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Can i get taller ?

I am a 19 years old girl.
Are there any possible ways which may help me
to become taller ?
2 Responses
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1344093 tn?1276773840
  I am fairly short, actually I am 5' 3 1/2", but I always round up to 5'4".  When I am stretching and/or doing Pilates on a regular/daily basis I can increase my height by a full inch to 5' 4 1/2". It usually takes about 2 months of stretching at least 6 days a week. The reason for the height increase is because of posture. Most people, even when they are in good shape, do not have the best posture. Regular stretching helps improve posture which in turn increases height, since you are standing up straighter. Not only that but the leaner muscles and the better form you develop will make you look even taller.
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1310468 tn?1274863925
Hi Kritzee,

At 19 chances are you've done all your growing, so the simple answer is - nothing that most people would consider worth it.

The only possible solution is major surgery, but although it is available for cosmetic purposes in some countries (not ones where you'd necessarily want to undergo major surgery) it is mainly reserved for patients with dwarfism, or suffering from a severe leg-length discrepancy - and for good reason.

The operation involves breaking both the bones in the lower leg, and then drilling a frame into the bones that will stick out through the flesh.  This frame is used to pull the break open as it tries to heal, forcing more bone to grow into the gap;  the process can take up to a year, and is excruciatingly painful.  It also means at least six months stuck in a hospital bed, because there's no walking on two broken legs and the potential for infection via the open wounds means the patient (and everyone around them) has to be exceptionally careful.  This period of bed rest also means that - to prevent muscle shortening and atrophy - the patient has to undergo regular physiotherapy. I can't imagine how painful physiotherapy on a broken leg with holes through the muscles and flesh must be.

And all this costs well over £50,000 - more than $75,000 dollars at the moment - and can give the patient an extra 3" MAXIMUM. And even with a smaller increase than that, most patients are unable to run or do weight-bearing exercise for the rest of their lives because the bones have been weakened by the stretching process.  And of course they will have several permanent scars where the frame went through their skin and muscle and into the bone - and if any of those wounds became infected (as usually happens when there is a wound left open for such a long time), that scar will be even worse.

I knew a chap when I was a kid who had to have this surgery performed on one leg due to an illness that caused leg-length discrepancy.  It worked well and his legs are almost the same length now, but he was in agony for a good couple of years, and he can't do any real exercise now - and of course, his stretched leg is very skinny and a mass of scar tissue.

As you might guess, I know all this because I've considered the surgery myself.  In my case it's not so much my height that's the problem (although I wouldn't mind a few extra inches) - more that my legs are very short proportionate to my body, which means I literally do not go out in public without heels.  I worked out once that if you stretched my legs to be proportionate to my torse I'd be around 5'11" (I'm actually 5'6"), while if you shrunk my torso to be in proportion to my legs I'd only be about 5'2".  I hate it, I've looked into the surgery - and holy cow, it isn't worth it!

You may get other answers on this post recommending growth hormones (maybe even steroids, but that's really stupid).  If you do, ignore them; growth hormones can help children because the growth plates on their bones are still active and will respond to extra stimulus.  At 19, however, yours have stopped reacting, and therefore you would not achieve extra height from taking them, even if there weren't another dozen reasons not to consider it.

You haven't said how tall you are, but whatever the case just bear in mind that the grass is always greener, and that whatever we get in life we tend to want the opposite.  I have female friends shorter than me who would kill to be six feet tall, but also a couple of friends who actually ARE six feet tall who would give anything to be average height or shorter. Personally I'm with you and would love to be tall, but I've found that with a combination of heels (I find chunky wedges best for wearing all day), good posture and ACTING as if I'm tall, most people tend to think I am.

Best of luck! :)
Helpful - 0

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