Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

How can bone age be less than chronological age?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • How can bone age be less than chronological age?

    On the referral letter we got it says that

    "12+7 years of age though her bone age is less than that"

    I understand they are saying that her bones don't match her age but DD keeps asking me how your bones can be younger than you are since you are born with your bones. I don't know what to tell her. I don't get it either how your bones can be younger than you are.

    Is it just because she still has a lot of growth to do or is there something else?

    Anyone know?
    Becky
    Mom to DD (15) with S 48*+ curve
    Had her surgery March 9, 2009

  • #2
    I understand how confusing this is. However, maybe you could explain to her that everyone reaches maturity at a different age. If our bones and hormones and the rest of our body were exactly the same, everyone would reach maturity at the same age, right? It doesn't work that way.

    Some people's bone age is younger than their chronological age for various reasons - hormones, trauma/injury, medical conditions, etc. My Braydon is 11yrs old, but his bone age is younger than 11yrs old. What that means for him is that his bones will take a longer time to reach skeletal maturity than he would if he grew normally. For Braydon, this gives his spine more time to grow as much as possible before needing stabilization surgery.

    The docs can tell approximate bone age by the hips, hands, etc. - places that have growth plates they can measure the growth. Braydon's hips show that he isn't even pre-pre-pubescent yet.

    Good luck.
    Carmell
    mom to Kara, idiopathic scoliosis, Blake 19, GERD and Braydon 14, VACTERL, GERD, DGE, VEPTR #137, thoracic insufficiency, rib anomalies, congenital scoliosis, missing coccyx, fatty filum/TC, anal stenosis, horseshoe kidney, dbl ureter in left kidney, ureterocele, kidney reflux, neurogenic bladder, bilateral hip dysplasia, right leg/foot dyplasia, tibial torsion, clubfoot with 8 toes, pes cavus, single umblilical artery, etc. http://carmellb-ivil.tripod.com/myfamily/

    Comment


    • #3
      Becky,

      For us, my daughter's bone age was older than she was. When she was 13 y.o. her bone age was 14 1/2 y.o.

      Mary Lou
      Mom to Jamie age 21-diagnosed at age 12-spinal fusion 12/7/2004-fused from T3-L2; and Tracy age 19, mild Scoliosis-diagnosed at age 18.

      Comment

      Working...
      X