Questions:
Hello,
I’m confused about how growth works in stage 4 because on your calculator it says I’m in stage 4.0. I think that is true because I just started growing a trail between my pubic hair and my navel. It has color, but it’s shorter than my pubic hair and leg hair. Also, I haven’t grown in height for three months. But I just suddenly grew an inch out of nowhere. Does that mean I’m still in stage 3?
Answer:
Being in Stage 4 doesn’t mean your growth in height has stopped, only that it has slowed down. Growth in height stops when you reach stage 5. Boys typically grow 1 to 3 additional inches during their time in stage 4.
Growth is discussed as the amount of growth that takes place over a year’s timeframe. That growth is often not steady. It starts and stops, but over a long period, we can talk about the changes. You hadn’t grown in the last three months and this month you grew an inch. That is only one inch in four months. Even if that current rate continued for a year, you would be growing 3 inches per year. However, what you are more likely to find is that you will stop growing for an even longer period and then shoot up a little bit more. Measured over a year’s period, you will likely find that you’ve grown about two inches, which is normal for stage 4. In the second year of stage 4, you will grow even less as your growth slows down and eventually stops at stage 5.
By the way, the hair length on the lower stomach tends to be shorter and will remain that way the rest of your life.