I once stated that for me to even consider the possibility of height increase after one’s growth plates are closed, I must look into every single possible way and method. I would check at every single idea, method, or strategy out there no matter how crazy, illogical, and stupid. I am willing to look at all the options available. That is why that I wanted to explore the topic where we can grow taller using neuro-linguistic programming nlp. Neuro-linguistic programming is a very unique subject that is a combination of communication theory, psychotherapy, pseudo-neuroscience, and personal development.

It was developed in the 70s by two guys Richard Bandler and John Grinder who modeled some of the most successful psychotherapist of the day, specifically Milton Erickson, Virginia Satir, Fritz Perls, and Noam Chomsky. While originally the subject of NLP was developed as only a subset of both communication theory and psychotherapy, individuals who managed to learn about the theory learned how to apply it towards mental and psychiatric disorders, seeming to be used to cure phobias, bad habits, depression, and a few other non major psychiatric disorders. Eventually it became a very big subject and during the 70s and 80s the study of NLP became very influential and well known.

Over the years the influence of NLP has decreased and most scientists have shown that NLP is a form of pseudoscience which is full of errors from biases and inconsistent results. NLP is used as an example of pseudoscience for facilitating the teaching of scientific literacy at the professional and university level. Quite possibly the one person who has managed to spread the knowledge of NLP the most is personal life coach Anthony Robbins who became very famous and well known in the 80s for his firewalls, late night infomercials, and application of NLP. The entire subject of NLP would had been discredited if not for the fact that for certain live TV events, when NLP teachers and practitioners were put to the test to fix and help people suffering through phobias and bad habits, their methods were effective at least temporarily to cure the people on tv.

Some people view and treat NLP almost like a religion, like the infamous Scientology. My personal view of the subject after studying it extensively for a few months is that the subject can be a self contained, stand alone subject that can be used as a type of operating system and personal philosophy on how to view life. So NLP can indeed be assimilated into a person’s frame in life. From NLP, a few terms were taken and their usage have gotten into the public consciousness like frames, framing, intension, anchoring, fractionation, human modeling, rapport building, eye accessing cues, etc.

Here is my own opinion on the subject. The effectiveness of NLP is probably mostly just the effect of the placebo effect and confirmation bias. However, that should not stop a person from at least testing it. Most NLP practitioners would ask that one judge them and their practiced art through results, not just from logical scientific experiments.

It is absolutely true that the human mind is still too hard to fully understand so any science or art that tries to map and explain how the mind works will not be fully effective, but only somewhat. Like psychotherapy and psychology, the help a person can get through meeting a professional may not lead to complete resolution of one’s mental issues. It is not a pure science like Physics and Chemistry where things can be easily quantified and described through precise equations. So the main point is the while the foundation of NLP may not be based to true science, I ask the reader to “suspend the critical factor”. Yes, that is also a NLP concept, it means to hold off on being a cynic and sceptic just for long enough until i get my message through to you and you are fully willing to accept and process the meaning and intention of my message.

From the Wikipedia article on the subject, I would cite a few critical points from HERE

Scientific criticism

The term “Neuro-linguistic programming” has been characterized as pseudo-scientific. Witkowski (2010) writes that “NLP represents pseudoscientific rubbish, which should be mothballed forever.” Roderique-Davies (2009) states that “neuro” in NLP is “effectively fraudulent since NLP offers no explanation at a neuronal level and it could be argued that its use fallaciously feeds into the notion of scientific credibility”. Witkowski (2010) also states that at the neuronal level NLP provides no explanation at all and has nothing in common with academic linguistics or programming. Similarly, experimental psychologist Corballis (1999) in his critique of lateralization of brain function (the left/right brain myth), states that “NLP is a thoroughly fake title, designed to give the impression of scientific respectability”.

Witkowski (2010) states that NLP uses impressive sounding yet questionable expressions such as; pragmagraphics, surface structure, deep structure, accessing cues, non-accessing movement etc. Canadian skeptic and psychologist Barry Beyerstein (1995) also says that NLP contains terms such as eye accessing cues, metamodeling, metaprogramming, neurological levels, representational systems, and submodalities, intended to obfuscate and to give the false impression of a scientific discipline. He says “though it claims neuroscience in its pedigree, NLP’s outmoded view of the relationship between cognitive style and brain function ultimately boils down to crude analogies.” Furthermore Beyerstein (1995) believed that NLP has helped popularize myths about the brain and neurology. He believes that the aphorism “you create your own reality” promotes a relativistic perspective and only seeks to gain immunity from scientific testing.

Grant Devilly (2005), a clinical psychologist, identified NLP as an early example of a power therapy. Devilly claims that these so called power therapies share characteristics of pseudo-science including: the promotion of unobtainable goals, rationalization traps, manufactured credibility, a set of specific beliefs, self generated persuasion, vivid appeals, the use of common misconceptions, and attacks on critics through the use of innuendo.

NLP has been criticized alongside theories and practices characterized as questionable, pseudoscience and/or discredited practices in therapy. Sources within therapy and psychology include books such as Crazy Therapies (1997), Science and Pseudo-science in Clinical Psychology (2002), and Tall Tales about the Mind and Brain (2007). Articles critical of NLP also appear in the Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience(2000), and The Skeptic’s Dictionary (2003). NLP has more recently been used as a key example of pseudo-science to facilitate the understanding of the importance of rational and critical thinking in a number of academic subjects.

According to Witkowski (2010), NLP also appears on “the list of discredited therapies” published in the journal of Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. With reference to work by Carroll (2003), Della Sala (1999), Lilienfeld et al. (2003) and Singer and Lalich (1996) on “pseudoscientific, unvalidated, or “quack” psychotherapies” within clinical psychology, Norcross et al. included NLP for treatment of mental/behaviour disorders in a survey of the opinions of psychologists who rated NLP between possibly discredited and probably discredited, a rating similar to dolphin assisted therapy, equine therapy, psychosynthesis, scared straight programs, and emotional freedom technique (EFT). Norcross et al. listed “neurolinguistic programming for drug and alcohol dependence” seventh out of their list of the ten most discredited drugs and alcohol interventions, and it is listed as “certainly discredited” in Evidence-based practices in addiction treatment: review and recommendations for public policy^[

As I always wanted to explain to the readers, even though I am willing to look at strange ideas and unsound methods which claims that they can increase height, I still try to bring the element of rationality and science to everything if possible. If it is not possible to exercise science to explain the method, we may have to for a short time let faith and hope alone allows us to try something completely new and foreign to us out, jus tot see if it works and can give us the results that we want.

So just try it out, believe in the process and the subject, and see for yourself and just only through results. If it doesn’t work, that is okay. Even in traditional hypnosis, a well known fact is that not everyone can be hypnotized. I personally have tried to be hypnotized but it didn’t work. The great physicists Richard Feynman thought he could not be hypnotize but he was too. So realize that the ability for say hypnosis or NLP to work on an individual is not dependent on how smart or stupid a person is. Just be willing to try it out and see for yourself.

If you are a long time reader of the blog, you might remember from one of my earliest posts about the legendary story told by the great psychotherapist Milton Erickson where he supposedly helps a person who was in their 20s (I think 21 or 22) grow 12 inches in height over a year’s time. You can find that post HERE.

On a related subject, we can state from one of the oldest ideas is that the mind or brain is connected to the body as one. So in theory, the body can be controlled and willed to influence the mind and brain, and the brain can be controlled to influence the body. There has been studies and tests done by scientists which showed that monks who have been meditating for years can decrease their own heart rate, as well as increase their body temperature. Thus, there might really be a way to control the pituitary gland that resides in the middle of our brain to release an excess of growth hormones if we desired, and maybe change our dna as well as hypothesized by some biohackers.

This entire first article for the idea of using neuro-linguistic programming to increase ones height is jeu tot lay down the foundation, history, and controversy behind this subject. It will be in the 2nd article where the actual method and action steps will be provided located HERE.

Yes, that’s right. There are now insoles available for socks that can artificially increase your height. So now you can have insoles for both shoes and socks. These new products seem to be used by placing them inside the socks to make your height increase inconspicuous.

As a guy you might try to add height to your shoes to make yourself look taller but there might be situations where you have to take off your shoes. Ex.

You go to your asian girlfriend’s house to meet her parents for the first time and you find out that in their culture, they always take off their shoes when they arrive at the front. Do you want to suddenly drop 1-2 inches immediately in height and weird out who could possibly your future in-laws? They might think that you are wearing some type of magic shoes. Imagine the type of conversation they would have after you left.

With these insoles, you can take off your shoes, keep your socks on, and still give the illusion of being 1-2 inches taller. Of course it is hard to think of any situations where a person would also be asked to take off their socks so you should be relatively safe from using these hidden insoles.

Apparently there are a few online stores that are already selling these heigh increase sock insoles. They are very similar to the regular height increase insoles, but only that they fit to the arch of your feet and can then be worn over by the socks. They are now available through Amazon, Ebay, and a few online specialty stores.

1. Amazon  

Product #1 – comes in only blue and yellow

Product #2 – comes only in white color

Product #3 – comes in white and black color

2. Ebay 

Product #1 – long and pale

Product #2 – same as Amazon product 1

Product #3 – comes in white, gives about 1 cm in extra height.

Product #4 – same as Amazon product 2 but cheaper

Note: I am not affiliated in any way with Amazon or Ebay and I do not get any money for promoting or endorsing these product by them.

Overall, I would state that these hidden sock insoles would be something to consider for people who might regularly wear lifts and realize that they want to keep that extra height in any situations where they have to take off their shoes. Just something to consider and for people to realize that there are options out there available to them.

3.

As of right now, I have found only 1 therapist or psychiatrist who has experience in working with people primarily over their issues and insecurities over height.

I actually found it from the Short People Support Website located HERE.

Diane Sardanopoli, LPC 
Licensed Professional Counselor
Certified Grief Recovery Specialist
Location: Ridgewood, New Jersey, USA

I personally would suspect that most general psychiatrists and psychologist can probably help with certain aspects of the issue, similar to many other forms of insecurities and phobias. However, if you feel that you need need for your specific issues and experiences, it would be wise to contact the professionals above.

I have stated before that there are quite a few board I frequent and this was an interesting idea that I found just yesterday. The idea was proposed on the site, The Tallest Man. You can find the board message HERE.

Apparently a rather tall sideshow individual from the 19th century who was 6′ 9″ Eugene Arceau claimed that he would sleep 36 hours at a time and managed to gain 4 inches from it. (Resource)

So are we supposed to believe in this type of claim? I am not sure since the story is so anedoctal but there should be something we can take from it.

Sleeping does help increase our height, at any age. With sleep, the vertebrate in our body does decompress and the disks are allowed to expand slightly. After a long sleep, we are taller when we wake up than before we went to sleep.

During the formative growing years, we learn that growth hormones are released at the greatest rate when we are sleeping. Usually this is when we are in deep sleep. There are many articles that shows the link between deep sleep and the excess production and release of HGH, thus height increase.

Of course one can easily point out that our growth plates have fused so deep sleep might not work , but I don’t think it would hurt to get some more sleep anyway. Even without our growth plates, we do wake up at least half an inch taller for most of us.

I wanted to post this long list of sleeping tips for the reader which was taken from this link HERE

• Sleep in a comfortable and firm mattress. If it is not firm enough, place a sheet of plywood underneath the mattress. Sleeping on a hard surface will align your spine in the natural position. This will lengthen your spinal, and also allow growth hormone to easily travel across the body.

• Sleep in a room that is dark, quiet and fresh smelling. Do not expose yourself to bright light while you aresleeping. Light will make your brain stay awake.

• It is important to sleep in a well ventilated room. Don’t be afraid to open a window, even in winter. It is better to put on an extra woollen blanket than to breathe in stale air. The amount of clean oxygen rich air that you breathe has an effect on your growth. Poor air can prevent you from growing during sleep.

• Sleep with clean, soft, and comfortable clothes. Rough clothing can block the blood circulation and make you shift and turn many times during the night, thus prevent you from deep sleep. Remember your growth hormone can only work well when you fall into deep sleep.

• Keep your hands and feet warm. Scientific studies have shown that warm hands and feet will help induce REM (rapid eye movement) deep sleep. Cold hands and feet will keep you from deep sleep.

• Drink a big glass of water before going to bed and when you wake up; this will help clean out your system Milk can also help you sleep. It contains an amino acid called tryptophan. Which produces the effect of a sedative. Do not consume any foods or drinks  that contain caffeine, nicotine, or alcohol at least 4 to 5 hours before going to bed. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants that will keep you from sleeping. Also, refrain from a large meal at least 3 hours before bed time.

• Do exercises during the day can help you sleep better at night.

• Take a hot bath before going to bed helps induce deep sleep because it cleans your body and relaxes tense muscles.

• Practice total relaxation and deep breathing for a few minutes before you go to bed.

• Relax from head to toe. Close your eyes and relax every part of your body. Do complete breathing exercises by following the three phases: (1) Inhale slowly and deeply through the nose for 3 to 5 seconds making sure that your stomach as well as your chest expand. (2) Hold your breath for another 3 to 5 seconds, tighten your stomach muscles lightly. (3) Exhale slowly and fully through the mouth and nose. This breathing exercise will help smooth your blood circulation and get your body ready to rest.

• Maintain a habit of sleeping at the same time everyday, including weekends. This will help you develop a regular rhythm for sleep. Your brain will send you “sleep signal” at about the same time every day, which can help you fall into deep sleep easier and faster.

• Each person has his/her own specific daily sleep requirement. It is not true that the more you sleep, the better it is for your growth. Too much sleep will cause your body to develop laziness and slow down your metabolism, thus increase the danger of gaining weight. On average, a young adult who is growing needs at least 8 hours sleep every day. Teens need 9 hours or more. However, this is just an average and may not apply to you precisely.

• The best way to figure out the exact amount of sleeping time you need is not to calculate it at all. Just sleep early every night. Do not use any alarm clock, and let yourself wake up naturally. Your body has its own biological clock that can determine the exact amount of sleep it needs. As long as you have good sleeping habit and do not break it (by forcing yourself to stay up too late or get up too early), your body will take good care of itself.

• Also, it is easy for you to detect if you get enough sleep each day. If you are energetic and do not feel sleepy or very tired the whole day, then you had enough sleep last night. Otherwise, you had better readjust your schedule and try to sleep longer.

• Sleep with appropriate posture is also very important for your growth during sleep. Sleep with correct posture can help you lengthen your spine and increase your height; sleep with incorrect posture can put
strains on your neck, shoulders and back and stunt growth during sleeping.

• Sleep on your back with a flat pillow under your knees. This will align your spine properly and prevent any back aches caused by sleeping in a bent position. Raising your knees and feet slightly will help your brain get more oxygen rich blood. The greater amount of oxygen that your brain receives the higher the energy you will have to help yourself grow during sleep.

• Sleep on side, with your knees bent. This will effectively flatten the back. A flat pillow may be used to support the neck, especially if shoulders are broad.

• Do not use high pillow. While lying on your back with your head resting on a high pillow, your neck is bent forward and your back is arched in a very unnatural position. This will put strains on your neck, shoulders, and back, and also stunt growth since your spinal column is arched during most time of the night. Do not sleep face down. This will exaggerates swayback and strain neck and shoulders.

• “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”.  Be in harmony with nature.  The more we distance ourselves from nature the more we become unhappy and out of touch with ourselves.

Me: So jump into bed right now and get some rest. Your body deserves it. 

This article post will be one of the most controversial posts on the website so far because of the nature of steroids and the horrible side effects that can have on a person. Let me start out by saying that I have only found anecdotal evidence through stories of people who have grown taller from taking certain types of steroids.

Most of my information comes from many of the steroids and bodybuilding boards and forums I found across the internet. Most people would state very clearly that taking steroids , usually HGH or somatropin would not help or do anything once the epiphyseal growth plates are closed. I personally would agree with them on that point but there is a few things which I would want to add.

The thing is that human height is 95% determined by bones, the other by cartilage, muscle, and ligaments. While the bones, is believed not to grow, the steroids can still have an effect on the cartilage, maybe even thickening the cartilage.

If one was seriously thinking about taking the steroids path, here are the main 6 steroids which people have stated does work in gaining some height. Most people have stated that one can gain only 0.25 inches through taking a large amount of it over a year. However, the side effects of steroids taking is not worth it in my opinion just to gain a quarter of an inch.

1. Human growth hormone (aka HGH) or somatropin – Reference

2. Anavar (aka oxandrolone) – Reference

3. Dianabol (aka Methandrostenolone) – Reference

4. Synthroid

5. Winstrol (aka stanozolol) – Reference

6. Primobolan (aka methanolone acetate) – Reference

It would seem that most people agree that if one had gotten hormone treatment before the growth plates fused, they growth rate would have been accelerated, but it is not conclusive whether being accelerated means that the rate of growth just came earlier in life or that the growth rate was increased.

From the Boards at the Impartial Height Increase Board found HERE, this excerpt is taken

“”The steroids that are bad for your growth are the ones which convert to estrogen…other steroids which doesnt aromatizes (doesnt convert to estrogen) are good for the growth of your bones. I dont know if it will work with u…steroids have a rare patern of success…some ppl have experimented growth having steroids at 21 years of age and we are talking here about a big growth spurt 3inches-5inches. Low doses of steroids during a short period of time isnt dangerous at all and has very little side effects. And talking about this steroid which made me grow 0.5cm in 40 days, WINSTROL, doesnt makes u fat…bodybuilders use it…to “dry” themselves…meaning that it will make u stronger and more dryed, with less fat, but again using the steroid at low doses…will only have an effect on your bones, and not in your muscles or fat…the steroid is quite cheap but u need a prescription”

I take another part from the boards here

“”he gave me winstrol…a non aromatizable steroid…I was having 50mg (one injection) each 20 days which is equal to 2.5 mg daily (for 40 days) its an unsignificant dose..but its very effective to increase height(remember i grew with my growth plates fused without any exercise..besides running 2 days a week)”

I wanted to conclude this post with a few considerations for the reader. Most people have reached the consensus that if one tries to take steroids to increase height, they can actually have the reverse affect and can decrease one’s growth rate and one can end up shorter than one was intended for if left alone. 2nd, steroids do have some bad side effects including sexual dysfunction, so more research needs to be done. If you intend to take steroids, do your own research first and get all the facts first. That is why this post will be the first in a series of posts which looks at which steroids out there have been reported to help one increase height. Stay tuned over the next few months.

In a recent article that I read, a person made a comment that bovine growth hormone was tested to see if it could be used in application to make people taller. The Bovine somatotropin (abbreviated bST and BST), or BGH, is a peptide hormone produced by the cow’s pituitary gland. Apparently, human IFG-1 (insulin growth factor) and bovine IGF have an identical amino acid sequence and nearly identical biological activity.

From wikipedia – “Since 1994 it has been possible to synthesize the hormone using recombinant DNA technology to create recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), or artificial growth hormone. Monsanto developed rBST and marketed it as “Posilac”.

The purpose of the bovin growth hormone BGH was to be injected into cows so that they can produce more milk than non treated cows. Many organizations went against this idea since the claim was that milk treated with BGH and milk untreated with BGH are different, and the difference when consumed by humans can lead to disastrous side effects. There is a very well established correlation between abnormally high levels of circulating IGF-1 and the development and growth of human cancers. Testing so far has mostly shown that the milk of the treated cow did not have much difference.

As of right now, the BGH is banned in over a dozen countries. However for the US, the treated milk is allowed to be distributed to be drank. From wikipedia,

“The FDA stated that food products made from rBST treated cows are safe for human consumption, and no significant difference exists between milk derived from rBST-treated and non-rBST-treated cows.The FDA found BGH to be biologically inactive when consumed by humans and found no biological distinction between rBST and BST. In 1990, an independent panel convened by the National Institute of Health supported the FDA opinion that milk and meat from cows supplemented with rBST is safe for human consumption.“

For the wikipedia article on bovine somatotropin, click HERE

Me: Here is my educated guess on the subject. The consumption of the genetically altered milk probably does have a slightly greater concentration of growth hormones in it than the non treated one. The additional growth hormone probably causes an earlier onset of physical maturity in a developing child body than untreated milk. Studies have all shown that an earlier onset of physical maturity through puberty means that the growing process will end earlier so the final height of individuals are shorter. Comparing the average height of Americans and Canadians, where Canada bans the milk, the Canadians are on average taller than their american counterparts. While it is true these two facts may have absolutely no correlation to each other, it  could be considered that there might be some link, not accounting Canada’s better healthcare or that it is further away from the equator. A suggestion to increase height through taking growth hormon treated milk is to take it when one is actually going through the process of puberty and slightly after it.