No. Do steroids make you taller is a common question, but anabolic steroids do not increase height. In adults, height cannot increase because the bones have stopped growing in length. In teenagers who are still growing, anabolic steroid use can actually cause growth to stop early, which may result in a shorter adult height.
This article explains how height growth works, why anabolic steroids can stunt growth in teenagers, how growth hormone and corticosteroids differ, and what actually determines how tall a person becomes.
How does height growth work?
Bones grow in length at growth plates, layers of cartilage near the ends of the long bones. During childhood and adolescence, cells in the growth plates multiply and are gradually replaced by bone, making the bones longer.
Toward the end of puberty, the growth plates close as the cartilage is fully replaced by bone. Once this happens, the bones can no longer grow in length, and adult height is reached. In most people, this occurs in the late teens, although the timing varies.
Why can’t steroids make adults taller?
Once the growth plates have closed, no hormone or drug can make the long bones grow longer again. This is why anabolic steroids, growth hormone, and other substances cannot increase height in adults whose growth has finished.
Anabolic steroids can increase muscle size, which can change how a person looks, but they do not change skeletal height.
Can steroids stunt growth in teenagers?
Yes. This is the main risk anabolic steroids pose to height.
How steroids close growth plates early
During puberty, rising sex hormones first speed up growth, causing the adolescent growth spurt, and then bring growth to an end by closing the growth plates. In both males and females, the hormone mainly responsible for closing the growth plates is estrogen. In males, much of this estrogen is made from testosterone by the aromatase enzyme.
The importance of estrogen was demonstrated by the case of a man with a genetic defect that made his body unresponsive to estrogen. Despite normal or high testosterone levels, his growth plates remained open, and he continued to grow into adulthood (Smith et al., 1994).
What this means for teenage steroid use
When a teenager whose growth plates are still open uses anabolic steroids, the extra androgens, and the estrogen produced from them, can speed up the closure of the growth plates. This may cause a temporary burst of growth followed by an early end to growing, potentially leaving the person shorter than they would otherwise have been.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) lists stunted growth as a potential consequence of anabolic steroid use in adolescents. Because this effect is permanent, it is one of the most important reasons anabolic steroid use is particularly risky for young people.
Steroid use among teenagers is not rare. In 2024, the Monitoring the Future survey found that 1.4% of eighth graders and 1.2% of tenth and twelfth graders reported using steroids (DEA, 2025).
What about medical uses in children?
Doctors occasionally prescribe sex hormones or anabolic steroids to children and teenagers for specific medical conditions, under close supervision and with regular monitoring of bone age.
For example, short courses of testosterone are sometimes used in boys with significantly delayed puberty. This can bring forward the growth spurt, but it is not intended to increase final adult height. In girls with Turner syndrome, a genetic condition associated with short stature, a randomized trial found that a low dose of oxandrolone added to growth hormone treatment modestly increased final height (Gault et al., 2011).
These treatments involve specific diagnoses, carefully chosen doses, and monitoring of growth plate maturation. They do not mean that steroids increase height in healthy young people, and the results cannot be applied to non-medical use.
Is growth hormone the same as steroids?
No. Human growth hormone (HGH) is a different hormone from anabolic steroids and is sometimes confused with them in discussions about height.
Growth hormone is used medically to increase growth in children with growth hormone deficiency and certain other conditions, while their growth plates are still open. Like steroids, it cannot make adults taller after the growth plates have closed. Our article on whether HGH frag 176-191 is the same as HGH explains more about growth hormone and products marketed using its name.
Do corticosteroids affect height?
Corticosteroids, such as prednisone or inhaled asthma medications, are a different class of steroids. They are not anabolic steroids and are not used to build muscle.
Long-term use of corticosteroids in childhood can slow growth. A long-term follow-up of children with asthma found that those who used an inhaled corticosteroid daily had an adult height about 1.2 cm lower, on average, than those who received a placebo (Kelly et al., 2012).
However, for children who need these medications, the benefits of controlling conditions such as asthma usually outweigh this small effect. Parents should not stop or reduce a child’s prescribed medication without speaking to their doctor. Our guide to the key facts about steroids explains the difference between corticosteroids and anabolic steroids.
What actually determines height?
Genetics
Genetics is the strongest influence on height. Hundreds of genetic variants contribute to a person’s height, which is why height tends to run in families.
Nutrition and health during childhood
Adequate nutrition during childhood and adolescence, including enough energy, protein, and micronutrients, is needed to reach genetic height potential. Chronic illness, untreated hormone conditions, and long-term undernutrition can all limit growth.
Sleep and hormones
Growth hormone is released in pulses, with much of it during deep sleep. Hormonal conditions that affect growth, such as growth hormone deficiency or thyroid disorders, can be diagnosed and treated by a doctor.
Once the growth plates have closed, none of these factors can increase height further. Anyone concerned about a child’s growth should speak with a pediatrician, who can assess growth patterns and, if necessary, check bone age.
Why does the myth persist?
The belief that steroids make people taller may come from seeing tall, muscular athletes and assuming their size reflects drug use, or from confusion between anabolic steroids, growth hormone, and the medical use of hormones in children with growth disorders. Our article on common steroid misconceptions examines other widespread myths about steroids.
The bottom line
Do steroids make you taller? No. Anabolic steroids cannot increase height in adults, because the growth plates have already closed. In teenagers who are still growing, anabolic steroid use can close the growth plates early and permanently stunt growth.
Height is determined mainly by genetics, along with nutrition and health during childhood. Medical hormone treatments for specific growth conditions are carefully supervised and cannot be compared with non-medical steroid use. Anyone concerned about growth, their own or a child’s, should speak with a qualified healthcare professional.
References
Drug Enforcement Administration. Anabolic steroids: drug fact sheet. DEA Diversion Control Division. Accessed October 2026.
Gault EJ, Perry RJ, Cole TJ, et al. Effect of oxandrolone and timing of pubertal induction on final height in Turner’s syndrome: randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial. BMJ. 2011;342:d1980.
Kelly HW, Sternberg AL, Lescher R, et al. Effect of inhaled glucocorticoids in childhood on adult height. New England Journal of Medicine. 2012;367(10):904–912.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. Anabolic steroids DrugFacts. National Institutes of Health. Smith EP, Boyd J, Frank GR, et al. Estrogen resistance caused by a mutation in the estrogen-receptor gene in a man. New England Journal of Medicine. 1994;331(16):1056–1061.
