Last updated on August 24, 2020
Question:
I’m calming down about my stage of puberty and how long it will take. I am convinced it should grow more considering my penis and testicles don’t seem adult-like and my penis hasn’t grown a lot in girth and testicles haven’t grown to full adult size. In stage 4 can the other stages come before the penis and testicles increase, or does it all happen at the same time? Because this might be the case for me. I’m planning on seeing a doctor next week anyway since I’m 17 and I want to see if there are any problems before I turn 18. I have never really had a growth spurt as well. The most I’ve grown in height is 3 inches at 15-16, so I’m thinking I might still be growing in height. I know my dad grew a lot in height at an older age (16+). I don’t know about other puberty factors though. Could this be genetic that I develop fully late with my height, penis, and testicles? I have a little facial hair and hair leading from stomach to pubic hair, but I don’t really have a lot of pubic hair on my inner thighs. Does this constitute to finishing stage 3 and beginning stage 4? I think it said I was at stage 3.5 last year and now I’m at 4-4.1 on the calculator.
Answer:
A growth spurt is the speed in which you grow, not the amount that you grow. A typical growth spurt is when you grow two to four times faster than you did during childhood. It is very possible that your three-inch gain was during your growth spurt. It isn’t that you won’t continue to grow, it is that your speed of growth in stage four will slow down until it stops when you reach stage five. The lack of much facial hair and not having hair on your inside thighs just means you haven’t reached stage five yet.
The increased girth of your penis happens while you are in stage four. Typically growth comes in short spurts, so you might miss them because they are your own body or if you are measuring you might find a quick change between one month and the next.
There are always exceptions to the rule, but the order of changes is fairly fixed in boys within any one trait. Individual traits may race ahead of other traits, but that is why I have the calculator base its estimate on a set of known change series. The “gold standard” for development age is a bone age test, which is done at a doctor’s office. They x-ray one hand and compare the bone development to charts in a book to determine how far along you are. They can also determine if your growth plates are still open (further growth is possible) or closed (growth is done).