No, these patches won’t make you grow inches in weeks
If your time is short
- Except in rare cases of endocrine abnormalities, adults can only increase their height with surgery.
A widely-viewed video on Facebook quickly cuts between images and graphics to draw in people wishing they were taller with the promise of quick, easy growth.
How? According to the video, patches placed on the soles of your feet that could make you grow several inches within two weeks.
The post also shares a link to where you can buy the patches that supposedly “triggers growth hormones in the pituitary gland” and “increases your height even in adulthood.”
Does it sound too good to be true? Apparently: This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
Todd Milbrandt, an orthopedic surgeon and associate professor of orthopedics and pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic, told Gizmodo in 2019 that “no adult can increase their height without surgery, period.”
Even adults with endocrine abnormalities, such as gigantism, which causes excessive growth, would only grow until about age 25, Milbrandt has said.
There are limb-lengthening procedures, but that involves a lot more than sleeping with patches on your feet. Think: breaking your leg bones and stretching them out.
Barring that, after puberty, nearly everyone shrinks with age.
We rate this post False.
Our Sources
Facebook post, April 19, 2022
Gizmodo, For Men Who Will Try Anything to Get Taller, There's a World of Grifts and Gimmicks, May 2, 2019
The Wall Street Journal, Can Adults Grow Taller?, July 4, 2016
Britannica, Boys’ and girls’ height curves, visited April 27, 2022
Federal Trade Commission, FTC Targets Bogus Claims for Pill Advertised to Make Kids Taller, Nov. 28, 2006
