Techies from top companies splurging on leg-lengthening surgeries: Report

A Las Vegas cosmetic surgeon has recently revealed in an interview that techies from top companies are willing to fork out anywhere from $75,000 to $150,000 to add a few inches to their height. Kevin Debiparshad, who specialises in leg lengthening, has said that employees of many big tech companies are splurging a lot to get taller. According to a report in GQ, Debiparshad can lengthen patients’ legs but it is a painful month-long process. This ‘leg-lengthening’ procedure can increase their height by 3 to 6 inches.

Debiparshad told GQ Magazine in the interview that he has treated CEOs, actors, and many tech workers who are willing to spend a large sum of money for a few inches more. People who are constantly in the public eye often feel they need to meet certain standards. Entrepreneurs in the public eye have often been in the news for their looks.

This might be the reason why CEOs and techies rising up in the world are also opting for surgery to increase their physical height.

However it is not just top professionals who want to get taller. The common denominator of Debiparshad’s client base is that they’re wealthy, but they vary by profession. A bevy of high-earning people — mostly men but some women — have come to him for the procedure.

“I joke that I could open a tech company,” Debiparshad told GQ. “I got, like, 20 software engineers doing this procedure right now who are here in Vegas. There was a girl yesterday from PayPal. I’ve got patients from Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft. I’ve had multiple patients from Microsoft.”

The way this procedure works is the doctor breaks the patients’ femurs, or thigh bones, and inserts metal nails into them that can be adjusted. The nails are extended a tiny bit every day for three months with a magnetic remote control.

It can take months to slowly lengthen the bones and for the legs to heal.

The standard operation adds about three inches of height, but patients can add up to six inches if they are willing to have the same surgical nails implanted in both their tibia. Cash-strapped customers are allowed to cover the costs in installments. Despite its painful physical and financial effects, Debiparshad said his clinic has no shortage of patients.

There are however, some risks associated with this procedure. Since the height comes from the person’s legs, the body proportions can look weird. The process of recovery is also long and painful. The patient has to exercise extreme caution during the recovery phase because as the femur is still soft and the smallest stumble could snap the bone. Finally, the pain is relentless. Patients are not able to walk for months.

The surgeon also added that he didn’t recommend the procedure for athletes since it could decrease their ability.