Yes, a 16-year-old can take growth hormone, but only with a prescription for a diagnosed medical condition. Growth hormone is not available over the counter, and no doctor will prescribe it simply because you want to be taller. At 16, your growth plates are still open, which means your bones are still capable of growing, but whether treatment makes sense depends entirely on why you’re short and how much growing time you have left.
Why Age 16 Still Leaves Room to Grow
Your height increases because of growth plates, which are bands of cartilage near the ends of your long bones. As long as these plates remain open, your bones can lengthen. Once they harden and fuse, growth stops permanently.
In males, the growth plates at the knee begin fully closing around age 17 to 18, with 100% fusion by 21 to 22. In females, that process starts about two years earlier, with knee plates beginning to close around 16 to 17 and finishing by 20 to 21. The forearm bones follow a similar pattern, closing earlier in females than in males. So a 16-year-old male typically has several years of potential growth remaining, while a 16-year-old female is closer to the end of that window.
This is exactly why timing matters. Growth hormone can only increase height while the plates are still open. Starting at 16 means less treatment time and, potentially, a smaller height gain than starting at 12.
Conditions That Qualify for Treatment
There are eight FDA-approved reasons to prescribe growth hormone to children and adolescents. The most common is growth hormone deficiency, where your pituitary gland doesn’t produce enough of the hormone on its own. The others include Turner syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, Noonan syndrome, a specific gene deficiency called SHOX haploinsufficiency, chronic kidney disease, being born small for gestational age without catching up, and idiopathic short stature.
Idiopathic short stature is the category that catches most people’s attention. It basically means you’re significantly shorter than your peers (typically below the 1.2nd percentile for your age and sex) with no identifiable medical cause. Some doctors will prescribe growth hormone in these cases, though the decision is more controversial and insurance coverage is less reliable.
If you’re short but within the normal range for your family’s height, you’re unlikely to qualify for treatment under any of these categories.
How Doctors Determine If You’re a Candidate
The process starts with a bone age assessment. A doctor orders an X-ray of your left hand and wrist, then compares the development of those bones to standard references. This tells them your skeletal maturity, which can be ahead of, behind, or right on track with your actual age. A 16-year-old with a bone age of 13, for example, has more growing time left than one whose bone age matches their calendar age.
Bone age also helps predict your final adult height. If your bones are already nearly mature, growth hormone treatment won’t add much because there’s simply not enough time left for it to work.
Next comes blood work. Since growth hormone levels fluctuate throughout the day, doctors measure a related hormone called IGF-1, which stays more stable and reflects your overall growth hormone activity. If IGF-1 is low, you’ll likely undergo a stimulation test: you’re given a substance that should trigger your pituitary gland to release growth hormone, and blood is drawn at intervals to see how your body responds. If your levels don’t rise above a certain threshold, that confirms a deficiency.
Doctors also look at your growth pattern over time. A child who has been consistently growing along the 5th percentile is different from one who was at the 50th and then dropped. A sudden slowdown is more suggestive of a treatable problem.
How Much Height Growth Hormone Actually Adds
The gains depend heavily on the diagnosis, when treatment starts, and how long it lasts. For children with idiopathic short stature treated over several years (starting between ages 5 and 16), studies show an average adult height benefit of about 9.5 cm (roughly 3.7 inches) for males and 8.6 cm (about 3.4 inches) for females compared to untreated peers. In ideal cases, such as a male with delayed puberty treated for about 3.5 years, the gain can reach as high as 16 cm (over 6 inches).
Those numbers come from treatment courses that often began well before age 16. Starting at 16 gives you less time, which generally means a smaller gain. A male with a delayed bone age might still benefit meaningfully, but a female whose plates are already closing may see only a modest increase. Your endocrinologist can give you a more realistic estimate based on your specific bone age and growth trajectory.
Side Effects and Risks
Growth hormone therapy is generally considered safe when prescribed and monitored by a specialist, but it’s not without risks. The most relevant ones for teenagers include:
- Joint and muscle pain: Mild aches are common, especially early in treatment.
- Scoliosis progression: Fast-growing adolescents on growth hormone need regular orthopedic checks because existing spinal curvature can worsen during rapid growth.
- Blood sugar changes: Growth hormone can reduce insulin sensitivity, so doctors monitor glucose levels periodically, especially in teens who are overweight.
- Slipped growth plate in the hip: A rare but serious condition where the top of the thighbone shifts out of position. Hip or knee pain during treatment should be reported immediately.
- Sleep-disordered breathing: Occasionally reported during treatment, particularly in certain conditions like Prader-Willi syndrome.
Treatment involves daily injections (or weekly, with newer formulations) that you typically give yourself at home using a pen-style device. Most teens adjust to the routine within a few weeks.
What It Costs
Growth hormone therapy is expensive. Annual costs range from roughly $4,500 to over $14,000 depending on the specific product and dose, and those figures are based on an average weight much lower than a typical 16-year-old’s. For a teenager weighing 55 to 70 kg, the actual yearly cost can be significantly higher.
Insurance will often cover treatment for documented growth hormone deficiency but may push back on idiopathic short stature. Expect to provide detailed records of growth history, blood work, stimulation test results, and bone age imaging before approval. Some families go through multiple appeals before getting coverage.
What About Buying It Without a Prescription
Growth hormone sold online without a prescription is either illegal, counterfeit, or both. In the United States, distributing growth hormone for non-medical purposes is a federal offense. Products marketed as “HGH boosters” or “growth hormone releasers” in supplement form contain amino acids or herbal blends with no proven ability to increase height.
Taking real growth hormone without medical supervision carries additional dangers. Without blood work and bone age monitoring, you have no way to know if the dose is appropriate, whether your growth plates are even still open, or whether side effects are developing. Self-treating is not a shortcut to getting taller. It’s a way to spend a lot of money on something that might not work and could cause harm.
Your Realistic Next Step
If you’re 16 and concerned about your height, the most productive thing you can do is see a pediatric endocrinologist. They’ll assess your bone age, check your hormone levels, and tell you how much natural growth you likely have left. In many cases, teens who feel short at 16 still have years of growth ahead, especially males with a family pattern of late puberty. Sometimes the answer isn’t a hormone injection; it’s patience and the reassurance that your body is on its own timeline.