Would you let people break your bones to become taller? For women in India, it's a life-changing opportunity.

"I have to be taller if I want to better my life" - Said Komal, one out of the many young Indian ladies who had fallen victim to the permeating societal perception and the standard of beauty in India. In a country where height and fair skin is the archetype of beauty, those who fall short of the set standard suffers from discrimination at work/schools/college and later in life, becomes more predisposed to marrying abusive husbands. These pervasive and pernicious ideals have not just fueled body-shaming and to a certain extend, justified abuse/domestic violence, but it has also led to depression and severe lack of confidence among these women. Out of desperation to improve their social mobility, marriage and career prospects, many had resorted to a surgical procedure known as the 'Limb-lengthening surgery'.

No pain, no gain (literally)

The surgery is called THE ILIZAROV TECHNIQUE named after the pioneer of the surgery and the technique promises a modest increase in height by increasing the length of the long bones of the lower limb - the Tibia and Fibula. The principle of this technique is calculative distractions which basically means the bone has to be purposely distracted(broken) and the two ends are held at a distance using instruments (external fixators) for new bones to grow in between.

Now, if you're like me, you'd definitely know how excruciating the pain of getting a fractured bone is not to mention the tormenting and long recovery period that follows afterward. Not only that it leaves you traumatise, the thought of voluntarily subjecting yourself to a bilateral lower limb fractures is simply unthinkable. However, for these vulnerable young ladies, it's a gateway to a more promising life outlook and future; for them, every pain and inches is worth it.

This technique was initially done to help children with bone diseases as well as deformity correction and since then, the indications to do it has been kept tight because of possible associated complications. However, owing to its attractive benefit of lengthening the bone especially in adults who can no longer increase their heights, parents of these susceptible women sold ancestral lands just to afford the surgery for their daughters.

Combine the rising demand for limb-lengthening surgery and the ridiculous amount of doctors in the country, the market for this cosmetic surgery boomed instantaneously. so much so that it has created an unregulated market where non-Orthopaedic doctors with little or no experience at all in doing the surgery jumped in to provide a much more competitive price to make hay while the sun shine. This makes the already high-risk surgery becomes incredibly dangerous and predisposed to complications especially permanent neurovascular compromise. According to Dr Sarin, who has been offering the surgery since 7 years ago, he gets around 20 calls a day from people telling him that they want to be taller; they have to be taller.

It's crazy to think how powerful the impact of societal perception of beauty can have on people that it pushes them to the extreme of subjecting themselves to a costly and dangerous procedure done by the hands of possible inept practitioners. Rather than beating the stigma and the pernicious ideals through collaboration, it seems that the only collaboration here is in helping to consolidate the market and solidify the ideals.

I guess beauty is pain huh? What do you think? Comment below and do vote if you enjoyed the post.

Source:

1. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/09/i-have-to-be-taller-the-unregulated-world-of-indias-limb-lengthening-industry

2. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/More-going-in-for-grow-taller-surgery/articleshow/6862429.cms