Head implant that makes you taller

Is your wife or girlfriend taller than you? Forget shoe lifts. Instead you can try out a two-inch head implant. A cosmetic surgeon in Spain has developed a new way of adding up to two inches to a person's height by inserting a silicone head implant, British newspaper the Daily Mail reported on Sunday.

According to Dr Luis de la Cruz of the Clinica La Luz hospital in Madrid, the operation takes 90 minutes during which an incision is made in one side of the head and then the implant is squeezed in between the skull and the scalp. The cost of the entire operation is roughly £4,000 and it is usually performed by applying a local anaesthetic.

Patients are released from the hospital the subsequent day. Dr de la Cruz, who has already carried out the operation on 17 patients, said: "It is a relatively simple procedure that can have a wonderfully positive effect on the patient's life. Like most good ideas it came to me in a flash.

"I was approached by a young woman who always dreamt of becoming an air stewardess. She was rejected for being half an inch too small and asked if there was any technique to add to her height.

"At the time the only way was through lengthening the leg bones, which is an extreme and traumatic option. It got me thinking. I carry out many chin implant operations and suddenly I thought, 'Why not an implant between the skull and the scalp?'. She is very happy with the result and is now an air stewardess."

A woman patient called Eugenia said: "It changed my life. I look a different person." The Clinica La Luz in Madrid is thought to be the only place in the world where the operation is performed. But people with long, thin heads are advised against the surgery as the result can look odd. Clinical psychologist Javier Hernandez said: "People should think long and hard before having this surgery."