Re: Does skull growth slow down rapidly after puberty?

Hi Erich,

The answer to your question may come as a bit of a surprise. The bones in 
your skull are actually quite different from the other bones in your 
body. 

The part of our skull that encases our brain already achieves 63% of its 
mature size by the time we are born. When a person reaches his/her first 
birthday, the skull has taken on 88% of its mature size. And by the time 
you turn 10 years old, the skull has achieved 95% of its full size. From 
then on, it grows at a very slow rate and it reaches its full size by 
your mid 20's. So by the age of 17, you ought not expect much more skull 
growth. 

As for your skeletal frame, there could quite possibly still be a bit of 
room for growth. The biggest growth occurs during your puberty "growth 
spurt", which lasts 1-2 years. Some males go through this growth 
spurt early on in puberty while others may only go through it at the age 
of 17-18.

If you follow this link, you will find a graph of growthcurves in 
teenagers. As you will see, the amount of growing drastically reduces by 
the ages of 17 and 18. 

Growth Curve  

Whether or not you can expect much more skeletal growth really depends on 
your genes and to some extent on your environment. The best way to judge 
is to take a look at you mother, father and/or siblings. After all, you 
share their DNA and it might be hint of how tall you can expect to get. 

I hope this answers your question :-)

Cheers,
Sarah