Software engineers from Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta are paying more than 70,000 euros to gain 7 centimeters in height, according to a surgeon specializing in leg lengthening.
A Las Vegas cosmetic surgeon specializes in leg lengthening procedures that can increase people's height by between 7.5 and 15 centimeters, according to an article in GQ.
Many of his patients are workers in the technology sector.
Kevin Debipars founded the LimbplastX Institute in 2016, and the clinic's business has skyrocketed during the pandemic, as he explains in an article in GQ.
Leg lengthening
His method works as follows: the specialist breaks the patients' femurs, or thigh bones, and inserts adjustable metal nails into them. The nails are extended a little every day for three months with a magnetic remote control, as published by GQ.
It can take months for the bones to slowly lengthen and the legs heal. A software engineer confesses to GQ that he spent the first three months after the operation alone in his apartment and that during that time he ordered food at home to go from measuring 1.67 meters to 1.75.
The procedure costs between $70,000 and $150,000 (approximately the same in euros), depending on whether the patient wants to grow between 8, 10, 12 or 15 centimeters, GQ maintains.
The common denominator of Debiparshad's client base is that they are rich, but they vary by profession. GQ explains that the specialist has treated CEOs, actors and important employees from the world of finance. A group of high-income technology workers — mostly men, although there are also some women - have come to him for the procedure.
Leg lengthening statements
"I joke that I could open a technology company," Debiparshad tells GQ. "I have like 20 software engineers having this procedure done right now, here in Las Vegas. Yesterday there was a girl from PayPal. I have patients from Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft. I've had several Microsoft patients."
The surgeon assures that he does not recommend the procedure for athletes, since it could decrease their ability, and many of the patients with whom the media has spoken admit that they have not told others that they have undergone the intervention.
The stigmas surrounding plastic surgery in men have begun to disappear in recent years. Cosmetic procedures performed on men have increased by 325% in the United States between 1997 and 2015, according to the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.
Leg lengthening highlights
And within Silicon Valley, plastic surgery has increasingly become a way for male tech workers to achieve their physical goals.
The Washington Post reported in January 2020 of an increase in the number of men who were turning to Botox, fillers, laser treatments and techniques aimed at stimulating collagen in an effort to progress in their professional careers.
Workers at Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta are paying $75,000 to be taller, a surgeon has revealed to GQ.
The Las Vegas specialist can lengthen patients' legs through a painful process that lasts for several months.
