Monthly Archives: April 2014

Need your feedback: 1/4″ finger length increase and new clamping device is key to leg growth

Here’s the before progress with the initial pic of the finger.  Here’s the last pic of the finger

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You can see a comparison of the left and right fingers and see that the right finger is longer than the left finger and much thicker.

Here’s a side to side comparison of the left and right fingers:

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You’ll notice that the right finger is longer than the left finger and not that the right knuckle is higher than the left knuckle so there’s no measurement shennanigans.  Is this pic enough to push as proof that LSJL finger growth is a success?  Let me know if you’d suggest any adjustments.

Here’s another image:

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Both the right finger is longer than the left finger at the tip and the right knucle is higher than the left knuckle.  Nails on the bother inner most fingers are trimmed.

Here’s some pictures of my right hand from four years ago.  Note that the method is obsolete but you can see a finger length increase between then and today.

Here’s a video with the right hand as well:

I found this video about performing LSJL:

http://youtu.be/sWlxaXfUeqM

This individual got results after 20 days which is likely due to the superior clamping device.   And is more in line with the finger results I’ve gotten.  I’ve gained about a 1/4 of inch in finger length and a drastic increase in finger width.  Comparing the thumb pics it looks like there may be some length gain there but the thumb is farther along the ruler in the before pic but a side to side comparison of right to left thumb reveals that a possible increase of 1/8th of an inch or so.

So it’s been about 1 3/4 year loading my finger and I’ve gained say 1/4″.  Since my finger is around 3 1/2″ long that’s about a 7% increase.  Now a 7% increase in the tibia bone of say 16 inches would be 17.02 inches which would be a full inch of height.  Now other than the initial gain in height at the beginning I have not gained significantly over time.

Now the key thing is despite my initial gain I’m not gaining length as rapidly in the legs as in the fingers and I’m not getting the drastic increase in width in the legs as in the fingers.  This could be due to physiological differences between the leg and finger bones.  The finger bones do not have periosteum for example or it could be due to the existing clamping device not being sufficient enough load.  The load I’ve been using for 500 counts on the finger is quite extreme relative load.

I’ve been tweaking the load of the legs.  Changing clamp position and bending the knee while loading the knee to get more leverage but we need to find a way to get the same kind of loads that can be done with the finger.

Importantly, we have finger proof.  Longer fingers could be valuable to piano players and guitar players and possibly some other athletes.  So how can we use this finger technique to raise funds to develop a more effective leg clamping device.  I think we can go even further than this gentleman here in developing a better clamping device.

So:

What kind of evidence and documentation do I need to present to the layperson to show the finger proof of concept to generate interest and funding in developing a leg loading device?

If You Can Solve This Medical Problem, You Will Become The World’s First Trillionaire

If You Can Solve This Medical Problem, You Will Become The World’s First Trillionaire

World's First TrillionaireIn a recent article I read on the website Business Insider, Rob Wile wrote the article Want To Become A Billionaire? Just Solve One Of These 10 Problems which revealed a list of ideas on how you can become ultra-rich by solving what I would call a Major Problem. As an engineer, I look at some of these problems as challenges to human innovation and creativity. The list was sort of interesting but I found one problem which was a little surprising, which led me to this interesting insight.

Here are the 10 problems….

  1. Wireless Power – I’ve heard about this for the last decade or so, ever since I was still an undergraduate.
  2. Rural, Remote Internet – Google is planning on launching a network of balloons into the stratosphere so that even a tribesmen in the Amazon can use their cell phones.
  3. Cheap, Scalable Solar – Reduce cost per cell & possibly increase energy efficiency. Everyone is racing to the bottom.
  4. Clean Coal – Can be make coal clean? Maybe the best option is the simplest, most obvious choice. Think Occam’s Razor.
  5. Super Low Cost International Payments – That is something I want to have since I have become a semi-expat creating micro-businesses around the world
  6. A Pill That Really Makes You Lose Weight – We’ll get to that in a second.
  7. Cheap Desalination – California has a drought problem. So does Nevada and Las Vegas. Water is running out. We are going to have a huge food shortage problem in the coming decades. California produces 50% of all the fruits and product that is grown in the USA.
  8. Detecting Or Predicting Major Weather Or Natural Events – Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we became modern day shamans and could predict the future like Nate Silver?
  9. Unhackable Passwords – No comment. I am not a securities guy although I have been to the annual Defcon Convention held at the Riviera in Las Vegas twice before.
  10. Death – This one could be another trillion dollar medical problem awaiting a potential future trillionaire to come along, but are we trying too hard to become gods?

It was Problem #6 which surprised me. Can You (or I) really become a billionaire just from solving a much, MUCH easier problem like weight loss?? 

I’ve always said that the science and biomedical problem of height increase, especially after full epiphyseal growth plate ossification is a thousand times harder than weight loss.

  • Losing weight is easy.
  • Altering our height is hard.
  • Eating less and exercising is free, and could even save you money.
  • Intentionally paying 100,000 Euros ($138,000 USD at today’s exchange rate) for someone to break our bones, and then having metal wires put through them so that we can brutally stretch our bones and muscles until we cry for more than a year of painful agony just for maybe 4 extra inches while risking become a total cripple our whole lives is hard.

I am not saying that loss weight is easy, but it sure is much easier than trying to grow taller.

So I have full confidence in saying this….

If we can become a billionaire just by creating a pill to help us loss weight, an analogous treatment for height increase would make us a trillionaire, or a multi-trillionaire.

I personally don’t believe that a magic pill to grow taller will ever exist for people with closed growth plate, although Glucosamine Sulphate comes damn close. (Refer to the post “This Non-Prescription Supplement Has Been Scientifically Proven To Make You Grow Taller Even With Closed Growth Plates“). Many people have tried, and all have failed.

Similarly, on a related subject, based on Problem #10 on that list, The age old desire for immortality which the death-fearing emperors of Ancient China wished for swallowing too much mercury eventually turned them crazy. These rulers of men ordered their legions of men to look high and low across the world and in the deepest reaches of the ocean for a “cure”, and grind up every bone of every animal, brew the leaves of every single plant and fruit in their land, to try to find the “elixir to immortality”. However, even the ruler of all men in the world will be subjected to the laws of nature and the universe. We struggle most of our lives against other men, trying to overcome them and dominate them, because we believe that we are not strong enough, not smart enough to try to overcome the limitations set for us by nature and our existence.

I personally think that each of our lives would be worth much more if we dedicated it towards solving large problems (ie colonizing mars, finding a HIV vaccine, removing radioactive waste dumps, regrowing the forests back, etc.), instead of trying to fight and bicker with our fellow brothers and sisters in the human race. At the end of the day, even if we did win in our struggle against our fellow neighbor and proved that somehow we are better than them because there is more “zeros” in our bank account or that our kids went to a higher ranked university than their kids, our egotistical desires to try to “one-up” each other gets us no where closer to solving the real problems in life. The problems we have with other humans, we created it ourselves, and it is all a fabrication of our own minds. That is not real. Those problems are not real. When we pass away & our body lies in the ground to rot, all those arguments, fights, bickering and lawsuits we filed & spent years in, just to try to screw over someone we became too emotionally fixated on, goes away.

If you really believe that there is some miraculous special compound which can be ingested to give you the body you want, then you are most likely wrong. Maybe something can be found for weight loss, but height increase? I don’t think so.

So here is my challenge for anyone who wants to try to figure it out. I am not asking for the person to come up with a pill, because that type of technology could be centuries away, assuming that it can ever be achieved at all. However, there is a middle path, a compromise towards what we secret wish for (which is a easy button) and what the rules of nature has set as our physiological constraints and limitations and what our bodies are capable of doing.

I propose some ideas on how to solve the problem half way, partially to give an alternative to limb lengthening surgery, as a simpler, less painful, cheaper, and less time consuming technique …

  • Lab grown growth plate implantation which will restart the bone longitudinal growth process
  • Intra-articular injection of mesenchymal stem cells and a growth plate formulation
  • Inducing microfractures using ultrasonic extracorporeal shockwaves into the cortical bone layer to let the bone marrow seep into the cracks & periosteum stem cells to generate into the chondrogenic lineage.
  • Reverse the senescence of the cells in the human body to a progenitor cell state to decalcify aka chelate the calcium crystals out.

I’ve already given away almost all of the best ideas on how to make your trillion dollars already. The question is, who is willing to put down their millions (Initial Guess: $30-$60 Mil) to start the initial capital funding to get the biomedical endeavor running to gain some momentum?

Of course, I am mainly directing this to certain people in the world, and I know who you are.

(I know for a fact personally due to past work experience from a very credible source that there are some families in the world, specifically the Middle East, which have a combined family net worth of up to $1 Trillion dollars! This is not a joke. The hidden areas of the world economy, of the international underground market, which is never reported to the IRS or any large established financial institutions is probably 90% of the real amount of transactions going on. There are hundreds of rich billion dollar Chinese families which create shell companies in tax haven countries to funnel their cash & buy real estate properties around the world in developing countries and western countries with easy immigration policies. There are dozens of billionaires in the UAE (Dubai and Dhabi) which have for decades tried to hide their real assets in Swiss bank accounts, only be blocked due to changes implemented in recent years. There are dozens of billionaires based in Russia which have been monopolizing the precious metal mines in Russia and other developing countries for the last 30 years. As for the nations that are still ruled by dictators, the dictator owns all the assets of their country (Remember that Gaddafi supposedly had $200 Bil claimed by Forbes Magazine). The United States Department of Treasury at the Bureau of Engraving & Printing prints out about $60 Bil dollars worth of paper reserve notes every month. Refer to their monthly reports here. You can see how much cash is “created” by the Bureau of Engraving & Printing in their Annual Product Report Available Here (The thing is in a excel MACROS file for god-sake.)

(My point is that there is more money (in the form of paper cash aka fiat currency) flowing through the economic system than ever before! There is so much money that the people at the top (Bankers, Goldman Sachs, Federal Reserve (who can trade their own money in the stock market) don’t even know what to do with all the rest of the money anymore. When the goal of money is just to invest the money into some asset to get a higher interest rate using compounding effect to make more money, then money no longer becomes the means to an end, but it is the end in and of itself. That becomes a problem, since money is no longer used to improve the quality of the nation’s people.)

It takes someone to become the first cause, someone to be the first person to step up and walk the talk, and put down some of their own money. I know there are millions of people out there who can support this cause. There is already about 1,200 Billionaires already in the world.

I am willing to put in $100,000 of my own money to the cause, but that won’t even be enough to get through 1 day of the entire process. I believe in it, but I am not a martyr. There are other problems I want to tackle in my life. This is just one of them.

Biotech is insanely hard to get started. There is a gauntlet of regulations to deal with, taking years and millions of dollars. However, if you are willing to get into the game, and double down like Elon Musk did with his own money believing in the cause of his SpaceX company, believing in our cause, you might be written up in the history books.

Can you solve this problem?

urlIf you can, you will be rewarded on a level which will put Bill Gates and John Rockefeller to shame. Millions of people around the world will be eternally grateful to you for how much you have helped improve their life.

I am reminded of a commonly referenced quote to give inspiration to young kids to be stupid, and try to accomplish the impossible, and change the world. –>

 

New Jeffrey Baron study about Growth Plate Regulation

Jeffrey Baron is one of the scientists studying growth plate senescence so his insights could be very helpful in stopping growth plate closure and forming new growth plates.

Recent insights into the regulation of the growth plate.

“Expression in the resting and the proliferative zone was compared to identify pathways involved in the differentiation of resting zone to proliferative zone chondrocytes. This analysis implicated vitamin D receptor / retinoid x receptor (VDR/RXR) activation, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) signaling, BMP signaling, and notch signaling. Similar analysis of the proliferative to hypertrophic differentiation step implicated p53 signaling, ephrin receptor signaling, oncostatin M signaling, and BMP signaling”

“evidence for a BMP signaling gradient across the growth plate with the greatest BMP signaling occurring in the hypertrophic zone and the least in the resting zone”<-Maybe this BMP signaling gradient is caused by some other gradient like a pressure gradient.   We know that LSJL induces a gradient so this could be related to LSJL methodology.

“immunolocalization of phosphorylated SMAD-1, – 5, and -8 in the growth plate increases with increasing distance from the epiphysis”

“Low levels of BMP signaling in the resting zone may help maintain the progenitor cell state. Farther from the epiphysis, greater BMP signaling may induce differentiation to proliferative chondrocytes and, even farther from the epiphysis, yet greater BMP signaling may induce terminal differentiation to hypertrophic chondrocytes.”

The BMP gradient described in figure 2 of the study:

Resting Zone: Bmp-3, Gremlin, Chordin

Proliferative Zone:  GDF10, BMP7

Hypertrophic Zone: Bmp2, BMP6

“In the embryonic skeleton, PTHrP is secreted by periarticular chondrocytes of long bones. PTHrP diffuses across the growth cartilage maintaining chondrocytes in the proliferative state. Cells more distant from the source of PTHrP undergo hypertrophic differentiation.”<-LSJL also puts load on the articular cartilage.  Maybe LSJL induces the release of PTHrP.

“The prehypertrophic and hypertrophic chondrocytes then secrete Indian hedgehog (Ihh), which has a negative-feedback effect on PTHrP production and also independent effects on chondrocyte differentiation. More recent evidence suggests that the Ihh–PTHrP system is maintained in postnatal growth plate but the PTHrP source shifts to the resting zone”<-Some more on PTHrP and chondrocyte differentiation.

Genes involved in human growth plate function:

“the IHH-PTHrP system (GLI2, IHH, HHIP, PTCH1, and PTHLH lie within GWAS loci), BMP/TGF superfamily signaling (TGFB2, BMP6, LTBP3, NOG, BMP2, GDF5), C-type natriuretic peptide signaling (NPPC, PRKG2, NPR3), GH-IGF-I signaling (IGF2BP2, IGF2BP3, IGF1R), and FGF signaling (FGF18).”

“At the molecular level, CNP inhibits the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, therefore counteracting the growth-inhibitory downstream signaling of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) in the growth plate”

“BNP [which is involved in growth plate regulation] is transcriptionally regulated by the transcription factor SHOX [which also regulates the growth plate]”

“FGFR1 and FGFR3 signaling are growth-inhibiting, while FGFR2 signaling is growth-promoting. Cartilage-specific (Col2a1-Cre) inactivation of Fgfr1 in mice showed a transient increase height in hypertrophic zone, and delayed terminal differentiation of hypertrophic chondrocytes. However, increase in adult body length has not been reported. In contrast, inactivation of Fgfr2 in the mesenchymal condensations (Dermo1-cre), which affects both the osteoblast and chondrocyte lineages, resulted in mice with skeletal dwarfism”

“transgenic mice with activated Fgfr3 in the growth plate show reduced chondrocyte proliferation, decreased numbers of hypertrophic chondrocytes and decreased height of the hypertrophic zone, while Fgfr3 knockout mice showed increased chondrocyte proliferation, increased height of hypertrophic zone, and increased skeletal growth”

“Fgf9 and Fgf18 promote chondrocyte proliferation during early development of the growth plate, but then function to inhibit chondrocyte proliferation and promote hypertrophic differentiation at later stages of development.”

“FGF21 can activate FGFR1 and FGFR3, both of which elicit growth-inhibitory signaling”

“Fgf21 knockout mice showed no significant difference in body weight and body length as compared to wild type mice”<-FGF21 may play a role in fasting induced growth inhibition.  So FGF21 would be a safe target to inhibit for growth.

“GH has no apparent role in fetal growth, despite the presence of its receptor (GHR) in embryos”

“mice lacking both the GH receptor and IGF-I have shorter bones than mice lacking only IGF-I, suggesting that GH, at least at a super-physiologic circulating concentrations, has an IGF-I-independent effect on bone growth”

“GH-induced Socs2-/-  metatarsal bone growth is not accompanied by increase in Igf1 or Igfbp3 transcript levels, and occurred in the presence of an IGF-I receptor inhibitor”

Manual of Endocrinology and Metabolism(Chapter 4: The growth Plate)

IGF2 is downregulated a thousand fold during senescence.

High levels of estrogen cause cessation of growth due to estrogen receptors.

Successful Implantation of Entire 3D-Printed Skull Bone Due To Disorder Causing Increase In Skull Thickness

Successful Implantation of Entire 3D-Printed Skull Bone Due To Disorder Causing Increase In Skull Thickness

3D-Printed Skull BoneThere are places on the internet which I read up on which reveal some of the most interesting medical and scientific innovations going on in our time. This recent story I heard shows that there are mays to increase our overall height than just alternations to our limbs.

I remember hearing stories many years ago about how young potential sumo wrestlers who might be just a few cms shorter than the height requirement cut-off point would go through type of scalp lifting/removal surgery to put some type of permanent, semi-hard implant into their scalp to give them that extra thickness so that they can qualify to train to become a future sumo wrestler. Back then I thought it was insane but now I sort of understand why people do that kind of thing.

This surgery obvious takes things to a completely different level. I’ve personally done research on skull and brain surgeries so I know about some of the most aggressive forms of head manipulation and cutting techniques that are out there. This one is absolutely fascinating.

The young woman who was just 22 years old seemed to have this disorder that causes the her skull bones to become thicker and thicker over time. This seems to be an example of appositional growth, or just calcium absorption and deposition on the inner side of the skull.

We are of course assuming that it was not the outside of the skull that was getting the extra layering, since it says that the increase in thickness of the skull bone started to pinch down on her optic nerve which was ready to completely blind her. The surgery was performed in this university called University Medical Centre Utrecht.

This story was huge just last month and was shared extensively over social media so some of you might have already heard about it. The implant that was placed was a type of plastic cover. Obviously the medical issue of whether the plastic cover would be durable enough to last for over the patient’s entire life was raised. Would she have to go back in 5, 10, 30 years to get it replaced? Maybe it is made from a biodegradable material so all that is needed is to cover the plastic with some calcium paste and let it solidify over time?

The sources I got the story from are from Wired.com in the article “Neurosurgeons successfully implant 3D printed skull” & Policymic.com “Neurosurgeons Have Successfully Implanted the First 3-D Printed Skull Into a Woman’s Head


Environmental Inputs on Longitudinal Bone Growth

Environmental temperature impact on bone and cartilage growth.

“Environmental modulation of tissue temperature can have direct and immediate consequences on cell proliferation, metabolism, matrix production, and mineralization in cartilage. Temperature can also indirectly influence cartilage growth by modulating circulating levels and delivery routes of essential hormones and paracrine regulators.”

environmental inputsThe arrows in white are the functional purposes of the bone.  In red are the factors that can affect bone length.  Bone adapts to the demands placed upon but not always in the way we want.  It doesn’t matter if stretching to us makes sense to use to produce longer bones.  It makes what the bones think.  The bone thinks to think:  I’m being stretched I should grow longer.  We need to recreate specific stimulus in the past that produces the desired results.  For example, the growth plate which results in longitudinal bone growth is a result of mesenchymal condensation of progenitor cells.  The goal of LSJL is to create a stimuli of hydrostatic pressure and shear strain that has been shown to induce mesenchymal condensation in adult mesenchymal stem cells and in turn induce chondrogenesis.

“Chondrocytes differentiate from a reserve pool of round quiescent cells into flattened columns of proliferating cells, which then mature into large terminally differentiated hypertrophic cells, and are ultimately replaced with mineral at the chondro-osseous junction where bone-forming osteoblasts invade from the metaphyseal vasculature”

“limb length correlates with temperature and latitude”

“limb length can be modified within a single generation by rearing young littermate animals at warm and cold temperatures during the postnatal growth period”

“Growth plate morphology was unexpectedly similar at cold and warm temperatures.  There were no major appreciable differences in overall size, shape, or organization of the cartilage.”

“variation in adult long bone length between inbred mouse strains was primarily generated by growth rate differences that occurred during a phase of rapid bone elongation between 3 and 5 weeks age.”<-it could be that lack of enough temperature is a limiting factor on height growth only in the most rapid periods of growth.

Usually these temperature studies are capped at one point in temperature so it’s hard to see if there’s an equilibrium temperature.

“normal capillary blood flow in the skin of the tibia (lower leg) was significantly higher than that in the metatarsal (foot) region, indicating a natural proximal-distal gradient in blood supply.”

” at high temperature extremes outside of a tolerable physiological range, heat does negatively impact body growth.”

“Without countercurrent heat exchangers in a cold environment, blood will rapidly lose temperature as it flows to the distal-most parts of the appendages. Core temperature would consequently drop as cool venous blood returns to the body core. One mechanism to combat a whole body cooling effect is to reduce total outflow of blood flow to the appendages by regulating vasomotor tone”

“This initially perplexing finding (no major differences in morphology of the growth plate when bone lengths did differ) may actually be quite informative as to the mechanism of the growth effect. One possibility is that a complex change in gene expression, cell metabolic activity, and/or maturation rate could contribute to the growth rate differences without changing the superficial appearance of the cartilage. The other corresponding possibility is that the growth rate differences were too slight to detect in the static histology “snapshot.” The total difference in tibia bone length between warm and cold was approximately 370 μm”

The study mentions that heat can induce bone marrow expansion.  Equilibrium temperature can increase calcium uptake.  Cold temperature induces endoplasmic reticulum stress.  HSP70 expression is affected by temperature.  Hydrostatic Pressure also increases HSP70.  HMGB1 is negatively correlated with temperature.  HMGB1 seems to encourage the early stages of chondrogenesis.  This would be a good thing in the formation of the growth but could be a bad thing in the later stages as it may effect the degree of endochondral ossification of the growth plate reducing longitudinal bone growth.  But mice that lack HMGB1 have shorter bones.  Heat also can incude TRPV4 activation.  TRPV4 may modulate bone elongation by affecting cell volume in chondrocytes.  However, continuously active TRPV4 mutants have abnormal endochondral ossification and reduced longitudinal bone growth.

” warm temperature could facilitate bone elongation by increasing the number of cells that could become bone forming osteoblasts at the chondro-osseous junction. There is also evidence that cold could limit bone elongation by directly inhibiting osteoblast activity.”<-Which would mean that heat wouldn’t play a role in neo-growth plate formation.

” leptin deficiency produces a contrasting phenotype in the limb bones and spine (short femurs and long spine)”

“Blood flow could be permanently modified by temperature through the route of new vessel formation, or angiogenesis”

“disrupted blood flow markedly impairs limb growth”

“surgical obstruction of the principal nutrient artery within the tibia marrow cavity of rabbits caused blood to be shunted toward the metaphyseal vessels and increased blood flow to the growth plate. Within three months after the surgery, the operated tibia had grown significantly longer compared to the contralateral side that received the normal blood supply”

So blood flow seems to be the most promising way to increase longitudinal bone growth and inducing new growth plates is not a ruled out effect of increasing blood flow so that LSJL likely increases blood flow is a good sign.

How To Look Taller By Wearing Thick Heeled Height Increasing Insoles

How To Look Taller By Wearing Thick Heeled Height Increasing Insoles

Height Increasing InsoleSometimes maybe the easiest thing for us to do is to just to give a temporary fix to our psychological issues with our short stature. The simplest way that I can think of on how to make ourselves at least look taller is to wear shoes with thicker heels, those shoes known as lifts, or some type of height increasing insoles.

Previously, I had reviewed before the YOKO and the KIMI height increasing insoles (Available Here) which are exactly the same product, with a slightly different name., as well as these in-sock height increasing arched insoles. (Review Available Here). Those products are no longer prevalent on the internet was very popular and marketed extensively maybe 5 years ago, when the internet was a younger entity. Of course, they never worked. Putting the insoles inside one’s shoes will make one look taller to other people, but it won’t stimulate some type of secret pressure point to release excess growth hormones to make a person grow taller. That is not going to happen.

These are the new models of thick heeled insoles sold in the market today…

Height Increase Elevator Shoes Insole (by Calden) – Price: $7-$8

Height Increasing InsoleDescription: It seems to be able to give the user around 1-1.5 inches of extra height. This particular model is made of two pieces. The 2 pieces are detachable from each other. The top plastic piece gives an extra height of around 1 inch, and the bottom part gives an additonal 0.5 an inch. If the size of the insole is too long or wide, you can take some scissors and trim the edges to fit for the right shoe size. Since the lift is probably going to be stuffed secretly in one’s shoes, that will take up space where the feet is usually be at. This means that you would actually need to get a deeper or larger sized shoe than – Read more


Honeycomb Shaped Gel Elevator Shoes Half Insole – Price: $7.50

Honeycomb Shaped Gel Elevator Shoes Half InsoleDescription: This type of insole is actually known as a half-insole. It is just “half” of the entire thing because it is only for the back part of the feet. When a person walks with this thing stuffed in the soles of the inside of the shoe, it would probably feel like their feet is raised in the back. The net result is that from the outside, appearance wise, they would look to be slightly taller. We are not sure how comfortable this product would actually be for any person since it might cause the arch of the feet to become bent in the wrong angle causing long term feet problems. A common problem is what is known as FlatfeetRead more


Half Elevator Insole for Men (by Calden) – Price: $7

Half Elevator Insole for MenDescription: This model of elevator insole is also of the half-insole variety. This particular model has a function of increasing a person’s height by upwards of even 1/2 an inch. I am a little surprised by the model since from the pictures we see from the side view, it looks kind of thin. The material that this model called the half elevator insole is made from is a ultra-light weight foam. I remember seeing models of this type in some large retail stores in the US but it is very prevalent in Asian countries like South Korea where wearing stuffing height increasing insoles is commonly practiced. This rather thin type might be – Read more


Height Lifting Inserts (For both Men and Women) – Price: $17

Height Lifting InsertsDescription: Our first impression of this type of insole from just the first picture is that it is one which we have seen before. We are referring to the elevator shoes insoles, which was the very first quick review we had done. Notice how in both this model, and the original model we looked at they have almost the exact same design. There is two main pieces, with the thicker piece being on top. The only noticeable difference we can see from just looking at the pictures is the back area. This model has a type of glossy plastic back side. I would guess that the plastic in the back is for support when a person is walking – Read more


The WSWS 3-Layer Air Cushion Insole – Price: $18-$20

WSWS 3-Layer Air CushionDescription: Out of all the types of foam insoles we have seen so far, this model is the most expensive of them all. However, it makes up for the price with a degree of assured quality in the durability of the insole. The seller of the product is WSWS. The extra cost is also explained by the fact that there is 3 separate layers to the increased thickness. It translates to a total of 2 and a half inches. That is a lot more than any other insoles sold out there. However, with that type of increase, the big problem turns into us asking the question “How will we ever be able to walk in a regular shoe with that also stuffed inside?” – Read more


LiftKit Lo-Top Insoles (For Men) – Price: $25-$30

LiftKit Lo-Top InsolesDescription: This was the one model of insoles which we have seen before. It is called the LiftKit Lo-Tope Insole. Notice from the picture how well it is designed. I personally like it for its sloping design. This means that the feet that goes on top of it won’t feel any discomfort, unlike putting a half-arch underneath it. The human feet does require an arch, but the soft foam nature of all of these insoles suggest that when you stand up on the insoles, the foam will give way to the contours of your feet. If we take into consideration the give of the foam, there will be obviously a decrease in the height gained. – Read more


The LiftKits Universal Insole – Price: $23-$27

LiftKits Universal InsoleDescription: This model is one of the half dozen or so models sold by LiftKits. Most of the other models are designed for either men or women, but this model is unisex, hence the name the LiftKits Universal Insole. This model would give a person up to 1 1/4th of an inch in height increase. Of course, that is if you are using of the two separate pieces on top of each other. The top thick heel would give 3/4th of an inch, and the bottom one would give half an inch. I personally am not a big fan of the half-insole types, especially if they are too high up. If you are going to be wearing those type, I suggest that the – Read more


Rosallini Nest Design Flannel Heel Gel Insoles – Price: $4

Rosallini Nest Design Flannel Heel GelDescription: Whereas before, we reviewed basically two sellers or middleman of thick heeled insoles, Calden and LiftKits, this other model type is sold by Rosallini. We have never heard of this seller or distributor. The type of heeled gel insoles that is sold by Rosallini, which seems to be an all purpose middle man of stick retail products, including jewelry, accesories, and novelty items. I took a look at this exact model called the Nest Deisgn Flannel Heel gel and was not very impressived. The heel are just too thick and tall and bulky for a person to use without hurting themselves. It would however give – Read more


Silicon Gel Insert Insole Pads – Price: $4

Silicon Gel Insert Insole PadsDescription: This is not an insole, but still a type of pad you would stick inside a sneaker or dress shoe to provide a slight bit of height. The pad is obviously clear or transparent, and the material used is silicone, which gives it a much more malleable and deformable quality to it. For each of the pairs of silicon gel insert pads, there will be 5 different layers, which will each provide a little less than 1/4th of an inch. The 5 layers together will give a person who is standing up just about 1 inch of height increase. I personally have bought one of these before from a street vendor in Asia and tried them on. The feeling was – Read more


How To Wear These Insoles Comfortably

The way that a lot of these insoles are shaped, there would be no way to even fit them on the back of the inside of any shoe. Some of the insoles claim to be able to raise a person’s height by even 2 and a half inches. There are many shoes where the top edge don’t even reach that tall. If you tried to put that insole inside, it might be too wide or too tall for the shoe. If the insole does get inside, maybe there will be no more room for a person to put their own feet in.

Even if you could get your feet inside the space above the insoles in the shoes, it might be too tight for your feet. When you finally do manage to stand up, walking with the insoles might be extremely uncomfortable. That is why I wanted to talk about a few tips on how a person who plans to wear these insoles can relief discomfort or pain.

Tip #1: Pick a shoe size around 2-3 sizes bigger than one’s feet. That increased shoe size, will give more width and length to fit the insoles inside. The size increase would also mean the shoe would be slightly taller or deeper. When you put the insoles in, you will still have enough room for the insoles.

Tip #2: Wear comfortable socks. Some of the insoles might have a type of foam or gel that would be sticky to the soles of the feet. Wear socks.

Tip #3: Buy & put around 3-4 insoles stacked together. Most insoles sold will give only about 1/4th of an inch in height, 1 cm at most. To get at least 1 inch of noticeable change in your appearance, you would want to get more than 1.

Tip #4: Avoid the gel type of insoles. They are too soft and if you use them too long, they can loss the structural integrity and become squished, turning the insole into a thin pancake, providing nothing at all.

Tip #5: Avoid the half insoles. The half insoles if they are stacked on top of each other will create a type of wdge shape, which has a very big angle. There would be no way a person can put their feet inside the shoe with a high wedge.

Some Background on Wearing Insoles and Arches To Look Taller

I remember that Sky, the creator of the website LimbCenter.Org even did a comparison on how easy and well it would be to just put thick heel insoles into a person’s shoes to gain upwards of 1-2 inches of temporary height. He concluded that the the result of just putting a thick heeled insole into the shoes did have a small effect. It would seem that 1 of those insoles would give maybe 1/4-1/8th of an inch in height increase, which is almost completely unnoticeable to most people, unless a person was standing next to a stadiometer or something. I sort of say that if a person just wanted to look taller temporarily, add more than just 1 insole in there.

There has even been at least one really popular and well accepted company started in recent years by a semi-famous celebrity male model Derek White, who started the company LiftKits. His product is the Liftkit Insoles, which is another type of insole. What sets his models apart from the others in the market has been the way the layers of the insoles snap on together, which is sort of a clever spin on an old idea. We did a review on the Lift Kits in a very old post (Available Here). Since this Derek White guy never claimed that the insoles he sells can actually make a person become taller, but just look taller, we fully supported him and his endeavor. I personally don’t seem anything wrong with promoting and selling some of these insoles, as long as one is being completely honest what what the product can actually deliver and provide value for the customer.

For a little bit of perspective to realize how big the craze of wearing insoles for increased height are, look at this video I uploaded more than a year ago. I found this line of insoles being sold on the side of a local street in Seoul, South Korea. The guy who was selling the thick heeled cushions seemed very nonchalant of this practice.