Is it possible to grow taller at the age of 17 once growth stops?

Question

Hello doctor,

My question is about height. I do not care about height, but it is just curiosity, as I am just interested in this topic. If a person stops growing at the age for example 17 years and his or her height remains unchanged since then, is it possible that after few years, for example, seven years he or she will grow few millimeters like 4 to 5 mm? Is it possible that during these seven years without any growth there have remained little-growing spaces in the spine waiting and that lately, they made them grow these 4 mm? Or is it that the cartilage able to grow just cannot remain to wait and not growing for few years? I have heard that testosterone makes growing spaces to ossify, so my logic tells me it is not possible for growing spaces to remain to wait in the vertebrae. So if yes, why? If not, why? Could you answer and explain with details? Yes, can be even in medical details, I will take such with happiness.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Let me answer each one of your questions one by one.

No, this is not possible. Example, if in the female the bone plates have fused by 16 to 18 years and in males by 18 to 21 years then there is no possibility for these bones to grow vertically. Usually, there is space between epiphysis (end of bones) and diaphysis (shaft portion). So, by the time the person reaches maturity at the above-mentioned age it is already filled with bone tissue so no more space remains for further vertical growth. However, in some growth abnormalities like acromegaly, we tend to see the sideways expansion of bones since vertically it is not possible. As a matter of fact, the long bones are usually the one growing up the vertebrae fuse much earlier in life.
There are no more bones left to fuse. So, there is no possibility of further vertical growth.

Answer 2

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

These people you mentioned have hormonal disorders usually they are deficient in sex hormones or growth hormones and therefore when treatment is achieved they naturally fulfill the growth parameters and then the bones get fused a bit late.

Answer 3

Hello,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

Yes, these people have delayed bone and skeletal age. Let’s begin with your first question-

A person stops growing at the age of 16. His bone age is adult as well as Risser sign is on stage 5. Suddenly, after let us say 8 years, being 24 this person gains 0.2 to 0.3 inch in sitting height through the spine. So, in such case, a tissue able to grow in his vertebrae remained unchanged during these 8 years, and suddenly this tissue was activated and grew. Is such situation possible? And how?

Yes, it could be possible. A 0.2 to 0.3 inch increase in height can occur merely because of the intervertebral space which is not fused. As you know each vertebra is bony and it is placed on top of another bony vertebra but they are separated by nucleus pulposus and other soft cartilages which are soft and cushion like. So, if this person in question did flexibility exercises like yoga, etc., he could simply gain some height due to stretching of these ligaments and soft tissue. This also happens in sleep in normal people when the body is totally relaxed and the height is more than standing height and this is simply because of relaxation of the muscles and ligaments holding the spine together.

The same phenomenon explains the other probability that you asked if bone age shows no growth plates in the wrist, then why some people grow slightly beyond it? The cartilages and ligaments holding two joints give some degree of flexibility to the joints and extremity which is actually to facilitate smoother movements but nonetheless, the flexibility imparts some slight increase in length to that extremity in question.

Answer 4

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

See if you consider bone growth then definitely growth hormone is the main thing. This is responsible for the actual growth in height and to a greater extent. However, for a small increase of 0.2 to 0.3 inch increase in height, it is the connective tissue stretch responsible. The tissues are not growing but being stretched. So here it is the stretching which causes the height increase.