I have read a few reports and articles recently about how taller people get better career prospects and even get ahead in their personal lives. But I am very short and have always been bothered by my height, since my school days. Now even more so as I have just started working and I sometimes feel so small, literally! By the way, I am a 25 year old guy. My height is 1.60m and I am 50kg. I have tried quite a number of ways over the past year to increase my height but I am not getting the desired results. I have tried 'spine stretching' exercises, growth pills and muscle strengthening exercises. I like playing soccer as well and I had hoped that being a few inches taller might help me in that aspect as well.
Any advice for me? Thanks a lot!
Darryl, Chef, Singapore
Hi Darryl,
Your problem struck a chord with me because I had this very same problem when I was 15! I was 1.58m then and needless to say, I was the shortest in a class of 40, even shorter than the all the girls! I tried almost every method that I could find as well, stretching exercises, 'special' foods, supplements and a few other strange methods. I only started growing taller around 17 and grew to my current height of 1.78m(5'10") by the time I was 19 or 20.
Being already 25 years old, it is unlikely that you would see a visible increase in your height. I know that it might hurt to hear this, but this is the truth. Scientific evidence has shown that guys stop growing when they reach the ages of 21-24 and girls the ages of 17-19. The only other method that could see a visible increase in height that you could still utilize at your age would be to undergo the height increase surgery method. You could check out this site: http://ilizarovheightincrease.com/procedure.html#process if you are keen to learn more about this procedure but just for general info, what they do is that the thighbones are sawed apart and an implant is attached in the break to add length to the bone. You would use a devise attached to your leg to stretch the bones each day until you reach the maximum increase possible.
It is an extremely painful and expensive method(cost could be around $50,000) that is used by people who are really desperate to increase their height due to various reasons(most people who does this are people who would like to increase their height to meet job requirements, to be a model, air stewardess etc). Plus there is a risk of infection.
Other methods such as protein shakes, stretching exercises and growth hormone injections might help you increase your height but in most cases only minimally(perhaps 2 cm or 1 inch). By the way, in case you are interested, more of the above stretching exercises, nutritional tips and others could be found at http://www.heightincreasesite.com/growtaller/stretching.html.
However, my suggestion to you would be to be satisfied with your current height and make the most of it. It does not matter how tall or short you are in any industry unless you make it as such. Spud Webb was the shortest player in the National Basketball Association and when he took part in the slam dunk contest in 1986, people were skeptical as to whether he could even dunk, let alone attain high scoring ones! But he shook up the entire contest by not only completing his dunks, but doing it in style. If you ever need inspiration on the fact that you could overcome any adversity to achieve success in professional sports, please check out his slam dunk contest performace at http://www.youtube.com/. Truly amazing to see someone at 1.70m(5'7") outdunk players 2.00m(6'7").
It shows that if you truly have the desire and passion for something, nothing could stand in your way to success. So go through each day with a smile, do your best in everything and aim as high as possible in all your goals(professional and personal)! All the best!
Naz
