Last updated on December 6, 2024
Question:
Hey minister,
I have one more question: How do growth spurts work? Do you grow one time one month and then grow the next? Or is it several times in one month?
Answer:
Imagine that you are watching a tall building being built across the street. At first, it seems like the construction crew is taking forever as the site is prepared and the foundation is laid. You know work is ongoing, but the visible changes are not impressive. The most noticeable part is when you see the outer shell going up. It seems a floor appears almost overnight, but then there are long periods when nothing seems to happen because the workers focus on the interior structures before adding the next floor.
Your body is similar. There are many systems, and they all have to work together. A bigger body requires a bigger heart, lungs, and other internal organs. Those internal changes are critical, but they aren’t noticeable. But when the skeleton’s bones lengthen, that gets everyone’s attention, especially when the leg bones lengthen.
The body has limited energy available, so it focuses on different sections and cycles between the sections. When it becomes the leg bones turn to lengthen, your change in height dramatically jumps — not overnight, but over a period of several months. There may be pauses as the body increases internal structures to match the new height, but it will get back to the bones eventually.
Thus, growth spurts are the periods when your leg bones lengthen. We measure over 6 months or a year to smooth out the daily starts and stops. People may tease you that you are changing overnight, but they don’t see you every day. Usually, someone notices that you’ve changed in comparison to something else. “What a minute, weren’t you shorter than your mother? When did you shoot up past her?”
Question:
Thank you very much for the information. I now have a much better understanding of how a growth spurt works.
I have developed Osgood-Schlatters. Will this slow down growth, or is it a normal thing because of rapid growth?
Answer:
Osgood-Schlatters is a common problem during growth spurts. It will not slow down your growth. See
Question:
Alright, thank you. This gave me a better understanding. But why has it occurred when I have only grown 0.5 since the spurt started?
Answer:
It is the strain on the connection of your front thigh muscle and your shin. It was already tight from the growth, and then anything causing extra use of your legs just irritates it all the more. It isn’t so much the amount of height you’ve gained but the repeated usage while it is weaker due to growth.