Late Bloomer

LegacyUser

Hello there been on boards a while and everyone seems quite helpful in the PI section so any help would be appreciated.

Basically I'm 20 year old male and I'm an extremely late bloomer physically wise. I look like I'm 15, I have barely any facial hair growth, only a small amount of armpit hair and underdeveloped shoulders. I started puberty when I was about 15 and since then I've developed rather slow, other than being fairly tall (6ft) and having pubic hair around my genitalia I look like a child.
I have a fairly balanced diet and get a fair amount of exercise so I'm not sure what the problem is. Could it be something seriously wrong with me?

This has been very frustrating over the years and has left me with not much confidence in myself. I've been wondering if I should go to the doctor or something?

Thanks

Steyr

Its totally normal, besides do you realise how many guys would kill to have barely any facial hair? Less time shaving which equals less cuts and red skin!:D Dony worry your grand if you want to bulk up i suggest you join a Gym and get into weights!

Anti

I agree with steyr.

But to be safe go to your gp and get your testosterone checked, A cousin of mine is 21 And has the body of a 12 year old, no facial hair at all, underdeveloped genitalia and hardly any pubic hair.

All he has to get is testosterone injections once a month. In the last few months he has come along alot. I doubd this is the case with you though.

And in a few years you will be wishing that by 5pm you dont have horrid stubble

BoozyBabe

My bf's nearly 27.
Takes him about a week to grow a bit of stubble.
My arms & legs are hairier (such a word??) than his are!
He has no chest hair, no back hair.
He has armpit & pubic hair.

& you know what?
He's the sexiest guy alive in my eyes!

So OP, I really wouldn't let it worry you.
Unless you've other reasons to feel you're not developed enough, then I'd say you're pretty normal.

Id say a lot of guys are envious.

dan_y

yeah, hair sucks. I get what you mean about your shoulders though - a visit to the gp never hurt anyone I suppose.

dame

My best friend married a 24 year old guy last summer who looks like a 17 year old and guess what he's really cute and absolutely the nicest guy! Don't worry OP, being young-looking won't put girls off. If it will put yourmind at rest then do go and see the doctor. I had a cousin who looked about 12 until he was 17 (got a lot of slagging) when he suddenly shot up and filled out. Things happen at different times for different people. Most guys seem to go through a tall gangly phase at some stage.

layke

Jaysus, I have a hairy chest and I bloody hate it you lucky sod.

little lady

I wouldn’t say you have anything to worry about. I went out with a guy in college, we were both about 20 at the time and he didn’t have much facial hair if any. He looked really young but all the girls thought he was really cute. I’m still friends with him now and although he has a more hair than he did at 20 he only needs to shave every second or third day and as far as I can tell most blokes would consider that a blessing.

It also good for the girls when your kissing them, means not stubble trouble.;)

iguana

Look on the brightside. In 40 years time when you look 50 rather than 60 you'll be delighted. I'm not kidding. My family ages really slowly and it annoyed me when I was 20 and still being asked for ID into pubs (though not so much when I was buying kids tickets on buses). But when I look at my 76 year old grandmother running, pushing stalled cars and going dancing 3 times a week I am very happy with my genes.

danyosan

I was the same, dont worry about it. I didnt have to start properly shaving until I was about 22. I always wished I could get a proper face of stubble. I'm now 30, having to shave every 2nd day, and hate it!! Bloody red cheeks after every shave. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Black Swan

The youthful look? Consider yourself lucky! Someday when your mates are sadly looking in the mirror of father time, you will have women still looking at you when they pass you by.

lukegriffen

Go to the doctor, a simple blood test will put your mind at rest.
If you're feeling low in energy or you've weak muscles this may also indicate lack of testosterone.

The fact that you're 6 ft. & have gone through puberty would indicate that you're producing some testosterone, but maybe you're very low in it. Or maybe your pituitary gland stopped producing it at a certain age.

Testosterone is now in gels, so you can just rub it on once a day/week.

Sparky

It's grand OP.

Take advantage of it. I do!

I'm turning 21 and the majority of people would put an age of 17 on me. Yeah it's hassle getting asked ID into pubs etc, but I laugh it off.

I wouldn't worry too much about it OP.

Lamps

I was the same. I was 20 and had the appearence and body of a 14 year old.
Every club or pub i would go to would have people sayin " what age are you" constantly and it really got to me, especially as i got older. I ended up having really low self esteem and confidence so decided to go to a doc and have myself checked out.

He did a blood test and when he got the results he called me in to say i had a really low testosterone level. So he refered me to a specialist.

There i did loads of tests to try and figure out whta the hell was going wrong and why my body wasnt producing test, i also did a bone test and I had the bone age of a 13 year old.

Eventually when they couldnt figure out what was going on, they put me on test injections. I now have to take an injection every 2 weeks. Its a pain in the arse (literally) but it has changed me so dramitically. Ive been taking the injections about a year and id have a good beard if i let it grow, stomach and chest hair, big developed muscles, older appearence etc. Im also a lot more competitve.

Im a much much more happier person know, people who havent gone through it dont relaise what its like to be constanly laughed at cos you look so young, to not be able to compete in sports due to lack of size and mentality, people always saying "your 20 and havent started shaving" etc. And it affected my luck with the women too!

You say your 6foot, being tall is a give away for hypogonadism( i think thats what its called), are your legs much bigger in proportion to the rest of your body? If they are, id take a guess that theres a good chance that you have hypogonadism, but just go to a doc and get your test levels checked.

But its not all good, the injections have to be taken for the rest of your life unless your body starts producing test on its own. Plus it destroys your skin, so be prepared for spots and acne! It also increases your chances of going bald, but ive still got a good head of hair!

Best of luck, PM me if you want more info, i know exactly what your going through, but luckly im past it now. i know everyone here thinks its great, but trust me its not. Having people stare at you cos your in a club or pub and coming over to you and saying "how did you get in here, your only 12", is no fun at all, despite what you lot may think.
I look like im in my 20's (Im 23) but still look young and "cute", but wouldnt really get stopped for ID anymore, but still do sometimes but it doesnt bother me at all anymore

Sangre

I'm 21 and have sfa facial hair. Most girls arms are hairer then mine. If you get slagged just counter with a 'shut up you hairy backed, gorilla freak'.

funnily i've never had trouble getting in places.

MrMatisse

i looked so young that when i started at ucd i had the whole 'Oh my gawd you have so loike not done your leaving yet'(It was ucd after all) folllowed by laughs. I didnt have a great time there as i lost all my confidence and had really low self esteem. I never went to clubs with my mates and made up stupid excuses not to go as i was sure they wouldnt let me in and id ruin my mates night out as then they probably would not head in and leave me outside.
Basically the whole lookin mad young thing got on top of me and i was absolutley miserable from age 18 until recently.
im around the same age as you now and would urge you not to worry about it. i used to feel really low sometimes because of it but all of a sudden just stopped caring about it and never felt better.
Some girls really like the cute look.

Dalfiatach

I'm 33 and only shave every 3 days or so. And I was, oh, about 25, 26 before my chest and shoulders filled out. Up till then I was always getting asked for ID too.

The only "negative" comments I ever got were from other fellas. The girls generally think it's great that I look younger than my age and won't be giving them beard rash In my experience at least, the majority of girls prefer a smooth chest too.

If it's really bothering you, go get the testosterone level checked. But some of us just naturally age slowly and don't fully develop till mid/late 20s, plenty of men have very little facial hair, and some fellas will always be skinny and gangly. I wouldn't mess with anything just yet. Chill for another 5 years, then start to worry about it if there's no change. Especially if all yer equipment seems to be in working order.

Lamps

Dalfiatach wrote:

If it's really bothering you, go get the testosterone level checked. But some of us just naturally age slowly and don't fully develop till mid/late 20s, plenty of men have very little facial hair, and some fellas will always be skinny and gangly. I wouldn't mess with anything just yet. Chill for another 5 years, then start to worry about it if there's no change. Especially if all yer equipment seems to be in working order.

Why chill for another 5 years and have to put up with being constantly refered to and losing your confidence? Have your test levels checked, if their fine well fair enough, you'll just ahve to wait around a few years. But they could be really low and soemthing could be wrong and no amount of time is going to make you look older.
the specialist will do you lots of tests on you, they can usually find out whats gone wrong (this is presuming its low test levels) and put you right without lots of injections. But if you need the injections you just have to take them, otherwise you will never go through puberty, your bones will never develop and you run the risk of lots of other physical problems.

So just get your levels checked, it can do no harm!