When it comes to children, their physical growth is one of the biggest concerns for parents. By physical growth we mean the increase in children's height, weight and other bodily changes that occur as they mature. But many parents are particularly concerned about their children's height growth, wondering if their child's too short, whether they'll grow any further and/or the maximum height they can reach.
Dr Nihar Parekh, a pediatrician, takes to Instagram to provide one effective way to find out.
X-Ray for bone age
An X-Ray for bone age or a bone age study is a tool that doctors use to estimate the maturity of a child's skeletal system.
According to Dr Parekh, with a very little exposure to radiation once, parents can determine whether their children's height growth is normal or not.
He says, "A simple X-Ray is taken - just once - of the left wrist, hand and the fingers. It's called X-Ray for bone age. That X-Ray is compared to the standard templates that the radiologists have and they give you a report that the X-Ray shows a bone age of an X number."
How to calculate?
Once you have received your child's X-Ray report, here's how you can proceed with the calculations.
"Take your child's age, if the bone age is within or less than two years of your child's age, you don't have anything to worry," says Dr. Parekh. This means that your child's skeleton is still not grown, has enough potential to grow, and there is nothing medically wrong for your child requiring an additional growth hormone.
"But if the difference between the bone age and your child's actual age is more than 2 years, that's when you know there is a medical issue and you need to address it to your pediatrician or an endocrinologist today," warns the pediatrician.
Other benefits
"This X-Ray for bone age will also help you know when is my child's puberty gonna set in, what is my child's maximum height that can be attained," says the doctor.
"So this is an extremely extremely useful tool. It's highly under-spoken of. But it works brilliantly, puts all your tensions to an end," he adds.
