China bans leg-lengthening procedure

Alarmed by the spate of botched leg extension surgery procedures that have left patients disfigured, the Chinese government has decided to ban the practice of the said procedure, at least for cosmetic purposes.

According to a report by The Independent, China’s health ministry said it would only allow the procedure for strictly medical grounds, and that leg-lengthening can only be done by hospitals that conduct at least 400 orthopaedic operations a year and offer post-surgery care and rehabilitation.

Just how exactly is leg extension surgery done? The Independent gives us the goods, in a nutshell:

Leg extension surgery looks like a procedure from the Middle Ages. A doctor breaks the patient's legs and inserts steel pins into the bones, just below the knees. The pins are attached to a metal frame and every day for months the patient tightens the knobs a small amount despite excruciating pain. By constantly forcing the ends of the broken bones apart before they can heal, more new bone comes to fill in the gaps.

Ouch.

This form of surgery is now being performed all over the world. However, leg extension surgery for cosmetic purposes is very rarely done.

That didn’t seem to be the case in China. With many career men and women believing that being taller can help further their careers, thousands of people get the procedure done. The problem is, most of these procedures are done by unauthorized and basically unqualified clinics, thus the rising number of botched leg-lengthening operations.

It’s a good thing China has finally acted on this situation before it got any worse.