I was watching this youtube video (source link) and something the MD talked about I think is really important was the mention on how at least certain growth plates close. There seems to be a direction on how the growth plates close.

He was talking about a very specific type of growth plate injury that happens a lot to young kids who get injured playing sports. It is a special type of the Type III Salter Harris Fractures known as the Tillaux Fracture. The thing is that this type of fracture doesn’t really happen in adults only kids. What I learned is from the section 7:15-8:15 section of the video so if you want to skip to that part, that’s fine too. The thing is this…

Ankle growth plates don’t close uniformly but close from a medial to lateral direction.

We know that the fibula distal end is connected to the tibia with a ligament. This means that the medial side of the growth plate closes before the lateral side. Any type of torsional load (twisting) can cause the medial section which is attached to the fibula end can snap/ break off because of the fact that one side of the growth plate is ossified and has become bone while the other side might still have some cartilage left.