Question
A 7-year and 10-month-old girl has a bone age assessment result of 10 years and 8 months, causing concern among her parents. The questions raised by the parents include: 1. Can bone age measurement produce errors due to different assessors? 2. Can long-term piano playing, especially exercises that cause finger deformation and excessive stretching, affect bone age?
Answer
Hello, regarding the consistency of bone age measurement, the determination of skeletal age is through X-ray measurement to observe the maturation markers of bones and follows a set of common standards. Therefore, generally speaking, there should not be too much difference in the assessment among doctors. As for the impact of playing the piano on bone age, the effect of excessive exercise on human growth hormone secretion is relatively small. However, in modern society, the diet may contain various components that can lead to hormone or excessive hormone secretion.