It's hard to believe that cosmetic surgeries still have the ability to elicit shock from the general public. We’ve seen many trend cycles—from Kardashian-inspired Brazilian butt lifts (BBLs) to bombshell breast enhancements and face-enhancing buccal fat removal. The latest cosmetic enhancement trend might be a bit extreme for some, but it has steadily climbed in popularity. What might this trend be? Leg lengthening.Dr. Shahab Mahboubian, an orthopedic surgeon located in California, and specializing in limb lengthening and deformity correction surgery, describes leg lengthening as breaking the bone and implanting a precise nail. This nail interacts with a magnet that is held on the leg three times a day for three to four months. A person's height lengthens one millimeter each day until the desired height is achieved. Nails are removed after a year.Limb lengthening procedures have commonly been used to correct deformities, but  Dr. Mahboubian claims “the main reason now is for cosmetic reasons.” After the surgery, patients often have to recover using a wheelchair and undergo months of physiotherapy to help muscles adapt. The procedure was first developed in the 1950s by Soviet orthopedic surgeon, Gavriil Ilizarov, in a bid to treat complicated bone fractures and deformities. The first cosmetic leg-lengthening surgeries began to appear in the late ’80s across Europe. Today, Dr. Mahboubian alone is performing twice as many of these cosmetic surgeries as he was three years ago.