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I have become increasingly concerned....
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 147977" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>We were told to start worrying at age 17 if a GIRL still hadn't got her period. Girls do hit puberty sooner than boys, as a rule (that's why women tend to be shorter - puberty hormones trigger vertical growth to eventually cease). But at 17, I would not be panicking yet, but definitely getting him to the doctor for a check-up. He should do blood hormone levels, to see what is happening. He needs to check not just androgen levels, but also thyroid, gonadotropins and growth hormone. Something else to check if he's stopped growing yet - an X-ray of his joints to see if the epiphyses (the bony plates on the ends of the bones) are closing over yet. Sometimes you get the benefit of this anyway, through various injuries kids have in their teens. easy child 2/difficult child 2 broke her wrist in early 2000 (auditioning for Sydney's Olympics Opening Ceremony!) and the subsequent X-rays incidentally told us that she still had plenty of growing to happen.</p><p></p><p>How tall is he? How is his mood? How does he feel about all this? I would talk to him, find out if this is worrying him at all.</p><p></p><p>I had a classmate in school (he was actually school captain, he was well respected by kids and teachers alike) who was smaller than the other guys and who had absolutely no facial hair. His voice - it had deepened a little. We would have been 17 at the time, in our final year of high school in Australia. I cannot speak for his gonadal development (! I wasn't that type of girl!) but he was one of only three of us who went to the same uni. I remember visiting him in his college dorm - we would have both been about 19 - and he was still unsuccessfully trying to grow facial hair.</p><p>I remember him at the 20 year school reunion - he was no taller, but he now had a fine but close-cropped beard, that would have been the pride of many a sailor. He's a redhead, so it really looked good. He was married (he actually married a girl from our residential college) and they had kids, so clearly no problems in that department.</p><p></p><p>I don't know of many reasons for delayed puberty, although I do remember blind kids are often delayed - the pineal gland is involved in triggering puberty, and the lack of exposure to light can delay the pineal's drop in melatonin levels, but never completely. It does get you eventually! So anything that could be keeping melatonin levels constantly stable could be delaying things also. A long shot, probably. I'm very rusty with my endocrinology - sorry. From what I can glean, they think melatonin levels are more relevant for females rather than males, anyway. a sort of hormonal 'boys will be boys'.</p><p></p><p>But from what you say, he is showing SOME of the signs of puberty, so I'd say melatonin probably is less likely to be relevant. </p><p></p><p>Maybe his body is just taking its time? But it's always wise to check it out, in case there is a problem which NOW could be easily remedied, but less likely to be so easy when he's 27, for example.</p><p></p><p>I hope you can get some answers for him.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 147977, member: 1991"] We were told to start worrying at age 17 if a GIRL still hadn't got her period. Girls do hit puberty sooner than boys, as a rule (that's why women tend to be shorter - puberty hormones trigger vertical growth to eventually cease). But at 17, I would not be panicking yet, but definitely getting him to the doctor for a check-up. He should do blood hormone levels, to see what is happening. He needs to check not just androgen levels, but also thyroid, gonadotropins and growth hormone. Something else to check if he's stopped growing yet - an X-ray of his joints to see if the epiphyses (the bony plates on the ends of the bones) are closing over yet. Sometimes you get the benefit of this anyway, through various injuries kids have in their teens. easy child 2/difficult child 2 broke her wrist in early 2000 (auditioning for Sydney's Olympics Opening Ceremony!) and the subsequent X-rays incidentally told us that she still had plenty of growing to happen. How tall is he? How is his mood? How does he feel about all this? I would talk to him, find out if this is worrying him at all. I had a classmate in school (he was actually school captain, he was well respected by kids and teachers alike) who was smaller than the other guys and who had absolutely no facial hair. His voice - it had deepened a little. We would have been 17 at the time, in our final year of high school in Australia. I cannot speak for his gonadal development (! I wasn't that type of girl!) but he was one of only three of us who went to the same uni. I remember visiting him in his college dorm - we would have both been about 19 - and he was still unsuccessfully trying to grow facial hair. I remember him at the 20 year school reunion - he was no taller, but he now had a fine but close-cropped beard, that would have been the pride of many a sailor. He's a redhead, so it really looked good. He was married (he actually married a girl from our residential college) and they had kids, so clearly no problems in that department. I don't know of many reasons for delayed puberty, although I do remember blind kids are often delayed - the pineal gland is involved in triggering puberty, and the lack of exposure to light can delay the pineal's drop in melatonin levels, but never completely. It does get you eventually! So anything that could be keeping melatonin levels constantly stable could be delaying things also. A long shot, probably. I'm very rusty with my endocrinology - sorry. From what I can glean, they think melatonin levels are more relevant for females rather than males, anyway. a sort of hormonal 'boys will be boys'. But from what you say, he is showing SOME of the signs of puberty, so I'd say melatonin probably is less likely to be relevant. Maybe his body is just taking its time? But it's always wise to check it out, in case there is a problem which NOW could be easily remedied, but less likely to be so easy when he's 27, for example. I hope you can get some answers for him. Marg [/QUOTE]
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