Last updated on September 1, 2020
Question:
Hey,
I’m 15 years old and have a small penis and small testicles. I have a noticeable amount of pubic hair. I believe I’m 4 inches erect. Is this normal? I’m 95 pounds and 4’11”. My friend takes growth hormones. He started last year, and he was my height and the same weight before he took them. Now he is 5’2″ and 115 pounds. I am just curious about what I should do. I’m the smallest freshman there is.
Answer:
I assume your friend is taking some pills that are not prescribed by a doctor. When I hear of such cases, I always get annoyed because your friend would have grown anyway since he is at the period of rapid growth. His body is just now ramping up and he’ll be growing rapidly for the next year or so.
You didn’t give me enough information to say where you are in development. I’m suspecting that you are in stage 3, but I can’t be sure from your description. You can use the Tanner Stage Calculator to get a better guess. To be at the start of stage 3 at the age of 15 is well within the range of normal, even if you are behind most of your friends. Where the rest are nearly done with their growth, you are just beginning.
The best measure is to see a doctor who can do a bone age test. But likely he will say the same thing: Be patient, you are growing.