infection, metastasis, fractures and the effects of endocrine bone disorders.

Me: So let’s look at HOW EXACTLY does ossification and bone growth even happen. Let’s move to the Wiki article on ossification found HERE

Ossification (or osteogenesis) is the process of laying down new bone material by cells called osteoblasts. It is synonymous with bone tissue formation. There are two processes resulting in the formation of normal, healthy bone tissue: Intramembranous ossification is the direct laying down of bone into the primitive connective tissue (mesenchyme), while endochondral ossification involves cartilage as a precursor. In fracture healing, endochondral osteogenesis is the most commonly occurring process, for example in fractures of long bones treated by plaster of Paris, whereas fractures treated by open reduction and stabilization by metal plate and screws may heal by intramembranous osteogenesis.

Heterotropic ossification is a process resulting in the formation of bone tissue that is often atypical, at an extraskeletal location. Calcification is often confused with ossification. Calcification is synonymous with the formation of calcium-based salts and crystals within cells and tissue. It is a process that occurs during ossification, but not vice versa.

The exact mechanisms by which bone development is triggered remains unclear, but it involves growth factors  and cytokines in some way.

Time Table For Human Ossification 

Me: It would appear that once the estrogen starts getting released, the rate at which condrocytes die increases, thus leading to the number of chondrocytes that can multiply through mitosis decrease until all the condrocytes that can possibly multiply to form more stacking from endochondral ossification dies out. As stated there are two main forms of ossification. 

What is interesting from the second article that talks about ossification is that in the chart, they say that the age range when bones of the lower limbs become ossified is 18-23, which I wonder whether refers to both male and female, or just male. If it is for a general average of both genders, then it is possible that the long bones can be stretched even if the bones have fused, since there is supposed to be still an epiphyseal line that is created. 

In the time chart, it is not until the age f 23-25 before the vertebrate become completely ossified so I would state that even for people (girls and guys) who has past puberty and have have not grown in years within the 15-22 age range group they can still increase in height through the vertebrate and sternum expansion since those bones have not ossified. 

What we notice is that the long bones seem to ossify before the torso bones like the vertebrate and sternum. When doctors like orthopedics and endocrinologists look at X-Rays of teenagers to check if they are growing, I doubt they also check the vertebrate and sternum since they don’t ossify for what appears to be 2 more years after the long bones. That means that the doctors can be wrong in many cases when they state to teenager height increase hopefuls that they can’t grow anymore since they did not look at the X-rays of the back. They only probably take X-rays of the wrists and knees !!

So Even if you are say 23 and your long bones are fused, there is still at least 3 ways to gain height, one of which is to make the rate of chondrocytes apoptosis decrease, the other is to pull at the line of epiphyseal since that line indicates  the cartilage and bones are not completely sealed together, and the best indication is that the vertebrate has not ossified yet!

Tyler’s Notes:

I found this great paper on epiphyseal plates.

Does the epiphyseal cartilage of the long bones have one or two ossification fronts?

“Epiphyseal cartilage is hyaline cartilage tissue with a gelatinous texture, and it is responsible for the longitudinal growth of the long bones in birds and mammals. It is located between the epiphysis and the diaphysis. Epiphyseal cartilage also is called a growth plate or physis. It is protected by three bone components: the epiphysis, the bone bar of the perichondrial ring and the metaphysis. The epiphysis, which lies over the epiphyseal cartilage in the form a cupola, contains a juxtaposed bone plate that is near the epiphyseal cartilage and is in direct contact with the epiphyseal side of the epiphyseal cartilage. The germinal zone corresponds to a group of cells called chondrocytes. These chondrocytes belong to a group of chondral cells, which are distributed in rows and columns; this architecture is commonly known as a growth plate. The growth plate is responsible for endochondral bone growth. The aim of this study was to elucidate the causal relationship between the juxtaposed bone plate and epiphyseal cartilage in mammals. Our hypothesis is that cells from the germinal zone of the epiphyseal side of the epiphyseal cartilage are involved in forming a second ossification front that is responsible for the origin of the juxtaposed bone plate. We report the following: (a) The juxtaposed bone plate has a morphology and function that differs from that of the epiphyseal trabeculae; (b) on the epiphyseal edge of the epiphyseal cartilage, a new ossification front starts on the chondrocytes of the germinal area, which forms the juxtaposed bone plate. This ossification front is formed by chondrocytes from the germinal zone through a process of mineralisation and ossification, and (c) the process of mineralisation and ossification has a certain morphological analogy to the process of ossification in the metaphyseal cartilage of amphibians and differs from the endochondral ossification process in the metaphyseal side of the growth plate. The close relationship between the juxtaposed bone plate and the epiphyseal cartilage, in which the chondrocytes that migrate from the germinal area play an important role in the mineralisation and ossification process of the juxtaposed bone plate, supports the hypothesis of a new ossification front in the epiphyseal layer of the epiphyseal plate. This hypothesis has several implications: (a) epiphyseal cartilage is a morphological entity with two different ossification fronts and two different functions, (b) epiphyseal cartilage may be a morphological structure with three parts: perichondrial ring, metaphyseal ossification front or growth plate, and epiphyseal ossification front, (c) all disease (traumatic or dysplastic) that affects some of these parts can have an impact on the morphology of the epiphyseal region of the bone, (d) there is a certain analogy between metaphyseal cartilage in amphibians and mammalian epiphyseal cartilage, although the former is not responsible for bone growth.”

“[The growth plate] is nourished by three vascular systems: epiphyseal, metaphyseal and perichondrial vessels, which do not reach the interior of the growth plate.”

“[The] structures [that regulate the forces that reach the growth plate] are the epiphyseal bone structure, the bone bar of the perichondrial ring and the metaphyseal bone. The perichondrial ring is a structure that is considered part of the epiphyseal cartilage. ”

There is a small zone above epiphyseal cartilage.

“the mineralisation and neo-formation process of the juxtaposed bone plate were produced by a number of tissue and cell mechanisms that were very different from the endochondral ossification process that occurs in the metaphyseal side of the epiphyseal cartilage.”<-maybe the formation of this juxtabosed bone plate could be key to neo growth plate formation?

Differences were “columns of cells were not produced, cartilage septa did not appear, and the osteocytic cells did not have the typical polyhedral morphology described in the metaphyseal area. The mineralisation (manifested in the appearance of a tide-line) and ossification occured on an area of chondrocytes that have separated from the germinal area, changed their cell phenotype by acquiring a hypertrophic phenotype, and then died by a process of karyorrhexis followed by karyolysis (in contrast to the process of apoptosis that is described in the hypertrophic chondrocyte on the metaphyseal side). A new ossification front formed on these cells, which later formed the juxtaposed bone plate. However, when the germinal zone was affected by trauma or by ovariectomy (ovx) the juxtaposed bone plate did not appear or was delayed. Thus, we found an ossification front in the epiphyseal cartilage on the epiphyseal side and an endochondral ossification front on the metaphyseal side.”

“As an initial conclusion, on the epiphyseal side of epiphyseal cartilage a new ossification front can be observed. At the onset of ossification front, chondrocytes coming from germinal zone chondrocytes of the growth plate are involved. Some germinal zone chondrocytes of the growth plate migrate toward the epiphyseal edge of epiphyseal cartilage. These chondrocytes hypertrophy and die. An ossification front occurs on the epiphyseal side of the epiphyseal cartilage on the edge of the hypertrophic chondrocytes, originating from osteocytic cells from the epiphysis, which participate in the new formation of rough bone. Finally, a rough bone is deposited over the upper edge of the epiphyseal cartilage. Later, a few lamellar bones are deposited, and they both form the juxtaposed bone plate.“<-maybe we can form a juxtaposed bone plate to form a new growth plate.  The composition of cells in this lateral germinal area(likely the zone of Ranvier) could be key to de novo growth plate formation.

The authors describe a paper where ” germinal zone cells in cultures of postnatal rat epiphyseal cartilage [could] regenerate the chondro-epifisis”

The scientists intend to research this germinal zone.  The lead researcher is Emilio Delgado-Baeza.  We should keep a lookout on his studies.

The paper:

Growth of the Perichondrium and the Chondroepiphysis: Experimental Approach in the Rat Proximal Tibial Epiphysis

The perichondrium is a fibrous capsule that covers the chondroepiphysis.  It has two zones: an outer fibrous zone and an inner cellular zone.  The growth plate without the perichondrium grew almost in a normal fashion.  The cells that participated in epiphyseal growth plate came from the lateral region of the growth plate.

There are likely more insights from this study but I could not copy and paste.  But the important thing is that the lateral zone could regenerate growth plates.  How much that lateral region is maintained could affect growth plate regeneration.

I recently discovered through the software I use to track the traffic flow to this website that some people are finding this site by typing the words “grow taller mfiii” into the search engines. So that got me wondering what this mfiii is. So I went on to my trusting friend google to do a little bit of research. This is what I found about this mfiii.

I found three main websites that types about it. One of them is the main website for MFIII located HERE , and the other sites looks like online stores that sell the product located HERE and HERE and HERE . There were a lot more sites but I decided just to read up and focus on the 4 main sites that appear first on google. To find more information about MFIII go to the scibd link HERE

The MFIII is a type of natural, multivitamin supplement (I am not sure if it oral or patch taken) that is supposedly made from sheep placenta which is supposed to have stem cells. It is claimed by the scribd link above that is is safer than the traditional human stem cell therapy and much cheaper.

On the main mfiii website, this is their claim

Apparently the MFIII product is not for height gain but used as a way to combat and slow down the aging process. It is supposed to be and branded as “the most effective anti-aging supplement in the world” by restoring and regenerating healthy cells. The idea is that our true age is determined by how healthy our cells are and how effectively they can divide and replenish themselves. The cellular therapy is supposed to be a bridge between modern western medicine and traditional chinese medicine. The supplement comes in soft gel form but there is three versions. There is the MFIII PE soft gels, the MFIII PE soft gels advanced formula, and the MFIII VP soft gels that is the advanced formula.

From the main site,

of Switzerland hi-tech Softgels are fully researched and developed in Switzerland and Germany. The method employed in unique softgel capsules produces cells without damaging the effectiveness of the valuable, large, bio-active matter. The exact dosage of the cell preparations can be accurately measured and the sterility controlled. Cell Therapy is a well known process in the world that has been proven safe and effective in slowing down the ageing process and regaining your health, vitality and physical power.  of Switzerland softgels are deemed a revolutionary anti-ageing and cell activating oral supplements from more than 20 years of research and development.  of Switzerland softgels, being enteric coated, by-pass the stomach and dissolve in the small intestine whereby the active ingredients are fully absorbed by the body. The advantage of dissolution in the small intestine instead of in the stomach is that it avoids the destruction of active peptides and their functions by gastric acid, thereby ensuring the bioavailability of the cell elements consumed. It is currently the most advanced bio-technological product with a very high metabolic activity. It’s active ingredients are small molecular peptides which are absorbed by the body without losing their effects to induce general health maintenance. The cell extracts of of Switzerland extracts are from cell culture. They are very pure raw materials without any foreign content and are 99% water soluble.  of Switzerland – THE SWISS IP SECRET IN CELL EXTRACTION Lab Dom Suisse Inc, the Swiss formulators and developers of  of Switzerland, holds the one and only Swiss licensed method of extraction in cell extraction. The Swiss believe that, in order to maintain the bioactiveness of the active substance of cell extracts, it can only be done with their unique, closely-guarded, Swiss secret of cold enzymatic acid process during extraction without thedestructive effects of heating from 125°C to 180°C as used in the common sterilization process. Hence, no cell extracts are the same because the methods of extraction process are very different. Current cell extracts’ supplements in the markets are via conventional methods. NAMELY : (1) GROUNDING which leaves impurities, accumulated and unfiltered heavy metals; (2) LYOPHILIZATION where the cellular wall structure of the cells are unavoidably damaged during the lyophilization process, rendering a high loss of the cell extracts’ high efficacy and effectiveness; (3) STERILIZATION PROCESS where heating of 125°C to 180°C virtually kills off all natural bio-activeness of any good marine cell extracts. Swiss cell extracts supplement with its unique extraction method is more bio-active and readily available to the users upon ingestion with its fully-soluble, spray-dried material in controlled air environment throughout its unique proprietary Enzymatic Digestion process. In comparison to any other cell extracts products,  of Switzerland softgels will not supply artificial hormones to our bodies which would affect our own hormone production. Dependency on Hormone Therapy may be effective during treatment. However, it will lose its effects when discontinued. This can be dangerous as it affects the natural balance of the endocrine system. Since of Switzerland is free of large proteins, the risk of allergy is highly minimized as the chance of attacking a foreign body is negligible. The active substances in  of Switzerland are extracted with hi-tech biotechnological processes. The ratio of active ingredients in  of Switzerlandis set after prolonged research and trials in various scientific fields towards achievement of the best concentration of the active ingredients. Both the inner ingredients and outside coating of  of Switzerland capsules are stabilised. of Switzerland products are all extracted from small peptide fractions with the big molecules of fat, protein and hormones removed. They are further cultivated by Cell Culture with the end results of the active parts separated and purified. They are thus very pure and do not contain any other unnecessary ingredient. No side effects will occur for long-term maintenance since the bio-molecules metabolize, degenerate and are excreted via the same pathways as endogenous products.  of Switzerland is NOT a DRUG as it does not contain any chemical but is solely a nutritional supplement . of Switzerland is totally safe and can be used in conjunction with any other vitamin or nutritional supplement.

Me: What is clear is that the MFIII product is not intended for height increase purposes. What I did notice from the boards is that a few people decided to buy it and try it out to see if it would have any height increase effects, and the conclusion is that it has no effect on height increase. The product promoters claim that the mfiii can increase one’s height but most people who have tried it have had no height increase. The argument against it can be found HERE and HERE on the impartial height increase boards

The most interesting discussion about the effects of MFIII is found from the site Doctors Lounge where apparently quite a few height increase methods are judged and analyzed which you can find HERE . Apparently the supplement is supposed to even unfuse date growth plates which is a very big claim and not substantiated.

As for the MFIII intended purpose of anti-aging, I am not qualified to state whether it works or not. The main site does show that there has been a few clinical studies done on the supplement and the studies done at France, the USA, and China show that it is safe to take, with minimal side effects.  They also sell what appears to be bottles of stem cell solutions where one is expected to inject them under the skin called blue cell extracts plus and nano cell extracts. It is authenticated with some form of certificate by the Swiss government. From the pictures it appears to have a little bit of effect on skin smoothness. 

The conclusion is that the MFIII has no chance of working , at least for height increase.

Note: I wanted to warn the reader that this will be the most controversial post I have written to date. This post is to test your own ability and will to handle the cruelty of life. Don’t read this post if you can’t handle it. 

All of these views and points are ideas and theories I have learned about and reached at one point in my life. They represent the thoughts of my own shadow, the part of my mind which arises when the darkness inside of me manifests itself. 

You don’t need to agree with me or like me. Everything in life is for the individual to make their own personal subjective interpretation about. I don’t know if you do have free will but you can believe that you can still choose to believe in the most basic points about life, like whether god exists or not, whether humans are basically good or not, or whether the universe is a nice place to live in.

I wanted to be completely honest with this post. I think you as the reader deserve it. You need to hear the truth, not some lie the media, the movies, or disney tries to tell you. This world and existence we live in is fucking brutal, and very harsh. If you are not ready to play in this game called life your fate is only suffering and failure. This post is not completely about height, but it is related. Just listen and be willing to open your mind.

A wise person once told me that if I look around me, I would be able to see that sex is everywhere around me. All of life and society can be viewed as an elaborate mating ritual. Richard Dawkins in his landmark book The Selfish Gene talked about how we are really just biological machines that are programmed by our genes to do everything we can to reproduce with the most fit individuals so that our progeny has the best chance to survive and thrive when they gow up and have to compete against the millions and billions of others people who are hungry like you out there. From the classic evolutionary biology book ,the Red Queen and Sperm Wars, the reader finds out that for many women, they realize that they probably can not find the best mate who has all the the qualities that they are looking for so they pick and choose mates who have the qualities they are looking for and try to combine them together to have the best offspring. These women would try to get pregnant in their early twenties to the good looking, 6′ 4″, broad shoulders, alpha behavior dominant men who do not have the drive or intelligence to success in the corporate or professional world, and after a few years they take their own children with the good genes and find a nice dependable beta male to marry and settle down with who is professional successful but without the physical qualities and get them to take care of their tall, good looking children who is by another man.

There are already 7 billion people you will eventually have to contend with to find food, shelter, water, and a mate to produce offspring since your instinct is to do that. Your parents were the victorious, and your grandparents were the victorous. For you to even exist, every single one of your ancient relatives had to survive past famine, war, disease, rape, and genocide to live long enough to mate with someone and pass down their genes. In your veins runs the blood of champions. You are the product of the best of the best, which humanity can provide. You are a winner by being even born. If you don’t desire sex and to have children, that is okay. It is just that your genes will be unapologetically weeded out of existence. All the success and effort and back breaking work your ancestors did to pass down their genes and give their offspring the best chance to win in this game against others, you have chosen to throw away because you decided at some point that it is not worth it, all the struggling and competing.

Most plastic surgeons will tell you that the difference between ugly and beautiful is only millimeters apart. when you are only 1 milimeter away from beauty, you are deemed “comely” When you are 2 millimeters away from beauty you are “average” When are are 3 milimeters from beauty, you are “ugly”. That’s right. The difference between being beautiful and ugly can be as small as 3 mm. And that is also often the difference between success and failure. Sometimes when we have been trying to reach a goal and giving all of our effort, we give up just before we make the crack and the dam breaks and all of our rewards comes flooding through. We are often just millimeters away from reach success when we give up. Don’t give up and keep fighting everyday.

When you watch the discovery channel and national geographic, you will see a lion chase after a zebra. One of them has to die for the other to live. The zebra can only run so far before either the lion catches up to it and kills it for food or it is fast enough to run away. If it runs away, the lion starves to death. Of course, even with the death of one predator, tomorrow is a new day and you fight again. This world is really a dog eat dog world where it is kill or be killed. When you are out in the world every day in the corporate machine you understand how damn difficult it is to just even make $1. However when you get home, you must turn that fighting energy into love, caring and compassion and give it uncondiitonally and compeletely to the person you have devoted your word of love and loyalty to.

You have really no idea how lucky you are to even be alive. If your father and mother can been just a feet away from each other when they first met, they might have gotten together, and you would not even be here reading this message. The physicists have tried calcualting the odds and chances of you existing and they have shown that your odds of even “being” are so small that the divided number is greater than the number of atoms in the universe. That is how this world and nature works.

If you are a man, you are at a disadvantage because you are always the one who will have to chase, try insnaely hard, and win the affection and heart of the best, most beautiful, most fit female you can find so you can mate with her to produce the most fit children. Only 20% of all men in the history of human kind has been able to reproduce. If you can even have one child with any reasonably healthy female, you will already be in the top 20% of all men. You are going to have to compete with thousands of other men for the attention and affection of only a few women in your social group since only 10% of all woman are considered attractive. Are you ready for the intense competition?

For you men out there, remember that yur fight is never aginst women, because when you fight against women, you cannot win at least their heart. You can overpower women and rape them as our ancestors did and that did lead to results and offspring, but in this modern era we are not allowed to become complete animals. Your real fight is against the men in this world. You are effectively competing agsint the hoards of other men all tryings to take, steal, and do whatever they can to get the attractive girls.

If you are a woman, you are at a disadvantage because you are probably smaller and weaker than the opposte sex. You are constantly being harassed or approached upon be horny lonely desperate men who want to be with you, want you for sex, and want you to love them. In your lifetime, you have a 25% chance of being raped, often by someone you trust, someone you know. On top of that, you realize that your true greatest asset is your looks, and your youth. That is finite and with each single day your chance to attract that tall, good looking, smart, rich and successful guy decreases. No amount of makeup and plastic surgery can cover up the lines of time and you realize that one day the guys who once would chase you to the ends of the world have stopped coming and are looking at the younger, prettier girls while you are left to have to settle for what is the best you can get. Of course we could all say that we are effectively settling. We all are trying to make ourselves better to find the best we can. Love is a battlefield and you are going to be slaughtered.

This is where the element of height comes into our species psyche. Being tall and having height has always meant at a unconscious level the ability to be closer to the sky, and maybe touch the heavens.I personally have not found one tribe or ethnic group in human history which values people who are smaller and shorter than people who are taller. Consistently through studies, women can been asked and they state that a man’s height is most often the primary factor that determines their dating potential. A man can be a harvard educated neurosurgeon who makes a million dollars a year but he still will heave trouble finding a date if he is of short stature. Height is something fundamental and immovable. Maybe if we happened to be a species that lived underground where there was an actual physical to how high one could be, there would be some form of evolutionary advantage to be smaller but the environment we live in there is limitless in the direction of up, but limited to the direciton of down. With the force of gravity always trying to push us down maybe the aspect of great height is a way for all species to proclaim that they have been able to overcome such a basic, elemental force of nature.

On the other hand, height for females is almost just as imporatnt. Females who are tall are often given mythic statues.They are the ones who get stopped on the street or mall while shopping by a modeling agent scout and given the million dollar contract deals to just wear makeup and walk up and down a runway for a living. Women like 5′ 10″ Blake Lively has to never worry about working or trying ot find her next meal because she will always have men who will provide for her for a chance to mate and be with her for her beauty and genes. Women like 5′ 11″ Ivanka Trump will only date professional millionaire type men which she did since her husband is an investment banker.

People these days try to be nice to you and tell you sugar coated lies so you won’t feel bad about yourself or get too depressed but the cold truth is that certain things matter and often those things are what you have no control over. People believe that there is nothing we can do about height so they think they can judge us on that issue. We can change everything else about ourselves. We can go back to school even when we are in our 60s, go to medical school and become doctors, we can spent and work our asses off for 10 years to become neruosurgeons, we can wear contacts, get hair plug implants, get plastic surgery on our eyelids and noses, whiten our teeth, get teeth implants, buy thousand dollar armani suits and gucci bags and jimmy choo shoes to increase our appearance from an average 6 to a hot 9. We can diet, exercise, and meditate but our height seems to be the last great thing which we can not really do anything about. This life can be viewed either through the lens of sex and mating or the lens of death and struggle.

Immortality is always just out of our reach in the stars, and for those of us who can feel the burning of passion for glory and power in our earlier days , we are told to “reach for the stars”. In Greek Myth, after the Olympian gods defeated the Titans in their epic war, the 3 main brothers Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had to divide the world upon themselves. Zeus who was the leader chose to take the sky because the sky represented the infinite and he wanted the most of all of his siblings. The sky and height represents the zenith, the peak which humans can reach for. Similarly, there is a limit to how cold a system can be from thermodynamics known as absolute zero, but there seems to be no limit to how hot and high the temperature of a system can be.

Sure, there are some people who choose to view this life through the lens of money but they are looking at an illusions. Money is fake, human created, not nature created. We are living in a culture that has a fiat currency. If one did the research they would realize that all systems and nations throughout history who has ever decided to use a fiat currency had collapsed. Our concept of money is an illusion and our faith in it is based on a lie.

I wanted to get even more harsher  and colder, but closer to the truth. If you have ever been dumped, the real reason they dumped you was because you just wasn’t good enough. Your value in their eyes dropped to a level which they didn’t think you could ever crawl out of. Or they found someone who they believed was better than you, who had a higher value than you. No one who is better gets dumped, they are the one who does the rejecting. That is the truth. Stop all the lies and bullshit and come to terms with it. If you want to get angry at these people who reject you and look down on you, then you have two choices. You can either get angry or get even. Getting angry lets you feel good for a short time and that is a way that your ego does to protect itself from being hurt. However, if you are desiring to do something about being rejected, you would want to get even. Sure, you can learn to forgive and let go and just move on with your life but as we have seen through out the history of mankind, revenge is a sweet act that most men would desire after being wronged. If we remember clearly, the Trojan war and the fall of the great city of Troy was because one man Paris stole the wife of another, Mannaleus and Mannaleus took his revenge out on Paris and Helen by bringing together all the forces of Greece and brought the city of Troy down on its knees.

Inevitably you will eventually lose. we all lose. That is called the certainty of death.

Another wise person once told met that if I look around me, I would be able to see that death is everywhere around me. All of life can be viewed as a person riding on a boat heading towards the waterfall while sitting backwards. We can’t see when it will happen, but it will happen and often so quickly that we never had the chance to react or rethink over our life.

I will be slaughtered by life. You will be too. Everyone will be. However, we can prevent it and hold death away if we play this game of life well and live a life of success. We are supposed to stay alert and vigil to all the things that goes on in our lives and the environment around us. Millions of years ago if you were not alert and aware of your surrounding, you eat killed or eaten. There is really no good news, at least for the ending. We all end our story with the same fate. We are born winners, and we can die as winners if we realize what we are expected to do by the universe and nature. At the most basic level that is how nature defines success and winning. So take your trophies, your honors and accolades, and medals and give me what can not be bought or traded for by humans. Give me the power to transform my body and display to others that I have learned how to conquer the earth and sky and pushed myself slightly closer to heaven and been able to be just more successful than my fellow humans so that I can claim that I was a winner in this life, even though I know that at the end I will lose and all of my actions will be for nothing.

I am completely aware that just two post ago I had written about the various types of distraction osteogenesis procedures available. You can find the post by clicking HERE.

What I am doing now is doing a more reader friendly post about the procedure which will go less in detail and more easily understood version. The information I have copy and pasted is not my own but taken from the resource link Short Support which you can find under the Resource Page.

The link to the information below where I found on the Short Support website is found by clicking HERE.

New Procedures in Cosmetic Leg And Limb Lengthening

There have been many developments in recent years that improve upon the Ilizarov External Fixator device. Most of these developments involve internal devices that either provide more support during lengthening and strengthening, or eliminate completely the need for the cumbersome Ilizarov device. The alternatives are listed below in alphabetical order.

• Albizzia
  Albizzia is also called GEN for Gradual Elongation over intramedullary Nail and is a variation of Internal Lengthening Over Nails. It was developed in France by Dr Jean-Marc Guichet at the University Center (CHU) of Dijon in 1986. The device is sping loaded. The rotation of the patient’s lower extremity creates the distraction with an audible “click.” It appears to be similar to, or perhaps a precursor of the ISKD. Dr Guichet is continuing his research with the development of a new 3D-Reconstruction nail (3D-Albizzia) allowing for lengthening and axial corrections at the same time.
• Bliskunov’s method
  Bliskunov’s method was pioneered in the ex-USSR by Professor Alexander Bliskunov, now deceased. It is another example of an internal lengthening device and is now practiced in the Ukraine. 
  

  

   

• Fitbone®
  The Fitbone® device is being used by Prof. Augustin Betz in Germany and appears to be the only device that uses a powered system to lengthen the legs. The bones of the leg (Tibia and/or Femur) are cut and the intramedullary telescoping nail is implanted in the bone marrow of each bone. Each end of the telescope nail is attached to each end of the cut bone. The nail is connected to an induction receiver that is placed just under the skin. An external control unit powers the telescope nail though the induction plate. A similar technique has been used to power artificial hearts.Additional information is available from the The Fitbone® site.

   

  Dr. Betz’s Therapiezentrum Martinsmühle site also provides good information about the procedure. See especially the “Implantation technique” link on the left side of the home page.

• Intramedullary Skeletal Kinetic Distractor (ISKD)
  The Intramedullary Skeletal Kinetic Distractor (ISKD) device uses a kinetic clutch mechanism to lengthen the leg. One segment of a rod is screwed onto another and the whole rod is inserted into the patient’s bone. When the patient rotates his or her leg, the lower segment rotates over the upper one, like screwing a bolt out of a nut, and the rod lengthens, expanding the leg. The clutch ensures that the rod can rotate only in one direction. A monitor is included to track how much the leg has separated at any point in time.The ISKD was invented by Dr. J. Dean Cole, an orthopedic surgeon and President of Orthodyne Inc. Dr. Cole is Medical Director of the Florida Hospital, Orthopaedic Institute, Fracture Care Center. This is one of the few facilities in the U.S. that performs Cosmetic Leg Lengthening. Orthofix manufactures this device. Drs. Paley and Herzenberg at the LifeBridge International Center for Limb Lengthening (ICLL) also use ISKD for Cosmetic Leg Lengthening.
• Lengthening Over Nails (LON)
  The use of Lengthening Over Nails was pioneered in 1990, by Drs. Paley and Herzenberg while they practiced at the Maryland Center for Limb Lengthening & Reconstruction (MCLLR). They are now at the LifeBridge International Center for Limb Lengthening (ICLL). During the initial surgery, a metal rod is inserted into the central cavity (intramedullary) of the lower legs (the tibia bone), and then the external fixator device is attached to the bone. As the limb is lengthened, one end of the bone slides over the rod and new bone is grown around it. When the bone is fully lengthened, the external device is removed and the rod is surgically attached to each bone segment. During bone strengthening, the rod provides support instead of the more uncomfortable and unwieldy External Fixator Device. At the end of the Strengthening phase, a second operation is performed to remove the metal rod. Lengthening Over Nails decreases the duration of the Strengthening phase by two to three months.
• Micro-wound
  Dr. Helong Bai at the The 8th Hospital in Chongqing, China developed a micro-wound operation for leg lengthening. This procedure uses a fixative clip instead of an Ilizarov fixator. The fixator clip covers just one side of the leg and appears to be more comfortable than the Ilizarov fixator which completely surrounds the leg.

  

   

• Precice™
  Developed by Ellipse Technologies, the Precice™ System uses non-invasive adjustable intramedullary rods or bone plates to lengthen long-bones (e.g., femur, tibia). There are no open wounds. Lengthening is achieved through an External Remote Controller (ERC). The “ERC” is a portable, hand held unit that uses permanent magnets to automatically modify the length of the implant through the touch of a switch. The rods can distract up to 65mm.

   >

   

• ProtoDerm® Pin Site Dressings
  In December 2009 we were contacted by a representative from Integrity Medical Devices. The company manufactures pin site dressings for External Fixation Devices. For more information, please read theirIntroduction Sheet and Features and Benefits document.
• Salamehfix
  Salamehfix 1, or SLDF System, is a hinged External Fixation System developed by Prof. Ghassan Salameh in Syria. It is an arc system rather than a circular system and consists of three small arcs. The arcs are not the same diameter so the system can take the shape of leg. The entrance of screws and wires are in minimally painful regions so it’s more tolerable, provides for stable fixation and allows early full weight bearing. The small size of the system allows clothing to be worn over it with full mobility of nearby joints.

  

I have looked through the boards and one common idea that many people mention is using gravity boots to gain some extra height. The basic idea is that by attaching one’s ankles and feet to a raised bar, the force of gravity can be use to push down on your spine, thus elongating it. The vertebrate can be realigned, and the disks between them can be decompressed.

The gravity boots somehow became popular during the 80s when a few famous people and movies started featuring the product as a part of their exercise routine or lifestyle. The original benefits were believed to be relieve from lower back pain and headaches. The increased flow of blood to the brain was supposed to help with one’s cognitive ability. What was eventually reported was that the inversion of one’s body can lead to increased likely hood for stroke, heart problems, and eye damage from the increased pressure. The gravity boots came and gone as mostly a fad but some people still use it and swear to its effectiveness.

Here is my own thoughts on the idea. The idea of using gravity boots operates on the exact same principles as the inversion table and the hanging on to a bar or doing pull-ups. You are trying to use the downward force of gravity to push the parts of your body apart from each other to elongate your body in the vertical direction.

I have used an inversion table myself to relieve back pain once and it helped a little. I learned about the likelihood of using it to gan height and I tried it. I spent about 10-15 minutes two times a day on the machine for only 2 weeks. I did notice a gain of 0.25 inches in height but that gain disappeared after only 15 minutes standing upright. In my opinion, the gravity boots would do the same. They will increase one’s height because the back is being elongated and decompressed, but the height gain is only temporary. Once one goes back to the upright position, the downward force of gravity will negate any effects you have created from being upside down.

To read more about Gravity Boots, go HERE to the wikipedia article about it.

There are gravity boots sold in most large retail stores like Walmart, Amazon, and Sport Authority.

As an example, I wanted to take a sample case of someone who did use the gravity boots for height increase reasons. The posts by the individuals can be found by clicking HERE

Source:  http://www.easyheight.com/inversionsuccess.htm

Note: Below are all the emails & message posts we’ve received & collected from our fellow height seekers telling about the wonders of inversion exercises. We’re convinced that inverted sit-ups is possibly a cure for short stature! Read on and tell us if you agree! For your convenience, some bogus claims & exaggerated statements have been removed. Finally, keep in mind that the inverted sit-up exercises with weights (from the Lumbar Routine) is the COMBINATION of all the success story ingredients which are listed below. In other words, stationary inversion does NOT work. Again, the quickest & most proven way to grow taller is possibly through inverted sit-ups with weights.

Last updated: Jan. 1, 2006

I gained 1.5 inches in 3 months through inversion, but LOST IT ALL!
April 30 2002 at 2:19 AM No score for this post
Forum Owner (Shawn_c)
To Mark and Every One…Please Read about my Routine
http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=195653&messageid=1020147548

Hey Mark

I’m 20 years old and (5’9″)… I’m trying to achieve my ultimate goal and that is reaching the 6 feet mark.. In answering your question, yes i did grow TEMPORALLY about an 1.5” and it’s not only just doing inversions. There’s more to it then just plain inversion.

Because during the 3 months of my routine, I had a strong will, desire and a NO to never give up hope on achieving my goals. I was really focused on growing and keep saying to myself every time in the mirror, mourning when I wake up and at night just before going to sleep…”you are growing taller,” repeat several times…”you are growing taller everyday”, repeat several times, “you will grow taller, you must grow taller”, repeat several times. And there’s many more…but things like that I would say to myself…you get the picture….

Also I did leg stretches on my bed(while lying down flat on my back…stretch out each leg for about 10 sec on each for 10 reps) and did a few other simple exercises on the bed….and did the same thing when waking up in the morning…

During the day I would always maintain a straight posture….while walking and sitting(it wasn’t very easy at first…but I got used to it very soon)…posture is a very important factor in trying to gain height….

For the inversion…I did that 3 times a day on some occasions depends on how I personally felt…but most of the times I did it 2 times a day…I did it for 3 days straight…1 days off (need a break)… and then 3 days straight…repeat….that’s 6 out of 7 days a week…it seems like its too much, but its not because I would take a break on every 3 days of inversion…remember don’t ever do 6 days straight if your going to do it 2-3 times a day……because doing too much can be very unhealthy and can lead to injures and problems…it all depends on u, and how u feel…its very important to listen to yourself..

And that’s the routine I followed for 3 months or so (plus eating at least 3-4 meals a day)…and I grew about 1.5 inches…But of course I then got really lazy (it’s the truth…it happens to us all at some point) and stopped following my routine for about 4 weeks approx and guess what…I LOST IT ALL…

It was very disappointing because of all that hard work I had put in… but it goes to show that I HAD GROWN….so there is hope for u all, .it’s possible to grow after 19 years of age…

And the keys to reaching your goals are: NEVER GIVE UP HOPE, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, BE STRONG, COMMITTED AND DEDICATED TO YOUR ROUTINE (FOR EXAMPLE) AND U TOO CAN SUCCEED AND Achieve YOUR GOALS.…GOOD LUCK TO U ALL, Forum Owner(Shawn_C)
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i forgot to mention this, while inverting i used a pair of hexbells (about 20lbs)
April 30 2002 at 2:48 AM No score for this post
Forum Owner(Shawn_c)
http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=195653&messageid=1020149294

Response to To Mark and Every One…Please Read about my Routine that i followed…..

Hey guys, before the inverting phase…I would set up two hexbells (dumbbells) of 20lbs each on the floor then hang on the bar upside down and grab the hexbells with each hand…and lay there MOTIONLESS for about 1-3 min then drop the weight on floor curl back up for some air..then go back down and grab the weights and then start swinging fluently back and forth for about 1-3 min….then did some punches with the weights (trying to punch the ground) and then did other kinds of various stretches with the weights that I could think of while inverting…the whole inversion process last about 10-15mins…

But remember when starting to invert for the first time it is best to go small (that is 30s to 1min)…then gradually increase your time of 30secs for each day… not on successive inversion… for example, say today I’ll be inverting 3 times.. on my first invert i do 30s…on my second invert and third invert i do also 30s or so…then on the next day after getting enough sleep of course…I increase my inversion time to about 1 min for that day….got the picture? ..adding weights while inverting helps a lot in the growing process… However, remember to be extra careful and cautious while inverting with weights….Good luck, Forum Owner(Shawn_C)
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To Jen And Mark about inversion…please read!!!
April 28 2002 at 11:26 PM No score for this post
Forum Owner(Shawn_C)
http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=195653&messageid=1020050761

Response to tom, have you tried inversion yourself?

I personally have tried inversion…i would do it 2-3 times a day…morning, afternoon and at night just before going to bed…do it at least 10-15min each session…of course when starting to invert for the first few times it is best to do 30sec to 1min…then slowly gradually increase your time about 30sec each day of inversion…just remember not to do more than 15min..

I did that for 3 months straight…6-7 days a week..and grew about 1.5 inches...but then i got really lazy after and stopped inverting for about 4 weeks straight and guess what.. I LOST WHAT I HAVEGAINED..i suppose the results are not permanent.. that is why i’m doing it again and i’m on my second week of inversion..and this time i will not quit..if i can attain 1″1/2″ before then i can do it again and this time keep the results permanent…

Remember the key to success is commitment, dedication, and hard work…cant give up and never give up..believe in yourself and the power of the mind…and u can grow too. Good luck,  Forum Owner(Shawn_C)

listen!!!
May 4 2002 at 3:51 AM No score for this post
Shawn_C (Forum Owner)
http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=195653&messageid=1020498706

Response to What’s the most we can increase our height?

There’s no guarantee that you will gain any permanent height after your bones have fused…ages 16-18 for males and 14-16 for females in my opinion…but yes it is possible to grow after 19..i have at one point…it was temporary gains of 1.5 inches over a 3-month span of a routine that I used…read my previous post on this matter…but if I hadn’t got lazy and kept it up for a year or so…then just maybe the results may have been permanent…however, it all depends on a lot of factors as to how much we can actually grow…

YOU must be dedicated and committed and have a strong will power to never give up Hope and never quit…its’ not very easy to do especially if you’re going to follow a routine for more than 3 months… It takes hard work to achieve your goals…IF YOU HONESTLY PUT 100% EFFECT INTO…THEN YOU’LL SUCCEED AND GROW TOO…TAKE MY WORD FOR IT…. AND you may grow as much as 1-4 inches in my opinion…But it all depends on a lot of factors, such as age, environment, nutrition, sleep, just to name a few…

Listen..I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TRYING TO GET AT(I’LL CREDIT U WITH 100% ON THIS, BECAUSE EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT REALLY WORKs, RIGHT???SO GOOD QUESTION)…AND HERES THE ANSWER TO YOUR REAL QUESTION…NO pun intended!!!

None of these products that you have seen being advertised such as Prolex, B-Growth, Growth-booster, and many, many others that your familiar with….if not there are many out there!!!

THEY JUST DONT WORK!!! IT’S THE FACT!!!.. IT’S THE TRUTH!!! JUST ACCEPT IT!!!…

Don’t even try to Argue/Disagree with me…by saying U have to try it first to believe it… I know what I’M SAYING…NOW IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT REALLY WORKS(Your second supposedly question)…again no pun intended!!! I’LL TELL YOU:

HARDCORE STRETCHING…
INVERSIONS…
PILATES…
AND JUST MAYBE YOGA …
IF THERES ANYTHING THAT I LEFT OUT OR FORGOTTEN TO ADD which I probably did… I’LL UPDATE U… Cheers, Shawn_C
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Response to hanging on a bar 
I Believe that you need to do it for more than a year to see permanent results…. It doesn’t hurt to try…. But hanging is LESS effective than inversion… Many people who tried hanging grew longer arms… Good luck, Shawn_C

===============END of Shawn’s Story=============

Sky’s NOTE: The reason that Shawn gained 1.5 inches of temporary height gain (which he quickly lost it all) is because what he did was STATIONARY inversion (inverting motionless while holding dumbbell weights). Our experiments have proved that stationary inversion is NOT effective and that kinetic inversion (inverted sit-ups with weights) is possibly the preferred method for achieving PERMANENT growth.

Me: Overall, I would not recommend a routine or program to increase height through gravity boots. If you choose to use it, it might be a good idea to focus on doing a few sit-ups to help strengthen one’s core and make the toro sleeker to create the illusion that the body is thinner and taller than it really is. The gravity boots can definitely be used as an exercise equipment and it will give one temporary height increase. Remember that you are responsible for any injuries or problems you develop from using or trying out any form of exercise program. 

{Tyler-An interesting to note about distraction osteogenesis is that it strives to only do corticectomy attacking only the cortical bone this is very promising as we could potentially attack the cortical bone with less invasive methods}

If you are even remotely interested in the idea of height increase and done any research on the subject and possibilities, you probably have heard of the painful, expensive, and difficult process people talk about where a person’s legs are cut, and separated to re-heal to grow bigger. Most people know the surgical process as limb-lengthening surgery, or leg-lengthening surgery, mainly because the surgery to gain height through surgery is done on the legs, not the torso, neck, or head. Historically, the original method has been called the Ilizarov Method. Since then, new methods and techniques have developed. However, the medical name for the surgical process is called Distraction Osteogenesis.

I am not a medical professional so I will take the most important parts of the Wikipedia article on Distraction Osteogenesis found HERE.

Distraction osteogenesis, also called callus distraction, callotasis and osteodistraction is a surgical process used to reconstruct skeletal deformities and lengthen the long bones of the body. A corticotomy is used to fracture the bone into two segments, and the two bone ends of the bone are gradually moved apart during the distraction phase, allowing new bone to form in the gap. When the desired or possible length is reached, a consolidation phase follows in which the bone is allowed to keep healing. Distraction osteogenesis has the benefit of simultaneously increasing bone length and the volume of surrounding soft tissues.

….developed was the metal frame the leg was placed in to hold it perfectly in place until the cut made in the bone was healed over.

The breakthrough came with a technique introduced by Russian orthopedic surgeon Gavril Ilizarov. Ilizarov developed a procedure based on the biology of the bone and on the ability of the surrounding soft-tissues to regenerate under tension; the technique involved an external fixator, the Ilizarov apparatus, structured as a modular ring. Although the types of complications remained the same (infection, the most common complication occurring particularly along the pin tracks, pain, nerves and soft tissue irritation) the Ilizarov technique reduced the frequency and severity of the complications. The Ilizarov technique made the surgery safer, and allowed the goal of lengthening the limb to be achieved.

Using exclusively an external fixator

The most common is the Ilizarov surgery with the Ilizarov external fixator. Other external fixators are Wagner, Orthofix and Judet. Dr. Helong Bai (8th Hospital in Chongqing, China) developed the technique “Micro-wound” with a different apparatus

Ilizarov surgery

The process involves the following:

• Shattered bones and devascularised ones are removed from the patient, leaving a gap;
• The healthy part of the upper bone is broken into two segments with an external saw;
• The leg is then fitted with the Ilizarov frame that pierces through the skin, muscles, and bone;
• Screws attached to the middle bone are turned 1 millimetre (mm) per day, so that new bone tissues that are formed in the growth zone are gradually pulled apart to increase the gap (One millimetre has been found to be the optimal bone distraction rate. Lengthening too fast overstretches the soft tissues, resulting not only in pain, but also in the inability of the bone to fill up the gap; too slow, and the bone hardens before the full lengthening process is complete.);
• After the gap is closed, the patient continues to wear the frame until the new bone solidifies; the waiting period is usually 120 days before the leg can be used.

Ilizarov surgery is extremely painful, uncomfortable, infection-prone, and often causes unsightly scars. Frames used to be made of stainless steel rings weighing up to 7 kilogram (kg), but newer models are made of Carbon fiber reinforced plastic, which though lighter, are equally cumbersome.

The Guichet Method

Invented in 1987 by Dr. Jean-Marc Guichet MD, the Albizzia nail was created during his residency at the University Center (CHU) of Dijon, France. The Albizzia nail is inserted into the bone canal after it is calibrated with a reamer. The nail is then fixed to the ends of the bone fragments with screws. The nail consists of two sliding tubes that rotate in relation to the other, allowing for the nail to extend through a series of “clicks.” After insertion, the patient “clicks” the nail by turning the knee and leg (femoral nail) or foot (tibial nail) alternating inward and outward rotations to gradually lengthen. 15 clicks per day results in 1mm of gain. Expansions of up to 10 cm have been reported. The Albizzia nail is used in almost 30 countries and over 3,000 nails have been implanted.

In 2009, Dr. Guichet patented the Guichet Nail. The Guichet Nail is an improved version of the Albizzia nail because it uses stronger steel that allows for full weight bearing activity almost immediately after surgery. Furthermore, the Guichet Nail is customizable for size to ensure maximum comfort and efficiency for patients with smaller bones. Although there is initial pain after the surgery and during the clicks, the Guichet Nail is believed to be less painful than other methods as it is less invasive. Furthermore, as the patient controls the method of “clicking,” the patient is able to reduce pain by determining the most suitable method for themselves.

The Guichet Nail is currently used exclusively at the Leg Lengthening Clinic in Marseilles, France. Founded in 2011 by Guichet and Keeper, the clinic specializes in cosmetic leg lengthening surgeries. With worldwide recognition for being the foremost knowledgeable limb rescontruction surgeon with respect to internal fixators in the world, Dr. Guichet has successfully completed over 350 limb lengthening procedures.

Intramedullary skeletal kinetic distractor

In 2001, the “Intramedullary skeletal kinetic distractor” (ISKD) was introduced, allowing lengthening to take place internally, thereby drastically reducing the risk of infections and scarring. The ISKD device was designed by Dr. J. Dean Cole, MD of Orlando, Florida.

With ISKD, a telescopic rod that can be gradually extended by knee or ankle rotations is implanted into the bone. Lengthening is monitored by a hand-held external magnetic sensor that tracks the rotation of an internal magnet on a daily basis.

ISKD requires a physical leg movement to “click” the device into lengthening. In this method, there is no risk of accidentally over-stretching the bone due to the lengthener being preset to the desired fully extended length. However, there is a risk of growing the bone too quickly. Bone growth is monitored by measuring changes in the magnetic field of an embedded magnet in the system. The poles of the magnet change as the device grows. However, if the motion of the leg makes the device grow too quickly, and the magnet switches poles twice between measurements, then that growth is not recorded. This leads to overly rapid growth which can cause a number of issues such as nerve damage or causing breaks in the bone.

While there is some pain associated with the immediate post-op lengthening, the initial lengthening procedure is not to begin until one week after surgery. Furthermore, there is no noticeable “click” to the patient as there is less than nine degrees of rotation of the two bone segments in relation to one another.

Fitbone surgery

A form of surgery involving an intramedullar, fully implantable, electronically-motorised limb-lengthening implant, called “Fitbone”, is a technologically advanced, though relatively complex, device.

Developed in Germany by Augustin Betz and Rainer Baumgart, the first successful operations were performed in 1996 and the technique was patented in 1997. Thus far, most of the surgeries using this method have been performed in Munich, Germany by Baumgart and Peter Thaller. The first successful surgeries in Asia have been performed since 2001 by Dr Sarbjit Singh in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, and Dr Sittiporn, Bumrungrad Hospital, Bangkok. In December 2005 Fitbone surgery was done in Malaysia at the Mahkota Orthopaedic Reconstruction and Limb Lengthening Center, Melaka by Thirukumaran Subramaniam and Jeyaratnam T Satkunasingam. Dr. Bruce Foster of Adelaide, Australia, chairman of the “Bone Growth Foundation” — a charity established with the aim of helping children with crippling bone growth problems — is currently the only surgeon that uses the “Fitbone” device in the southern hemisphere.

Fitbone comprises a telescopic nail implant that can extend, powered by an electric motor and controlled by a receiver with an antenna that is buried under the skin; the receiver in turn is controlled by a hand-held radio-frequency transmitter. The procedure for lengthening the lower leg is as follows:

• A two-centimetre incision is made at the patient’s knee, and a reamer is used to create enough space in the bone for a stainless steel nail.
• The bone is cut about 14 cm below the knee from the inside with an internal saw.
• The stainless steel nail is held in place by two screws. The top of the nail is attached to a tiny, plastic-encased receiver that is placed under the skin.
• The patient controls the lengthening process. By pushing a button on the transmitter when it is placed against the antenna, the built-in motor extends the nail one millimetre per day. When the leg has grown to the desired length, lengthening stops, and the bone is allowed to solidify.
• The device can be removed about two years after the initial surgery.

This procedure, however, comes at a price. While the Ilizarov external fixator costs approximately US$4,000, and the ISKD implant about US$8,000, the Fitbone device carries a price tag of roughly US$15,000 (all prices exclusive of surgery costs).

The Bliskunov device is currently not available.

Future technology

Due to shortcomings of current external and internal devices and the evident market potential of cosmetic limb elongation, a growing number of companies are researching potential intramedullary technologies. These include:

• Concepts based on electromagnetic actuation
• Concepts based on smart material integration
• Concepts based on manual actuation
• Concepts based on electronic actuation

Biotechnological advances, such as in stem cell research, may become the next generation standard of care for limb elongation once it matures, possibly within a decade or two.

General solid bone regeneration

Distraction rate

The most important aspects for the success of bone distraction are an intact medullary blood supply, preservation of soft-tissue envelope, primarily the periosteum (which helps preserve the blood supply) and secondarly bone marrow and the stability of the fixator.

The distraction rate must be gradual, as a rapid rate of distraction will result in a fibrous union in which the bone pieces are joined by fibrous, rather than osseous tissue.

Too slow of a distraction rate would result in early bone consolidation. A common distraction rate for lower limbs is 1 millimeter per day.

Cosmetic lengthening of limbs

Generally, doctors tend to discourage cosmetic lengthening for people who want to add a couple of inches to their frames

People insistent on doing the procedure, however, are required by some doctors to undergo a thorough body image assessment by a psychologist to help determine how far the person’s quality of life has been affected by his perceived lack of height, and if doing the surgery will make a marked difference.

Me: This will be only the first of many posts I will write that looks at the different types of surgeries and methods available that can lengthen one’s legs and limbs. In my personal opinion, there is still a lot of science and innovation that can go into this type of surgery. It may be possible within 20 years that people can choose to go in to a clinic and get their limbs lengthened and height increase as easily as going to get a breast implant or laser eye surgery. Of all the methods reviewed so far, distraction osteogenesis is still the most common way to gain height with clear results. It was reported in popular fiction that in the movie Gattaca (starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman) the main character and the original James Bond villain Dr. No that they both had limb lengthening surgery done to either look more intimidating or hide their identities.