# height reduction surgery **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 19, 2015, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/height-reduction-surgery/722929 "2015-06-19T06:56:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![W007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7bcc69/32.png) [@W007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/W007)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/height-reduction-surgery/722929/1 "2015-06-19T06:56:49Z")
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_ ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/height-reduction-surgery/722929/2 "2015-06-19T13:29:15Z")
There is a procedure called [epiphysiodesis](http://www.bjj.boneandjoint.org.uk/content/73-B/1/173.full.pdf) 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. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/height-reduction-surgery/722929/3 "2015-06-19T18:13:39Z")
> [@W007](#): > > 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_ Frankly, it sounds like a lot easier (and safer) to just talk to your doctor about adjusting your blood pressure medication. ---
**Author:** ![rock\_party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/height-reduction-surgery/722929/4 "2015-06-19T18:59:44Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/height-reduction-surgery/722929/5 "2015-06-19T22:22:01Z")
The femur (actually, the marrow in it) is where your red blood cells originate. That includes hemoglobin. Not something you want less of. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/height-reduction-surgery/722929/6 "2015-06-20T12:26:46Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/height-reduction-surgery/722929/7 "2015-06-20T22:35:04Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/height-reduction-surgery/722929/8 "2015-06-21T02:07:09Z")
IIRC John Mellencamp had several diseased vertebrae removed in infancy to combat spina bifida. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/height-reduction-surgery/722929/9 "2015-06-21T10:06:42Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/height-reduction-surgery/722929/10 "2015-06-21T10:38:44Z")
I was curious about John Mellencamp, and some quick googling led me to this: > [@](#): > > In 1951, John Mellencamp was one of three babies at Riley with spina bifida. > > “They did three operations,” Mellencamp recalled. “One died on the table. Another girl lived, I think, 'til she was 14, and then she died. And then me.” > > Dr. Heimburger’s highly risky procedure took 18 hours. > > “They basically cut my head off from here to here, laid it open, cut that thing off then put all the nerves into my spine,” Mellencamp said. More info in the complete article here: > **[John Mellencamp meets doctor who saved his life](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-mellencamp-meets-spina-bifida-doctor-who-saved-his-life/)** > > "It was really an epiphany moment for me," 62-year-old singer says about seeing pictures of his life-saving surgery for the first time ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/height-reduction-surgery/722929/11 "2015-06-21T14:11:06Z")
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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spina_bifida#Meningocele), 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.