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It's called limb lengthening and for years the procedure was done almost exclusively to correct developmental deformities or repair damage to limbs after an accident. But more and more often the surgery is being done for cosmetic reasons to help people — primarily men — grow a little taller.

At 18 years old, Akash Shukla stood just 4 foot 11. "I would get carded all the time at PG-13 movies. It was really tough to find a date. I didn't know a single other guy who was my height and I was really insecure about it. I just felt like my height was really holding me back in many ways."

Shukla's story is a familiar one to Robert Rozbruch, the director of the Institute for Limb Lengthening and Reconstruction in New York. He estimates that between 5 percent to 10 percent of his patients come to him for cosmetic reasons, although he bristles at the suggestion that limb lengthening could be a new cosmetic frontier.

Patients in Rozbruch's practice must undergo hours of psychological testing to determine whether they are appropriate candidates for the procedure. "We weed out the nuts, the ones who just think it would be kind of cool to be taller," said Rozbruch. Psychologist Ellen Westrich works with Rozbruch in evaluating patients for surgery. Westrich describes a condition called short stature dysphoria where patients are deeply dissatisfied with their height.