Last updated on November 7, 2024
Question:
Hello,
I’m a male, nearly 15 years old. According to the website calculator, I’m in Tanner stage 5. I want to know if I am going to grow more.
I have pubic hair that spreads to my thighs, and there’s hair from my navel to my pubic hair. My family on both sides is really hairy. I have a visible mustache, and just a month ago, I started to have cheek, sideburns, and beard hair. Would that be because my family is hairy, or have I just stopped growing? I’m 5’2, my dad’s 5’6, and my mom’s 5’0″. I really want to be at least 5’5″. I haven’t really had any significant growth spurt, like growing several inches in a year. Is all hope lost? I also have Hashimoto’s disease, and I’m being treated for it. My TSH level is 7.98 ML and FT4 1.77 I also suspect if I have GH deficiency or Hypogonadism but my facial hair makes me doubt it. For the last 5 months, I’ve just stopped growing other than a decompressed spine.
Would hypothyroidism be the case, or am I done with puberty?
Answer:
Hashimoto’s disease causes your thyroid to produce too little thyroid hormone, which the body needs. It is one cause of hypothyroidism. It is caused by your body’s immune system attacking your own thyroid. Children with this disease tend to have delayed puberty. One medical site notes that it is important for treatment to continue, even after puberty appears to have ended, which seems to hint that the normal order of development might not take place in children with Hashimoto’s Disease. However, “Hypothyroidism is a well-known cause of growth retardation. Height prognosis in children with late-diagnosed congenital hypothyroidism is guarded. Although treatment leads to an initial catch-up growth spurt, prolonged hypothyroidism may result in compromised adult height.” [Ömer Tarım, “Thyroid Hormones and Growth in Health and Disease,” Journal of Clinical Research in Pediatric Endocrinology, Vol. 3,2 (2011): 51-5.]
Your TSH level is on the high side. Normally the upper range is 4.5 mL. Your Free Thyroid 4 level is in the normal range of 0.7 to 1.9 ng/dL.
Because you are dealing with a disease that impacts growth and development, I can’t say for certain whether your body hair got ahead of your physical growth or not. The best person to ask this question of is your endocrinologist. A bone-age test can tell you whether your growth plates are still open or not.