Neonjfl
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DISCLAIMER: I USED CHATGPT FOR FORMATTING AND GRAMMAR (ESL)
I've seen a lot of conflicting claims on here about when clavicles actually stop growing.
A new 2026 study gives us some useful data on this.
The paper is:
The researchers analyzed chest X-rays from an Italian population aged 10–30 years. They initially had 743 radiographs and, after exclusions, ended up with:
So the population averages were:
16–18 → 19–21: +2 mm
19–21 → 22–25: +1 mm
22–25 → 26–30: +0 mm
The obvious takeaway is that the vast majority of clavicular length growth has already happened by the late teens.
The researchers themselves describe clavicle length as reaching a plateau after adolescence, with male values stabilizing at around 17 cm.
Stage 1: 13.8 years
Stage 2: 15.8 years
Stage 3: 17.9 years
Stage 4: 20.8 years
Stage 5: 24.6 years
So in males the clavicles are often still going through epiphyseal maturation well into the mid-20s (water) even though their actual longitudinal growth has already slowed to almost nothing.
I've seen a lot of conflicting claims on here about when clavicles actually stop growing.
A new 2026 study gives us some useful data on this.
The paper is:
The researchers analyzed chest X-rays from an Italian population aged 10–30 years. They initially had 743 radiographs and, after exclusions, ended up with:
- 666 subjects
- 449 males
- 217 females
Male clavicle length by age
This is probably the most relevant part for framemaxxing:| Age | Mean male clavicle length |
|---|---|
| 10–12 | 14.1 ± 1.0 cm |
| 13–15 | 15.6 ± 0.9 cm |
| 16–18 | 16.8 ± 0.8 cm |
| 19–21 | 17.0 ± 0.7 cm |
| 22–25 | 17.1 ± 0.6 cm |
| 26–30 | 17.1 ± 0.5 cm |
So the population averages were:
16–18 → 19–21: +2 mm
19–21 → 22–25: +1 mm
22–25 → 26–30: +0 mm
The obvious takeaway is that the vast majority of clavicular length growth has already happened by the late teens.
The researchers themselves describe clavicle length as reaching a plateau after adolescence, with male values stabilizing at around 17 cm.
They also looked at medial clavicular epiphysis ossification
Mean ages in males were:Stage 1: 13.8 years
Stage 2: 15.8 years
Stage 3: 17.9 years
Stage 4: 20.8 years
Stage 5: 24.6 years
So in males the clavicles are often still going through epiphyseal maturation well into the mid-20s (water) even though their actual longitudinal growth has already slowed to almost nothing.
Study limitations
1. The study was cross-sectional
It compared different people in each age group instead of following the same people over time. That's important because natural variation in clavicle size is huge. For example, males aged 19–21 had an SD of 0.7 cm, meaning individual differences between people are much larger than the 1 mm difference between the 19–21 and 22–25 group averages.2. The age brackets are broad
The groups were 19–21 and 22–25, so the study doesn't give year-by-year growth values from ages 19 to 25.
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