How to assess the present stage of puberty in a 13-year-old?

Question

Hi doctor,

I am 13 years old. I have been curious about puberty and height. I am currently 5 feet 6 inches and really insecure about my body and height. I feel very hairy and fair. I have been researching tanner stages of development and I am around tanner stage 4. I have hair around my inner thighs, I can grow a slight mustache in three weeks, I have line of hair from my testicles to my belly button forming. I have little hair around my nipple and some hair on my underarms. I have lots of leg hair and a medium amount of arm hair, my penis is 6.5 inches erect and 4 inches flaccid. I have attached a photo. I wear a shoe size of 11. How tall can I expect to be and how far into puberty really am I? I also have hairy parents.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I appreciate your efforts of going into the details about puberty and its effects on the body. You have done quite a bit of research. You only need to understand a few more things.

1. First, not everybody’s body responds the same way to puberty. The genetic makeup has a big influence on it.

2. Your final height depends on your parents’ height, lifestyle diet, physical exercise, and also mildly influenced by the mindset and environmental factors.

3. Generally, boys grow up to 18 to 20 years of age unless the growth is arrested by early puberty.

4. By your description, your puberty is just setting in, which is normal for the age. Now, your final height will depend on your diet and physical activity. It is possible that you might add another 4 to 5 inches to your height.

How to assess the present stage of puberty in a 13-year-old?

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