GrowTallest

Growth plate senescence

What a growth plate spends as it grows, why slowing growth down conserves it, and what is settled and what is not about the pool of cells that runs out.

Inside the plateUpdated

11 min read24 sources

Growth plate senescence: a young plate has a full reserve layer and long columns of dividing cells, an older plate is thinner with fewer reserve cells and shorter columns, and at fusion the cartilage has become bone. YoungOlderFusedfull reservefewer left, thinnerall bone

How a growth plate works sets out the three zones. This is what happens to them over time, and what the measurements show is being consumed.

In this article

  • Senescence counts divisions, not years
  • What the clock is made of
  • Fusion
  • The niche that complicates it
  • Compounds

The rest of this article is for members

Join to read it, and every other article in the library.

Join for $11.99

Lifetime · 3 of 10 founding spots left

Tax is added at checkout (VAT/GST where it applies).

or $9.99 a month

Renews every month at the current price plus tax until you cancel. Cancel from your account before the next monthly charge to stop it.

Card purchases are sold and charged by Link (Stripe) under Link's terms and refund policy.

Educational content, not medical advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to take or stop taking anything — talk to a doctor about your own situation.