How can I tell if I'm done with puberty?

[Brightwolf]

Is there any way to tell, or am I just stuck waiting? I don't have full faicial hair, but now there's a few strands on my cheeks and it's growing faster. I don't have a visible happy-trail (unless I'm wet and even then, it's not that noticeable) and I don't have chest hair, I also don't have a lot of armpit hair, though I actually have a good bit of pubic hair. And, if my feet are any indication, I'm still growing. But I thought guys were done with puberty by 18?

[Doctor.Nothing]

Hmm, I would say that body/facial hair are NOT very good indicators of puberty... different people have different body types, and so some fully mature adults are just not hairy- but that doesn't mean they haven't finished going through puberty!

Also, as far as being done with puberty around 18- that's really just a number. Every guy is different, and you could be going through puberty into your 20s!

As far as indicators on when puberty has completed... unfortunately I don't think there are too many clear black-and-white ones. I think that some sort of emotional stability may be one sign (I don't know about others, but when *I* first began puberty my hormones were all over the place and I was a bit of a wreck :-/ but now I feel much more in control)... but again, that's not really a concrete factor... [Plus, completing puberty is by no means a surefire way of getting your whole life miraculously on track- I just meant that the initial surge of testosterone/hormones becomes less drastic and noticeable]

I'd probably just say go with the flow- your body will know when it's done, and I guess that's good enough? :)

[hairy balls]

hi man don't worry about it you will know when u body tells you

[jamie_n5]

You are definitely at the end of puberty. Things like your beard thickening and chest hair can go on to finish into your low 20's.

[Brightwolf]

You are definitely at the end of puberty. Things like your beard thickening and chest hair can go on to finish into your low 20's.

Yeah I figured that. I just wish I'd grow more.

[ska8er]

Maybe when u quit tripping over
ur feet-in a nicer way not being
clumsy.

[Brightwolf]

Maybe when u quit tripping over
ur feet-in a nicer way not being
clumsy.

I...actually do that a lot.

[rioo]

I've seen people in their 20s with less hair too, so it maybe genetical.
But I've also read advertise something product for growing hair and beard, maybe it can help you.

[Hermes]

I...actually do that a lot.

Regarding the clumsiness your brain has an internal map of your body. Your muscles all have stretch receptors in them and by reading them your brain can tell where the various parts of your body are in space without needing to look at them. With limbs particularly, when they grow quickly that leaves the brain map slightly out of date, i.e. your foot of your hand is not quite in he place your brain thinks it is because your arm or your leg is slightly longer than your brain thinks it is. As such it is a sign you are still growing quickly.

So on that basis I would expect your voice to be either changing or recently changed. The next milestone after that is stopping growing (in height). The body grows outside in, so feet first, then arms and legs, then trunk so the first thing you tend to notice is that your feet have stopped growing and the last thing to stop growing is your trunk, i.e. your backbone growing. Once you have stopped growing in height you may "fill out", i.e. continue to get a bit more muscular.

After that it's just hair, in particular more facial and body hair, like chest/belly. I wouldn't use hair as any kind of milestone, though, as how much you end up with varies a lot from one person to another and I am sure some men continue to get very gradually hairier all though life, i.e. there isn't really an end it just slows down increasing to a pace you would never notice.

[Brightwolf]

Hermes Thanks for the advice, I'm not sure if my voice has changed recently, but I do think I have a high voice for a guy, just not too high so...highish-medium. It cracked a lot a few years ago and it still does on occasion, but not nearly as often as before. One thing I do know is that I haven't begun to fill out yet. Also, I know that my feet have grow cuz I need new shoes. Lol...I really need to go get them, my feet hurt.

[benbeny]

There's Tanner stage to measure your maturity during puberty, when you're stage 5 that means you're basically done. As for hair, maybe that's just genetics.

[Hermes]

There's Tanner stage to measure your maturity during puberty, when you're stage 5 that means you're basically done. As for hair, maybe that's just genetics.

I guess it depends on what you mean by having finished puberty. From Wikipedia:

Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction.

Looking at the tanner scale, particular the bit to do with genital size, it would seem to be a good measure of the last bit - the capability of sexual reproduction. You'd expect testicular size, in any particular individual, to be related to sperm production so presumably tanner stage five also equates to "sperm production up to adult level". There was also a study, Polish if I remember correctly, that found this was typically about two years after starting to ejaculate, in case people don't feel like trying to measure their testicular volume (how do they do that?).

On the other hand if by adult you mean fully grown then it seems to me someone could be classified as stage five without being fully grown.

It also seems to me the tanner scale is much more useful for putting people into pigeon holes than it is for someone actually going through puberty because of all the aspects of puberty it does not address.

[alohakanaka808]

Most guys continue puberty until they're around 22

[benbeny]

I guess it depends on what you mean by having finished puberty. From Wikipedia:

Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction.

Looking at the tanner scale, particular the bit to do with genital size, it would seem to be a good measure of the last bit - the capability of sexual reproduction. You'd expect testicular size, in any particular individual, to be related to sperm production so presumably tanner stage five also equates to "sperm production up to adult level". There was also a study, Polish if I remember correctly, that found this was typically about two years after starting to ejaculate, in case people don't feel like trying to measure their testicular volume (how do they do that?).

On the other hand if by adult you mean fully grown then it seems to me someone could be classified as stage five without being fully grown.

It also seems to me the tanner scale is much more useful for putting people into pigeon holes than it is for someone actually going through puberty because of all the aspects of puberty it does not address.

I agree, but clinician needs a standardized criteria to determine puberty, so that's when Tanner staging comes handy. Of course you need to look at growth curve (CDC or WHO), mental age status etc. but every bit helps to determine what kind of disease you face. At least it helps.
Orchidometer is the balls used to measure the size of your balls, by the way.

[Hermes]

Orchidometer is the balls used to measure the size of your balls, by the way.

I am wondering if I read that correctly. Is this a device, a bit like calipers or a micrometer, that gives a reading directly or is it a set of reference plastic balls of known volume and the physician has to work out which is the best match for the patient and then note the volume for that reference ball?

[benbeny]

I am wondering if I read that correctly. Is this a device, a bit like calipers or a micrometer, that gives a reading directly or is it a set of reference plastic balls of known volume and the physician has to work out which is the best match for the patient and then note the volume for that reference ball?

Hahaha no, the andrologist will compare the standardized balls to your testicle and note the size there. No need to use calipers or something that difficult, just comparing balls to balls... If you need more accurate volume measurement, there's ultrasound, but as a screening tool, orchidometer is more than adequate and can be done bedside.