I am wondering if height reduction surgery exists and if so, where would it be done best? I am over 6’ 8" and suffer from hypotension (low blood pressure) losing my eyesight for several seconds and being dizzy/lightheaded because I stand up too fast is horrible and I hate it. I know there would be risks involved if it is real, but I would rather have to take pills for high blood pressure than feel like I may pass out because my blood pressure dips low enough for temporary eyesight loss and light headedness (no idea how to spell that right at the moment). Though there is also more to it, but for now I will keep it at where I have mentioned. bows
There is a procedure called epiphysiodesis which is used to reduce increase in height in teens. Basically, it involves fusion of the growth plate of a bone to keep it from getting any longer. It’s normally done only on one leg to manage disparate growth rates, but it can be done bilaterally. Unfortunately, it has to be done before you get too tall. It is sometimes performed on adults when the growth plates don’t go away naturally.
You may have heard of surgery to increase your height (distraction osteogenesis), where the surgeon basically breaks the two long bones in the lower leg and uses a device to hold the pieces apart so new bone grows in between. Unfortunately, you can’t do the same thing backwards - that is, remove a piece - because the ends won’t match and therefore won’t fuse properly. You’d rebreak the legs too easily, if they fused at all.
Frankly, it sounds like a lot easier (and safer) to just talk to your doctor about adjusting your blood pressure medication.
I’m very tall and I also have hypotension. Supposedly there’s a medication out there for it. I’ve not taken it. I’ve been told to use more salt, drink less coffee and tea, and get more cardio.
I don’t think height reduction surgery would do the trick, and there’d be too many risks.
The femur (actually, the marrow in it) is where your red blood cells originate. That includes hemoglobin.
Not something you want less of.
Not the only place you have bone marrow, though - otherwise people who lose (or never had) both legs at the hip would die of anemia.
I suggest the OP (and others with this problem) get in better physical condition. That is, exercise a lot, especially aerobic exercise. I’m only 6’ 1", but I had dizzy spells upon standing up when I was around 20 years old. When I was in high school, I’d run track and didn’t have any problems of this sort. But at college I kind of got out of shape for a while and then started to have the problem. But later on I got back in shape and it went away.
At any rate, exercise is less dangerous than surgery. Cheaper too.
IIRC John Mellencamp had several diseased vertebrae removed in infancy to combat spina bifida.
I’m a bit puzzled by that, because in spina bifida vertebrae are not “diseased”, they’re under-developed, unless bone infection gets into them, in which case, I’d be very surprised at Mr. Mellencamp’s ability to stand up and walk. I thought that reconstruction would be the option rather than removal, because if you remove the vertebrae the spinal cord would have no support. I’m wondering if what you heard was muddled?
Moving along… I’ve heard that people who have had to eject from high-speed jets have experienced spinal compression resulting in permanent height reduction of an inch or two, but it also results in long-term chronic pain problems. Not sure that’s preferable to the OP’s situation.
I was curious about John Mellencamp, and some quick googling led me to this:
More info in the complete article here:
To continue this highjack just a bit longer…
This caught my ear because my spouse was also born with spina bifida in the same era so I’ve learned a bit about the birth defect. The story related by the article is medically very imprecise and doesn’t lend credence to the “removed vertebrae” part of the story.
Yes, surgery to repair the defect does involve “opening up” everything, cutting away the “bag” or “pouch” that might be protruding from the body, but you don’t remove vertebrae, you do bone grafts to fill in the defects.
Most likely, based on the description given, he had a encephalomeningocele, which is dramatic in appearance but does not result in trapped nerves. When the bone defect is repaired, assuming this is done quickly enough to avoid infection or mechanical damage to the spinal cord, function is restored to normal or near-normal. Given that Mr. Mellencamp walks without assistance and appears to have full function over his limbs I’m going to guess his birth defect was visually dramatic but neurologically minor. Not that it wasn’t serious - untreated encephalomeningocele is almost invariably fatal but if you’re going to have spina bifida worse than spina bifida occulta this is arguably one of the better alternatives.