A student in the UK said he spent £36,000 (BD18,262) on surgery to break his legs and increase his height by 3.7 inches after feeling his arms were ‘too long’ for his body.
Irakli Archvadze, a 36-year-old business PhD student from Tbilisi, Georgia, stopped growing at the age of 15, reaching a height of 5ft 7in (170cm) – but with an arm span of 5ft 11.25in (181cm), he felt his body was out of proportion.
He said he always felt ‘uncomfortable’ about his height, even in adulthood, especially when standing next to taller friends or approaching taller women, and he wore insoles to make himself appear taller.
In May 2024, Irakli came across limb-lengthening surgery on YouTube and, after visiting a specialist clinic in Istanbul, Türkiye, in August 2024, he decided to go ahead with the procedure.
On February 14, 2025, he said surgeons broke his femurs and fitted metal frames to his legs and, over the next three months, he used an Allen key to gradually separate the broken bones by 1mm a day, allowing new bone to grow in the gap.
By May 10, he said he had gained 3.7 inches, bringing his height to 5ft 10.7in (179cm), and he now feels more confident than ever and says the cost and ‘intense pain’ were worth it.
“People don’t understand how us short kings feel,” Irakli told PA Real Life.
“With my height, I felt like part of my puzzle was missing and I found this part, through the surgery, and now I feel accomplished so my puzzle is complete.
“It’s easier to get things from the kitchen cupboard and I will see if I can see better at concerts now!”
It was in May 2024 that Irakli came across videos on YouTube of people having limb-lengthening surgery.
“It was a real shock for me, because I was like, ‘Wow, is it really true? Is it Photoshop or is it fake?,” he recalled.
“I didn’t believe it at first so I decided to visit the clinic in Istanbul.”
In August 2024, he said he visited the clinic, met the doctors and spoke with patients, and decided to go ahead with the surgery.
He said he only told his sister and two of his friends about his plans – his sister was shocked but supportive, while his friends said they would not consider the surgery even if they were offered a million dollars.
At the time, Irakli was working in a call centre around his PhD studies, but decided to quit his job to have the surgery and focus on his recovery.
During the procedure, he said he was put under general anaesthetic and the surgeon broke his femurs into two parts, before attaching metal frames, called external fixators, to his legs.
These fixators sit outside the leg and are held in place by metal pins that go through the skin and into the bone on both sides of the break. The fixators have rods and screws that can be adjusted to move the bone gradually. When the pins go into the skin, they leave small open wounds, which are cleaned every day to stop them getting infected.
Five days after the surgery, Irakli began using an Allen key to turn the screws on the fixators every day. This gently pulled the two ends of his broken bone apart by about 1mm each day, allowing new bone to grow in the space.
Six days after surgery, he was admitted to the clinic’s rehabilitation centre, where he had physiotherapy three times a week for three months.
“I stretched as much as possible and I woke up five times per night, stretched in the bed and went back to sleep, and I went to the gym almost every day,” Irakli explained.
“Pain is inevitable in this process but I looked at the pain as progress – fear is an obstacle to a progress. Therefore, I pushed myself not to give up and to go forward,” he said.
Irakli said he had to turn the fixators every day until May 10 and achieved a 3.7in (9cm) increase in his height. The fixators stayed in place until the new bone hardened, and were removed on May 12.
Since the start of July, he has been able to walk without a walker and crutches.
“It felt amazing, I’m really satisfied with my height now and I achieved what I dreamed of,” he said.
“I feel like I’ve got more respect from my friends now because once you go through a challenge, and once you win your battle, you are a strong person and I proved to them that I can do something that’s really hard,” he said.
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