This post was written by Linda Brown and Published on

Having a short height can be quite problematic. Regardless of what other people say, only the people that actually have a short height can understand the pain of it. Because of not being tall enough, you may not be able to play a certain sport, get disqualified from getting your dream job, or even get rejected by the love of your life. Not saying that it’s okay, but there will also be people making fun of you. If you don’t face even one of these issues, you can still be unsatisfied with your height, which can have other psychological effects as well.

Limb Lengthening Surgery

According to Wikipedia, the average height for men is 5 ft. 9, whereas for women, it is 5’4 in the United States. We, as humans, always have the tendency to be above-average. Therefore, the average height is not enough for most people.

Accordingly, there are a number of options available in the market with the claim that they help in increasing height. However, most of the options either don’t work or have terrible side-effects. In this article, we will discuss whether the HGH treatments actually impact the different conditions that result in a short height.

HGH

Firstly, it is important to know more about HGH. The abbreviation ‘HGH’ stands for human growth hormone. Basically, the pituitary gland of the brain produces HGH, which is needed by the body to grow properly in the case of children. For adults, it prevents organ deterioration, regulates the body fat, increases lean muscle mass and prevents bone deterioration. It has other functions for children as well, such as eliminating the possibilities of developing chronic kidney deficiency, Prader Willi Syndrome, and Turner’s syndrome. The human body keeps producing HGH throughout its life, but the amount of production starts drastically decreasing after the human passes the age of 30. This decrease is what results in the side-effects that we experience from aging, such as wrinkles, high blood pressure, high levels of cholesterol and more body fat.

HGH and Height

We can estimate the final height of a person by taking into consideration their genetic factors. However, it is not always the case that the children have the same height as their parents, as illnesses and nutritional deficits also have their significance. Alongside the genetic factors, HGH also play a key role as they help in achieving normal growth. Children whose bodies produce less of this substance are more probable to have problems with their height as they grow older.

Causes of Short Stature

Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD)

Growth Hormone Deficiency is one of the medical conditions, which make the pituitary gland to produce less growth hormones. The people who have this condition have a short height and rounder, younger faces. This condition isn’t that prevalent as only 1 in 7,000 individuals experience it, according to statistics. Even though the condition is rare, we still see a lot of people who have a short height around us.

However, the final height of a person with GHD can be increased if the diagnosis is done earlier. Therefore, it is important to keep an eye on your child for showing any symptoms of GHD, which can include slow hair growth, sluggish tooth development, mild to moderate chubbiness, delayed puberty, and short stature. For adults, the symptoms could be high levels of bad cholesterol, fatigue, decreased strength, baldness, low libido and psychological problems such as anxiety and depression. If you or your child is experiencing any of these symptoms, it is best to get yourself checked for GHD.

Other Conditions

One can experience a short height because of the other conditions, such as idiopathic short stature (ISS), Turner Syndrome (TS), Chronic Renal Insufficiency (CRI), Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS), small for gestational age (SGA), short bowel syndrome (SBS), and Noonan’s syndrome. FDA has allowed the usage of HGH for treating these diseases.

HGH Treatments

If either you or your child is experiencing the symptoms of any of the above growth hormone diseases, it is best to get yourself checked and start your preferred treatment option if the disease is diagnosed. According to researches, there has been a significant increase in the heights of people who have these diseases under the influence of HGH treatments.

For Children

The two HGH treatment options for children are discussed below.

1.   HGH Injections

HGH injections are usually used for treating children with a short height. These injections contain synthetic HGH that have an impact on all of the above diseases and result in increasing the final adult height of children. However, it should first be checked whether the growth plates of the child have closed or not, as these injections will have no impact if they have already been closed.

The doctor’s prescription is extremely important for their usage and the injections should also be bought from a legal source. FDA has only approved these injections for serious medical conditions. Therefore, they cannot be used for anti-aging treatment. In addition, one may face experience difficulty in affording these injections as they are quite expensive. Other than that, it has been seen that these injections actually work.

With these benefits come their serious side-effects, which include increased risk of infection, mood changes, increased blood sugar and muscle and joint pain. In addition to these side-effects, these injections can also cause the person to develop scoliosis or experience pressure in the brain. Deaths have also resulted in cases where the patient had Prader-Willi syndrome and was quite obese. Accordingly, one should take into consideration all of these factors before going for HGH injections.

2.   HGH Supplements

This option can be more suitable as these supplements don’t contain artificial growth hormones. HGH supplements  like Genf20 Plus, Sytropin, Growth Factor Plus, HGF Max and Somatropinne are developed with the purpose to naturally improve the HGH production of your body, resulting in increasing the height and fighting the effects of the aforementioned medical conditions. There is no pain surrounding the usage of supplements as well, which was the case with the injections. Furthermore, HGH treatment with supplements is also safer and cheaper than HGH injections. However, it is advised to only go for the products that have a good reputation and are also approved by the FDA.

Alongside children, adults can also greatly benefit with the usage of these supplements. Unlike HGH injections, FDA has allowed the usage of HGH supplements for treating aging problems. They can also help adults with various problems, such as wrinkles, fatigue, memory, body fat and libido.

For Adults

1.   Exercise Treatment

Growth Factor Plus BenefitsAlthough exercises won’t have much impact, they still have the potential to increase your height to a few inches. According to perimeter institute, the exercises that are seen to have an effect on overall height include anaerobic exercises, weight-lifting, stretches and hanging exercises. Other types of useful exercises are swimming, biking, running, rowing, jumping rope, intensive interval training, and endurance training. Among these exercises, resistance training is said to be the exercise that results in the production of most HGH. If these exercises are done regularly, they can result in creating and strengthening new bone cells, which increases the strength and length of the bones. Accordingly, you will appear taller because of these exercises. Moreover, they also help with increasing the production of HGH, which improves the overall health. Before starting any heavy-duty exercise, it is best to consult a professional to avoid any injuries.

2.   Limb-lengthening Treatment

This procedure is getting a lot attention for increasing the height of adults. However, one may think twice to go for this treatment as it involves either breaking or cutting of bones and having an external fixator put on the link and fastened to bones using wire, screws or pins. In addition, new methods of performing limb-lengthening have been introduced as well. The down-sides to this treatment are that only a few inches are added to the overall height and some patients have reported this treatment to be excruciating. Apart from these factors, the treatment can certainly help with increasing height.

The various side-effects of this treatment include weakness of muscles, stiffness in the joints, uneven lengthening of limbs, hip problems and nerve damage or paralysis. From this, we can see that this process can be quite risky. However, these effects can be eliminated with further surgery. Because of these factors, this treatment should only be performed by experienced personnel. Usually, patients from the US have to seek treatment from another country as the country does not have that many relevant doctors. It should also be mentioned that the procedure is not at all cost-effective, as it normally costs more than US $80,000.

Conclusion

With the recent developments in medical science, a number of methods for increasing the overall height have been introduced. Due to the fact that growth hormones have a direct impact on height, most of these treatments revolve around improving the HGH production of the body. The most popular among these treatments include HGH injections, HGH supplements, exercise treatment and limb-lengthening treatment. All of them have shown to have a positive impact on the overall height. However, their usage and effects can vary depending on the individual. Accordingly, it is best to consult a doctor first for the prescription of these treatments.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_average_human_height_worldwide

http://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions-and-treatments/conditions/g/growth-hormone-deficiency

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2727887/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10703532/

https://www.perimeterinstitute.com/grow-taller.php

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10902791/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10491215/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10444604

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1619005