For most people, no. Growth plates — the cartilage at the ends of long bones that allow them to lengthen — typically finish fusing by around 18 in females and 19 in males. Once fused, that bone can’t lengthen further, whatever diet, exercise or supplements are tried. A minority, especially some males, may have plates open a little longer, into the early-to-mid 20s.
Why growth stops: growth plates
Long bones, like those in the legs, lengthen from growth plates (epiphyseal plates) near each end. These are bands of cartilage, not solid bone, which is what lets them keep adding length during childhood and adolescence.
Puberty hormones eventually trigger these plates to fuse. The cartilage is replaced by solid bone, leaving what’s known as an epiphyseal line. Once that happens, the bone is finished lengthening, permanently.
When does fusion typically finish?
Timing differs by sex, and it isn’t instant across the whole skeleton. In females, complete growth-plate fusion can begin as early as age 12, and virtually all females are fully fused by 18. In males, complete fusion can begin as early as 14, and virtually all males are fully fused by 19.
That means the large majority of people have stopped growing taller, in the bone-lengthening sense, by their late teens. It’s also why mid-parental prediction methods, like the calculator below, are most useful before this point — they estimate an endpoint that fusion then locks in.
Estimated adult height
177.5 cm
Likely range 169 cm to 186 cm.
A population-level estimate (the mid-parental method), not a medical prediction. It knows nothing about this specific child's own growth.
See the predicted height on the boardFor a father at 178cm and mother at 164cm, expecting a boy, the mid-parental formula gives a predicted adult height of about 177.5cm, with a likely range of roughly 169-186cm. Once growth plates fuse, whatever height a person has actually reached is their adult height — the predictor estimates that outcome in advance; it doesn’t offer a route past it.
| Name | Height |
|---|---|
| Father | 178 cm |
| Mother | 164 cm |
| Predicted adult son | 177.5 cm |
So can anyone still grow after 18?
A small minority, yes, to a modest degree. Fusion ages are typical ranges, not a hard cut-off applied to everyone on the same date. Some people, especially some males, may have growth plates that haven’t fully closed until the early-to-mid 20s, so a limited amount of further growth is biologically possible for them.
This isn’t something to bank on, though, and there’s no reliable way to check it without a clinical assessment. For the large majority of adults, by their late teens or early twenties, growth plates have already fused, and further bone lengthening isn’t happening regardless of lifestyle.
What looks like growth but isn’t
Posture and spinal decompression can create the illusion of being a little taller at different points in the day. Measuring first thing in the morning, or right after stretching, can add a few millimetres up to roughly 1-2cm compared with an evening measurement.
This isn’t new bone growth. It’s the spine’s discs decompressing slightly after time spent lying down, reversing the gradual compression that builds up while sitting or standing. This site’s own article on why you’re shorter in the evening covers this pattern in more detail, with the same underlying mechanism.
Better posture can also make someone look taller without any change in skeletal height at all, simply by reducing slouching. Useful for how a person carries themselves, genuinely not the same thing as gaining height.
Do “grow taller after 18” products work?
Be sceptical of any product or programme that claims it can increase adult height once growth plates have fused. The biology described above doesn’t leave room for it: diet, exercise, sleep, stretching, supplements and devices like inversion tables don’t reopen a fused growth plate.
Mainstream overviews of the evidence, including Healthline’s summary cited below, reach the same conclusion. None of this is to say general exercise, good sleep and good nutrition aren’t worthwhile for other reasons. They simply don’t add adult height once growth is complete.
Where medical treatment is a separate question
Medical conditions or treatments, such as growth hormone therapy for someone who hasn’t yet finished growing, are a genuine clinical matter. They’re decided with a doctor, based on an individual’s specific situation, not something a general consumer article can responsibly advise on.
This is general information, not medical advice. If you have a specific concern about growth or height, whether for yourself or a child, a GP is the right person to ask.
Method and sources
The biology of growth-plate fusion, including the typical age ranges by sex, is drawn from Wikipedia’s “Epiphyseal plate” article and the NIH/PMC review “Pubertal growth and epiphyseal fusion”, both cited below. Healthline’s consumer-facing overview is cited as a mainstream, broadly reliable summary reaching the same conclusion on commercial height-increase claims.
The worked mid-parental example uses this site’s own child height predictor, using the same mid-parental formula documented in this site’s how tall will my child be article.
Try the child height predictor with your own numbers, or open the comparison board to see any height stood next to another. See also why you’re shorter in the evening for the spinal-compression effect mentioned above.
See also: do you get shorter as you get older?