China Teen Gains 1.4 Cm From Body Lengthening Therapy, Loses It In 2 Weeks

A teenager from China who enrolled in a "body lengthening" program for six months experienced temporary height gains that disappeared shortly after treatment concluded.

The 16-year-old, identified only as Huang from Xiamen in Fujian province, participated in a therapy promising increased height. According to the South China Morning Post, he initially grew from 165 cm to 166.4 cm during the six-month treatment period, gaining approximately 1.4 centimeters.

Unfortunately, just two weeks after completing the treatment, Huang's height reverted to his original 165 cm. His father subsequently filed a complaint against the clinic, expressing his disappointment with the results.

The treatment reportedly cost approximately 16,700 Yuan (around US$2,350 or Rs 2,07,035). Following the complaint, the clinic offered a full refund, acknowledging that the height increase was not maintained after treatment ended.

The regimen involved weekly or bi-weekly sessions where Huang's legs were stretched and his knees "activated" using specialized medical equipment. According to the clinic, the treatment aimed to increase height by stimulating the knee bones.

Medical experts have expressed skepticism about the procedure's effectiveness. Wu Xueyan, an endocrinologist at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, stated that forceful stretching is not scientifically validated for permanent height increases.

Specialists have cautioned that after certain developmental stages, the human body's capacity to permanently increase in height becomes significantly limited.

"Humans are not noodles. It is unscientific to stretch a person longer," Wu told reporters, dismissing claims about lasting gains from physical stretching therapies.

Wu acknowledged that stretching can temporarily increase a person's height by half to one centimeter but explained, "A person is half to one centimeter taller in the morning than they are in the afternoon."

This natural height fluctuation occurs because a person's body weight compresses the spine throughout the day, while it relaxes during sleep, resulting in slight height variations.

Huang's father contended that the procedure should have worked because the clinic had guaranteed longer-lasting results. When confronted, the clinic claimed Huang was "too old to be corrected," suggesting his age was the reason for not maintaining the height gain.

The father also reported that his son's height decreased when they missed appointments, but the clinic attributed this solely to the treatment being incomplete.

In an unrelated case, a 15-year-old Chinese girl with trichophagia—a disorder causing her to pull out and eat her own hair—required surgery to remove a 2-kilogram hairball from her stomach that had accumulated over six years.