What if you could pay to become taller?
Instagram influencer Yeferson Cossio spent thousands of dollars on a lower limb lengthening surgery to stretch his legs to add an additional six inches to his height in order to become six feet tall.
The 29-year-old has reportedly spent $175,000 to leave his original five-foot-eight height behind, describing the procedure as the “most painful surgery ever”.
Taking to his Instagram page followed by 11 million people, Yeferson shared a video explaining: "I’m not a dwarf, nor am I the tallest.
Yeferson Cossio spent $175,000 on a lower limb lengthening surgery to stretch his legs to add an additional six inches to his height
Image credits: yefersoncossio
Image credits: yefersoncossio
“Yes, my legs are pretty but I hate them … I am self-conscious like almost all human beings with some parts of my body and I have a couple hundred million pesos to use here to change it."
The Colombian man further admitted that the surgery was purely for “aesthetic” purposes, as he recalled: "Two years ago, I had an issue with my legs that I don’t really want to talk about because it’s very personal … But one of the things that had the most impact on me was to do with leg stretching.”
Yeferson left his original five-foot-eight height behind, describing the procedure as the “most painful surgery ever”
Image credits: yefersoncossio
Image credits: yefersoncossio
In future stages, Yeferson will have to go through physical therapy treatments so he can become accustomed to walking with his new legs.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, limb lengthening surgery is a procedure that gradually makes an arm or leg bone longer. This procedure treats skeletal dysplasia, bone growth issues, and bone length differences.
The surgery itself consists of two main steps: An osteotomy, which means cutting the affected bone into two segments and attaching a limb lengthening device to the two segments of bone.
“Yes, my legs are pretty but I hate them … I am self-conscious," Yeferson said
Image credits: yefersoncossio
Image credits: yefersoncossio
The limb lengthening device can be an external fixator: the surgeon attaches a thin, light metal frame to the bones with pins or wires. The frame and most of the device are outside the body.
These devices usually stick out several inches from your body, making it hard to wear certain clothes.
Many people choose to wear clothing that’s loose or that doesn’t cover the device, such as shorts or short-sleeved shirts.
Or an internal rod: this newer option is a screw-like device that your surgeon places inside the bone. This device isn’t visible outside the body.
The Colombian man further admitted that the surgery was purely for “aesthetic” purposes
Image credits: yefersoncossio
As specialists typically separate the bones by a total of one millimeter per day, this means Yeferson painfully lengthened his legs for 152 days, or 6 months, before achieving his new 6-foot frame.
In April, a report published by NBC News shed light on leg-lengthening surgery and its growing popularity among men seeking to be taller.
“I even have 60-, 65-year-old guys that have come to me to undergo the procedure because it just doesn’t stop. The 'short' jokes keep going on and they feel inferior,” Dr. Shahab Mahboubian, a surgeon at the Height Lengthening Institute in Burbank, California, told the broadcaster.
In future stages, Yeferson will have to go through physical therapy treatments
Image credits: yefersoncossio
Image credits: yefersoncossio
A 26-year-old man called Alex who considered himself short opened up about his own experience getting the surgery as a result of being bullied for his height.
Shorter men “routinely get spoken down to just because of this trait that they can’t control,” Alex said. Subsequently, last year, he got a leg-lengthening operation to increase his height to 5’10".
Alex recalled: “My goal was never to be tall. It’s to be in a place where no one comments on my height.”
Specialists typically separate the bones by a total of one millimeter per day, which means Yeferson had to painfully lengthen his legs for 152 days
Image credits: yefersoncossio
A study published last year examined the relationship between height and dating preferences among heterosexual people in the U.S., Canada, Cuba, and Norway. The results suggested that men preferred shorter women and women preferred taller men relative to both their own heights and the averages in their countries.
Although leg-lengthening surgery comes with risks, including nerve injury and a loss of range of motion, Alex has been satisfied with his experience, as he revealed: “The recovery is behind me and I feel incredible.”
People online had mixed feelings about the surgery
