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[thaw1010]

Hi everyone, for some context I just turned 18 and will be graduating high school mid-next year. I'm just below 5'6", and my left knee and left wrist xrays show fused growth plates. My height has really bothered me since the start of this school year. After being in virtual school for almost two years, seeing everyone for the first time, in-person, extremely tall (relative to me, we're talking 5'10 to 6'2 here), I've honestly become kinda depressed about my lack of growth. My dad is 5'10 and mom 5'3", so I guess I lost the genetic lottery.

Anyway, after many long discussions, my parents and I decided limb lengthening right after graduating high school is the best way forward. I plan on visiting either Dr. Mehta or Dr. Paley and my goal height is 6 feet. I know an increase of 6 inches is a LOT, but my wingspan is actually 5 inches longer than my height so I don't think I'll look to disproportional afterward.

My main question is, will I ever be able to regain full, lower-body strength again? I'm talking about squats and deadlifts (325lb and 455lb, respectively). Please be brutally honest if need be.

[Medium Drink Of Water]

Depends on what you mean.  The longer your femurs get, the harder your leg will have to work to lift the same barbell.  You'll have to come down on the plates a bit but your legs will be working just as hard as before to lift the smaller plates due to the altered mechanics of your body.

Tibias stay vertical so they won't affect those exercises much.

This happened to me just with walking.  After 3 inches on my tibias, even just walking became a really strenuous workout for the tibialis anterior muscles because so much more was being asked of them due to the altered mechanics of my gait.  I got a case of extertional compartment syndrome just from walking.

[BetzLandLiberator]

My main question is, will I ever be able to regain full, lower-body strength again? I'm talking about squats and deadlifts (325lb and 455lb, respectively). Please be brutally honest if need be.

Yes, you will regain full lower-body strength if everything goes well. I did 9,5cm with Betz in 2012 and I can actually deadlift and squat more than before (not sure why, but I guess is the bigger femur muscles now).

The only downside is that is much harder to keep perfect form on a squat due to the much longer femur. Squat used to me my favorite weight lifting exercise, now is my least favorite.

But again - IF everything goes well. This is a big if.