Does Testosterone Make You Taller?

Your own testosterone helps power the teen growth spurt, but taking extra testosterone does not make you taller. In teens whose growth plates are still open, outside testosterone and anabolic steroids can make the plates close early and lower adult height. Once the plates have closed, no hormone can add height.

Does testosterone make you taller?

Not in the way people hope. Testosterone is one of the hormones that speeds up growth during puberty, so it's easy to assume more testosterone means more height. The catch is that the same hormones that drive the growth spurt also end it, by closing the growth plates.

That's why teens who hit puberty early often grow taller sooner but stop sooner, while late bloomers often catch up. Total height ends up close to what your genes allow.

How sex hormones drive the growth spurt

During puberty, rising sex hormones ramp up the growth hormone system. Growth hormone output rises about 1.5 to 3 times, and blood levels of IGF-1, a hormone that helps growth plates make new bone, more than triple.

Lab studies suggest testosterone also acts on the growth plate itself, helping the cartilage cells there multiply. For boys, this is what produces the fastest growth of the teen years: CDC growth chart medians show about 3.1 in (7.8 cm) of growth between 13 and 14. Read more in our guide to the growth spurt.

Why estrogen closes growth plates, even in boys

Here's the part most people don't know. In boys, much of the work of closing growth plates is done by estrogen. The body converts some testosterone into estrogen, including inside growth plate cartilage, and estrogen is what pushes the plates to fuse at the end of puberty.

The clearest proof comes from rare medical cases. A 1994 report in the New England Journal of Medicine described a 28-year-old man whose body couldn't respond to estrogen. He had normal testosterone and normal male puberty, yet his growth plates had never fully closed. He was about 6'8" (204 cm) and still growing as an adult.

Can testosterone make you taller? Why extra testosterone backfires

If you're still growing, adding testosterone from outside, whether as a medication or as anabolic steroids, means more hormone available to be converted into estrogen. That can speed up bone maturation and shorten the time your growth plates stay open.

NIDA, part of the NIH, warns that steroid hormone levels in teens can signal the bones to stop growing too early, and lists short stature as a possible result. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says steroids can slow growth in athletes who are still developing, and that steroid use always comes with side effects, some of which may not go away.

Most teens never touch steroids. In a 2022 national survey, 1.3% of 12th graders reported misusing them in the past year. Supplements sold as "testosterone boosters" are a different product, but they aren't a safe shortcut either: the FDA doesn't test supplements for safety or effectiveness before they're sold, and there is no evidence they add height.

Testosterone for delayed puberty: a medical treatment

Some boys start puberty late. Doctors call it delayed puberty when the testicles haven't started to grow by age 14. The most common cause is constitutional delay, a family pattern of late development. These late bloomers usually catch up on their own (see late bloomer signs).

When a boy is very behind or struggling with it, a pediatric endocrinologist may first run tests, then sometimes prescribe a short course of testosterone, often a monthly injection for 4 to 6 months, to kick-start puberty. A 2026 systematic review of 20 studies found that conservative, time-limited courses sped up growth and puberty in the short term without a clinically meaningful effect on near-adult height. The goal is to start puberty on time, not to add height.

This is very different from taking testosterone on your own. Doses, timing and monitoring matter, which is why it's only prescribed after an evaluation.

Getting taller on testosterone: trans men and height

For trans men and transmasculine people, the question is the same as for anyone: are the growth plates still open?

• If growth has finished, as it has for most people assigned female at birth by their mid-teens, testosterone won't increase height. It can change voice, muscle and body hair, but bones can't get longer once the plates have fused.
• If testosterone starts while growth plates are still open, some growth is still possible. A 2023 Dutch study followed 146 trans boys treated with puberty blockers and then testosterone. In the 61 who started early in puberty (around age 12 to 13), adult height averaged about 1.2 in (3 cm) above the height predicted at the start, and those who started at a younger bone age ended further above their prediction. Compared with peers, their height percentile stayed about the same.

These treatments are managed by specialist teams who monitor bone age. If you're curious whether you're still growing, a hand-and-wrist X-ray is the only precise check. Our guide on how to tell if your growth plates are closed explains the signs.

Bottom line: Testosterone can't push you past your genetic height. While you're growing, extra testosterone can cost you height; after you've stopped, it can't add any.

What actually helps you reach your full height

If you're still growing, the things that help are boring but real: 8 to 10 hours of sleep, enough food and protein, regular activity and good posture. Our guide on how to grow taller covers each one. If you're wondering about other hormones, see does HGH make you taller.

When to see a doctor

Talk to a doctor, who may refer you to a pediatric endocrinologist, if:

• You're a boy and your testicles haven't started to grow by 14, or puberty started but isn't complete 5 years later
• You're a girl with no breast development by 13, or no period by 15
• You haven't grown in a year, or you're dropping across percentile lines on the growth chart
• You're much shorter than your parents' heights would suggest
• You've used steroids or "test boosters" and want to stop or are worried about side effects

Doctors aren't there to judge. They can check your bone age, hormone levels and growth pattern and tell you what's really going on.

The takeaway

Testosterone is part of how you grow, but more isn't better. Your body's own hormones already time your growth spurt and the closing of your growth plates. Extra testosterone while you're growing can shorten that window, and after it closes, no hormone can reopen it.