Dear all, as you prepare to read my post for the day, please be reminded that this is a ‘safe place’ where people come to ask questions about their health. They also feel free to ask questions that would have made others judge them. I do not judge anyone and would appreciate you all not doing same. You can absolutely disagree with an opinion but please do so in a polite and courteous manner. I may have to delete any comment that I consider offensive to the person who wrote in.
Thanks y’all 😀
And now to the question…
Q: Am 18yrs old, I have an issue with my height and I don’t like it. I have missed so many opportunities and things I would have achieved because of my height. Sometimes, people even mock me because of it. I really wish to grow taller, please what can I do?
A: A person’s final height is as a result of a combination of factors: genetics (if your parents are short, you are more likely to be short), nutrition (during the critical growing up years and especially before birth), general health and hormones (growth hormone, thyroid hormone and sex hormones). Having said these, there’s no hard and fast rule really, as some ‘short’ parents give birth to
As I mentioned above, the fastest period of growth is experienced before the baby is born. Thereafter, another growth spurt is experienced during puberty with boys generally growing more than girls. During this period, the growth plates (areas of growing tissues located at the ends of long bones. These are the areas where bones grow) are very active until they end of puberty when they mature, fuse and stop growing. Once the growth plates are fused, growth has been concluded and height cannot be increased. There is no specific age at which this occurs really: people who start puberty early will probably stop growing before others who started later.
‘Normal’ when used to describe height can vary from place to place with differences in ethnic groups, cultures and continents. Sometimes, there may be a medical condition associated with height variations (short or tall statures), but most people are normal and just at the lower end of normal (for the short) and at the higher end of normal (for the tall).
If the cause of ‘shortness’ is a medical problem or a hormone deficiency, this can be rectified. For instance, if there is a deficiency of growth hormone, this may be administered. However, this can only be done in children…before the growth plates fuse (at about 14/15 years for girls and at about 16 years for boys). Once this has happened, no drug can increase height. Surgery in which the legs are cut apart and then gradually separated to increase height is an option, with attendant possible complications of infection and of course, fracture. Not really advisable.
Now, people can be mean…sad but very true It would be nice to have a great supporting group of people everywhere you go. But the opposite, is often the case. Sometimes, those people actually mock, because it makes them feel superior and better about their own inadequacies…and trust me, we all have them. It may just be that they are not as visible as others.
I can only imagine the teasing you had to endure as a child and it probably hasn’t ended now. But guess what? What they say, doesn’t define who you are. You’ve got to find that ‘true you’ from the inside. That person remains consistent and holds firm to her values irrespective of what is going on outside. So, the first thing to do is make peace with yourself. This is who you are…but your height does not define the amazing heights you are going to soar to.
Create other opportunities for yourself. I don’t know what you’ve missed out on…but you need to stop feeling everyone is judging you because of your height. Perhaps, if you want to be a model, it might be an issue 🙂 Otherwise, I’m sure there’s a whole lot you can do. Your brain is intact and ready to roar!
Then learn to walk tall, literally and figuratively. A good posture with a ram-rod straight back may make you appear taller. What about high heels? Let’s spend a few seconds and say a kind prayer for the person who invented these! 😀 What would our lives be without these?!
And you know what? I’m not particularly tall myself…my first daughter is already taller than I am and the second and third are gearing up to follow suit 😀 Very disrespectful of them, don’t you think? 😀 But what do I care? I carry myself like I matter and so when I enter a place, people sit up and take notice 😀
So, if I can leave you with a last word, it would be, just learn to love who you are and be comfortable in your skin 🙂
Have a good night, y’all 😀
