Has anyone here undergone leg lengthening surgery? Or if you've ever felt height dysphoria how did you deal with it? I'm 160 cm (18f) which granted could be much worse but being short makes me feel inferior and inadequate in a ton of ways. Like for example I want to be able to protect a girl and make her feel safe but 80%+ of women are taller than me. I know I should stop pitying myself but it's constantly nagging me. With this surgery someday I could get 8-10 cm, then get another 5 cm from height insoles and that would be like a dream come true for me. From what I've heard though it's really expensive and painful (apparently even more so for women because a larger pelvis puts more stress on the knee joints). In short I can't decide if the pain and cost is worth it or if I should just somehow learn to come to grips with my height.
I've never even heard of leg-lengthening surgery. I'm a guy, and I'm only 5'3 (160 cm). When I was trying to be straight and date girls, I had a huge complex about it. But when I came out of the closet, I lost that self-consciousness about my height. It's never caused me any problems dating; gay guys seem to love it. I can understand what you mean by wanting to protect girls physically, but you still can! And there are lots of girls that are shorter than you! And there are plenty of girls who will love you short! I used to hate being short, and now I embrace it fully. If you surround yourself with people and chose partners who love your height, you may begin to love it too If you got this surgery, would there be major consequences in the long-term? The question you have to ask yourself is whether this surgery would really give you a better quality of life or whether it would perhaps be better to seek counseling to have a healthier body image...
I have not undergone height lengthening surgery, but I did, as a child feel height dysphoria. Except, I was abnormally tall for my age and got picked on for it. I think anywhere between 5'2-5'6 (160-171cm) is an average height for most women. I don't know what you mean by protect a girl and make her feel safe? Like if you want to make a girl feel safe, make sure you treat her right and with respect...height really doesn't have anything to do with making one feel safe. As for protecting, I mean, I am tall and most of the girls I date are shorter than me, but I don't know how my height would be able to protect someone. Bigger doesn't always mean stronger. As someone who has dealt with leg pain for 7 years, I would say it's not worth it. I personally don't think there is anything wrong with your height. If your biggest concern is protecting a girl (again I don't know from what) and feeling inadequate about being able to do that because of you're height, hit the gym. Build muscle. Take up karate. Learn self defence. In the long run, those are cheaper, it could build confidence, and you won't have to deal with side effects from the surgery that can affect you later on in life.
Um....for a woman, you are very average in height. I'm actually shorter than you, and I haven't really felt that "short" or "disadvantaged". I'm treated like a regular human being who gets dates quite easily. I can easily protect a girl, and my height has nothing to do with it. I would be more turned-off that you are insecure over being a height that is actually pretty average. Most women are around 5'3"-5'5" in my experience. This insecurity would only make sense if you were 4'8" or something. It's like how some men wish they had 10 inch dicks, and don't realize that their 5 incher is super average and that most people won't care when they see it.
5'3 (160cm) is very much within normal range for a woman. I would absolutely not recommend leg lengthening. It's a very involved, painful surgery, with a very long recovery time. It doesn't have the best of success rates, leaves scarring, is difficult to end up with a fully natural look... and is likely to make your problem 5 times worse (in a different way) than it is now. As an alternative, I'd suggest therapy. A good therapist can help you reframe and understand your insecurities and work through them. That's a much better, cheaper, safer, less painful, and ultimately more successful option.
Hi Shark, I cannot figure first of all any surgeon who would agree to perform this surgery without medical necessity. And second, I don't know of any insurance company that would agree to pay for this surgery WITHOUT medical necessity. (Insurance companies these days don't even want to pay for procedures that ARE medically necessary!) As the other posters have stated, you can be protective regardless of you height. If you want to feel stronger (mentally and physically) then I think the idea about trying karate or self defense classes is a good one. Any sort of workout that builds core strength can go a long way to making you feel taller because you tend to walk taller. (If that makes sense!) As a side note, as a far less painful (and much more attainable) option to adding some height...why not check out some shoe stores? Chunky heels are in style now, as are wedges...these styles can add 2-3 inches to your height everyday. All the best to you.
I would definitely not recommend it, because it's a major surgery that could impact your health in the long term, and it's not even necessary. In fact, going throught any unnecessary surgeries is bargaining with your health. In fact, you don't need to be tall to protect someone else. If you want to be able to protect your partner, you could go to the gym, bulk up a little, and even take self-defense classes! That would definitely increase your confidence and your ability to protect someone else, no matter how tall you are.
Ah now that I look back at this a few days later it seems kinda dumb of me. I come from a tall area where the average for women looks around a good 10-12 cm/4-5 in taller than me and I've always been the shortest in school but either way I know it's a stupid hang-up to have. Yeah going to the gym and getting bigger is my plan for now. Probably my best bet.
I have the opposite problem. I am usually taller than the people I date, which is fine if I'm dating a woman, but not too cool if I'm dating a man. With women, I tend to take on the protector role, and with men, I'd like to be the protected instead. Can we maybe switch heights? I'm 5'10 (1,79m) and I'm really self-conscious when walking beside shorter men. It's nice to be able to reach things on high shelves, but in the dating world, I'd much rather like to be short(er).
I am short for a male and I have to agree with Cory675 because my experience was just like his. I hated being short when I was pretending to be into women, but as soon as I came out as gay, its just like I don't care that I'm a short boy. I'm 5'5 which is short for a male.
Most gay women I've met don't care at all about height. The two toughest/scariest lesbians I know are 5'7" and 5'2". The wimpiest one I know is around 6' tall. Height has nothing to do with it if I'm going to be perfectly honest.
As someone who has a hard time: finding cloths, fitting into car/trucks/vans/planes, constantly hitting my head cause I don't duck enough... Being tall isn't all that awesome. Height and weight do not have anything to do with one's ability to kick ass and chew bubble gum. The right pressure point or the proper application of 50,000 volts will drop people two or three times your size with little effort on your part.
Honestly I think its a very bad idea. You are going to possibly damage yourself irreparably for no momentous benefits and spend a ton of money. I'm quite short as well and I don't really like it either but remember that there are destinct advantages to being short as well. If your main concern is that you want to protect your date/partner/whatever you have an advantage! Short people are often underestimated and most of the time much faster than big tall people and it will probably be even more impressive if you are smaller than the potential threat. I recommend that you take martial arts classes or maybe just learn some fighting techniques at home and maybe build your strength. That alone will make you feel more confident and it should make the person who you want to protect feel protected because you will project a confident attitude (just don't get too sure of yourself). Remember people don't necessarily feel protected by physical powress but rather by your behavoir and attitudes. I completely understand that you like feeling like you are and can protect someone and would like to look and feel like that and I also feel like that but you don't necessarily need hight for that. I really reccomend not doing the surgery. Build and train the body you have to serve you as you want because that's going to be the best thing in the short and long term. Just my thoughts, sorry the post is so long. Jedi
To sum it up. No to leg surgery, that is just a bad idea though I don't blame you for thinking about it. Yes to more excersizing and martial arts classes, if you feel uncomfortable with the amount of muscle you have. Remember being protective is more about being a supportive person in the relationship. The one who always holds the other up and makes them feel cared for. And, you are not, in most countries, far below average height for women and it should not cause any severe problems with relationships once you get over your self confidence problems.
