A 16-year-old boy in southeastern China who underwent a six-month body lengthening therapy saw his height increase by 1.4 centimeters, only to shrink back to his original size within two weeks of stopping treatment, according to a report by South China Morning Post (SCMP).
The teenager, surnamed Huang from Xiamen in Fujian province, received the therapy between February and August this year at a cost of 16,700 yuan ($2,350).
His father said his height rose from 165 cm to 166.4 cm by August but quickly returned to 165 cm once the sessions ended.
Refund Issued After Complaint
Huang’s father lodged a complaint with the institution that administered the treatment. The staff there reportedly told him his son was “too old to be corrected” and offered a full refund. The father criticized the institution, saying they should have disclosed this earlier.
The boy had been taken for treatment once every one to two weeks, according to SCMP. Procedures included leg stretching and the use of medical equipment to “activate” the knees. According to Huang, the teenager’s height would shrink whenever they missed a session.
Medical experts have dismissed the practice as unscientific. Wu Xueyan, an endocrinologist at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, said forced stretching cannot fundamentally increase a person’s height.
“A person is half to one centimeter taller in the morning than in the afternoon,” Wu said, according to SCMP, noting that daily spinal compression and relaxation can account for minor changes. “Humans are not noodles. It is unscientific to stretch a person longer.”
Wu said exercise, quality sleep, and natural growth factors are the only effective ways to support height development, adding that genetics play the biggest role.
The story sparked reactions online, with many criticizing institutions for exploiting parental anxiety. The institution’s name has not been revealed, and it remains unclear whether it was qualified to perform such treatments.
Medical experts have dismissed the treatment as lacking scientific grounding, saying that forced stretching cannot fundamentally change bone growth after certain developmental stages, and that much of the height variations people observe daily (morning vs afternoon) are due to spinal compression and relaxation, not permanent skeletal change.
Risks and Impacts
Unproven therapies injure soft tissue, cause joint strain, muscle imbalance, or other problems. Although in this case no serious harm seems publicized, the risk remains.
Hope for permanent height gain, disappointment when change reverses; potential embarrassment or lowered self‑esteem. The therapy was costly (~¥16,700), and while a refund was offered, the cost of time, discomfort, and emotional investment is also significant.
Clinics offering height‑enhancement or growth treatments should be regulated; claims must be scientifically vetted; misleading advertising should be penalized.
Governments (in China and elsewhere) should set clear guidelines defining what constitutes legitimate medical growth‑enhancement therapy with unproven, cosmetic, or pseudo‑medical treatments.
Clinics should be legally obliged to inform clients (or their guardians) about the scientific consensus: what the therapy can and cannot do; risks; likelihood of temporary with permanent effects; cost; maintenance requirements; what happens if sessions are missed.
The case of Huang is a cautionary tale. It highlights how urgent it is to ensure that medical claims, especially those that play into insecurities about height are backed by rigorous science and clear communication.
While growth and appearance matter to many, vulnerability to exaggerated or unproven therapies leads to disappointment, financial loss, or worse.
Societies, regulatory bodies, medical professionals and families should all work to ensure young people are protected from exploitative practices, and that hopes for change are grounded in reality, science, and safety.
To protect youth, maintain trust in medicine, and prevent exploitation, societies must insist on evidence, transparency, ethics, and regulation. Only then can aspirations be balanced with reality—and the well‑being of young people preserved.
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