Did I stunt my growth?

My height has been stuck at 5’8” (174 cm) since grade 9 (I was somewhere between 13-14 years old), and I haven't grown an inch taller since. In grade 9, my mother was diagnosed with an illness and left Vancouver to another country for immediate treatment (to skip the queue). And so for the next 4 years or so, I lived with my older brother, who at the time when my parents left was only 18 (technically illegal) and didn't really give a crap about me. I starved myself to sleep for many nights and, as a result, I was actually underweight for 2 years. Often, I was also sleep deprived and yet still had to go to school in the morning, because my brother would play computer games while talking loudly to his online buddies until 4-5 am in the morning. I started eating well again when I was 18, but perhaps it was all too late.

Today, I'm the shortest man in the (recent) history of my family. Even my grandfather was 5’9” in his prime, and he was born nearly a century ago. My father is 65 years old and 5’11”, but he used to be a little taller when he was young. My mother, on the other hand, is 5'6" tall, while my older and younger brothers are 5’11.5” and 6’3”, respectively. My young brother left with my parents, so he had better access to food and sleep. Strangely enough, my two brothers and I share the same upper body height when we sit down! For me, though, it looks a little odd because my upper body is almost 62% of my overall height, haha.

I'm now 24, so I'm pretty sure 5’8” or 174 cm is my final height. The thought that I probably have stunted my growth has always bothered me, and lately it's driving me to think about limb lengthening surgery just to (re)gain that 2 inches (4 cm) to become "whole" again. I would be content at just 5’10” or 178 cm to be exact. However, the risks, the costs, and the permanent effects worry me.

Yes, it seems obvious that your height was stunted because of your family's circumstances. Not having good nutrition or sleep during the most important time through puberty.

But if you only want to increase your height by 2 inches because that's how tall you think you would've been then there's no point. 2 inches is nothing, it will make no difference, people won't even notice that much.

You can very easily wear 2 inch lifts in your shoes. It's perfect for you as you said your upper body is much larger than your lower.

But if you do end up doing the surgery. At least make the most of it and gain more than 2 inches.

Why bother with questions like this? You'll never know for sure.

Most doctors believe you can't significantly stunt your height if you had access to protein(s) and at least the initial hours of sleep per night.

Expensive HGH treatment in children with idiopathic short stature increases their final height, on average, by 4cm. It's hard to believe someone could have stunted it by that much while not living in abysmal conditions.

What seems most likely is that you went through a precocious puberty, which does have that effect. Your epiphyseal plates quickly close, so you don't get to grow anymore.

And yes, do your research on this surgery. It is no joke.

Probably not. I know your situation at that age sounded bleak, but remember the boy Michael Jackson apparently molested, Gavin Arvizu or something similar?

Well he got diagnosed with cancer when he was 12 at like 5'1, and his family mentioned that the doctors told them with all the stress of chemo, lack of sleep, repressed cellular growth, he wasn't going to grow anymore. (Chemo literally kills cells, so how can you grow, makes sense right?).

Well he ended up growing to be 5'7 still, and had a growth spurt during chemotherapy.

It's extremely common to stop growing at 13-14, most people usually grow 3 inches maximum afterwards, but most people who are say 6ft tall were about 5'9 or 5'10 at that age anyway.

Your mom is 5'6 and your dad is 5'11. It doesn't sound like an unreasonable height to reach honestly. Had you been significantly shorter than your mom, maybe, but you are within normal range.

Also I think people on here tend to exaggerate how bad their living was during their teenage years, if you were actually starving or lacking sleep, you would've developed serious health issues before realizing any legitamate stunted growth. I'm not trying to downplay how bad you had it, but it was still relatively good for the human body.

Quote from: myloginacc on April 17, 2019, 01:49:42 PMWhy bother with questions like this? You'll never know for sure.

Most doctors believe you can't significantly stunt your height if you had access to protein(s) and at least the initial hours of sleep per night.

Expensive HGH treatment in children with idiopathic short stature increases their final height, on average, by 4cm. It's hard to believe someone could have stunted it by that much while not living in abysmal conditions.

What seems most likely is that you went through a precocious puberty, which does have that effect. Your epiphyseal plates quickly close, so you don't get to grow anymore.

And yes, do your research on this surgery. It is no joke.

Initial hours of sleep. What does that mean?

And which doctors are you referring to?