How Can I Increase My Height?

Posted on Thu, 12 Dec 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 12 Dec 2013 Answered on

Thu, 16 Jan 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : My name is XXXXXXX I am 15 years old and my height is 156 cm.I had a bone age test and my bone age is 13 years.My thyroid and IGF are normal.I am really desperate to grow tall.I need some advice and want to know how much more I can grow.

Answered by Dr. Ram Choudhary (24 hours later)

Brief Answer: no hormone can predict height, it needs to be norm Detailed Answer: Hi XXXXXXX Welcome to health care magic. The ultimate height achieved by a person is mostly controlled by his genetics that is family constitution. Mostly children achieve the height of their parents or immediate grandparents; sometimes a child may resemble a distant ancester that is called atavism. Exact height guess work can not be done because there is lots of variability in the actual height gained by the children and are affect by myriad factors. Your bone is is of 13 years so you have good scope of growth but the bone age may grow by leaps and bounds anytime as compared to chronological age and there is hardly any scope of skeletal growth beyond age of 20 although this is also controlled by the genetic factors. Some families have a growth spurt at 14 years of age and cease by 18 years of age others may have a spurt later on and it may continue to the age of 20. But you can expect an average height of your parents resembling the particular gender. No medicine can boost your height and the things that can help in increasing height are good exercises and balanced diet. The maximum possible height will depend on your genetic constitution. I hope the advice will be helpful for you.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Ram Choudhary (2 days later)

So since my bone age is of 13 years....my bones arent completely fused yet...dats what the doctors said.They are saying that i will grow naturally for a year or so but what do you say?

Answered by Dr. Ram Choudhary (36 hours later)

Brief Answer: yes you will grow still Detailed Answer: Hi XXXXXXX Welcome back to Healthcare Magic. You will have normal growth for over a year time I think. It depends basically on the familial pattern of growth. Bone age may rapidly grow anytime, so it's only importance is to tell that the bony growth potential is open yet. I hope you will grow to satisfactory height.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Ram Choudhary (10 hours later)

The doctors told me that i have constitutional growth delay so that there are chances that i will grow.They told me to exercise well and also they are giving me a low dosage of growth hormone so i can reach a good height.What do you think about it?And i have gotton my bone age scan 10 days ago.Do you think my bone age can shoot up and be fused within another 10 days?

Answered by Dr. Ram Choudhary (2 days later)

Brief Answer: Moderate doses of growth hormone regularly Detailed Answer: Hi XXXX, Welcome back. In constiyutional delay there is late onset of growth spurt, children look shorty for initial years but ultimately make the same height. So you have picked it late but have avenues to grow.Exercise and nutrition are good effective and handy options. The growth hormone in low doses is poor choice, to be effective it has to be given in at least 40microgms/kg/day for over a yaer. It can at best make a diiference of 1-1.5 inches in the ultimate height one will gain otherwise. Bony fusion do not take place in days or weeks but take months to years. I hope that ansers your query.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar