I have a question...(Probably never been asked)

[headhunta32]

First off I need to give you a little med. background of mine.

When I was three years old I was diagnosed with a tumor in my spinal cord. They had to remove it, and there was a 75% chance that I wouldn't walk again after the surgery. The surgery was successful, but it left me with some nerve damage to my right leg...But at least I could still walk (even though it was with a noticeable limp).

After several years of lifting I finally caught my left butt muscle and thigh up with my left side in terms of size. My upper body is completely normal and decently ripped, but my right calf is the problem. With the very limited movement I have in it, it's very hard for me to train it. I have showed some improvement with it, but I think I have reached the point where it won't get any bigger naturally. (It's about 3.5 inches smaller than my left calf).

This is where I've thought about steroids...Do you think they would help me increase my calf size?..I talked with a plastic surgeon recently and he said that an implant was a possibility, although it wouldn't completely catch me up with my left calf....I've also thought about the use of Synthol, although this would be a last resort...

[BOWIE]

No, gear will allow your healthy parts to grow even faster and you'll look more imballanced. I'm dedicating my current cycle purely towards getting perfect symetry and it's a bitch because the strong parts grow so easily and the others have a really hard time catching up, even if you work them more.

In all honesty, I feel that in your situation (being recovered from a spinal tumor), implants or synthol are perfectly respectable. And, that is the only situation in which I would ever condone such things (though I'm certain I will get negged to hell for saying that).

[shtexas]

In a situation like that where there aren't many options, implants might be your best bet. If it were for anyone else who was just being lazy and impatient i wouldn't condone it, but this is a different reason.

[headhunta32]

Ok, thanks for the input. I was pretty determined to achieve balance without the use of roids/implant/synthol but after 4 years of dedicated lifting my gains in my calf have stopped. I know it's usually considered to be the "bitch" way out but I really see no other option than an implant.

[jude-o]

*shrug* I don't think anybody would look down on a person getting an implant to restore normal appearance after a serious medical problem.

Steroids activate 'androgen receptors'. When you effectively work a muscle, the cells of that muscle produce a lot more androgen receptors. This is a control mechanism, to make sure that muscle growth only happens where it's needed. So, if you can't effectively work one calf muscle, it's not going to be very responsive to steroids anyway (because it won't produce a bunch of androgen receptors to respond to testosterone/other steroids.)

I wonder if an electrostimulation system (the sort used by physical therapists, not the crap sold on infomercials) might not be able to work the calf, but if the goal is simply cosmetic (rather than increased calf strength) I'd probably just get the implant.