Puberty: body changes

After a long holiday, Leon and his classmates are back at school today. Leon is no longer amongst the tallest in his class. In fact he’s one of the shortest! Adam! Is that fluff on your upper lip?!

Um, yeah... Your voice! And why is your face so red Eva? What’s going on with everyone? Ugh none of your business Leon!

To Leon, it seems as if all his classmates changed overnight, and he got left behind somehow. But Leon you have been changing recently too! You are growing, even if not as fast as your classmates. And while you don’t have a moustache, like Adam does, you do have other changes taking place. But why is all this happening?

If you are a teenager, like Leon, you might have questions too. These changes actually start in your brain! At some point, usually between the ages of 10 and 14, your brain starts sending out chemical messengers — hormones — to different parts of your body. If you have a penis, like Adam, the sac that hangs under the penis holds two egg-shaped testicles. Hormones from the brain travel to the testicles and cause them to start producing sperm and another hormone, called testosterone.

So one of the first changes you might notice is your testicles getting bigger. More testosterone and sperm production mean you might have involuntary ejaculations of semen when you sleep, or “wet dreams”. You might experience involuntary erections too — they can happen any time, even if you don’t want them to. Both erections and involuntary ejaculations are a normal part of growing up, and nothing to feel worried about! Hormones trigger hair growth around your penis, on your chest and on your face!

You grow taller and your shoulders grow wider. You’ll probably notice your voice is “breaking” — becoming deeper. If you don’t have testicles and a penis, you most likely have ovaries and a vagina instead, like Eva does. In this case, the brain sends hormones to the ovaries, which causes them to start producing another hormone — oestrogen. Ovaries contain immature eggs which have been in your body since you were born.

Oestrogen makes the eggs mature, and triggers other changes in your body. The first change you’ll probably notice is your breasts starting to grow and becoming more tender. You start growing hair in your pubic region, and your hips widen. Some time after these changes start, you’ll probably notice white discharge on your underwear. This is vaginal discharge, and is just another sign of your body changing.

Eventually, you will probably start menstruating as well. There are also some changes common to all teenagers. One of them is that hair starts growing. Not just around the pubic region but also under the armpits. Hair gets darker and thicker on legs and arms too.

You’ll notice that you sweat and smell more, and that sometimes you get spots or acne on your face. All these changes are signs that you are going through puberty — a stage of life when the body develops and matures. But people are unique, so everyone experiences puberty differently. While there are things that happen to everyone, it’s okay if changes happen to you at a different pace than your peers. All these changes can be quite daunting, so if you are worried, talk to an adult you trust — they went through puberty at some time, too!