Myths
- If a boy has not started puberty by age 13, he should see a doctor because there might be something wrong with his endocrine system.
- You can tell whether a girl has begun menstruating by looking at her.
- Girls should not use tampons until they are grown.
- Adolescent and teenage acne is worsened by eating greasy foods.
- Hormones in milk causes puberty in girls to begin earlier than it did in the past. (The average age at menarche (12.8 years) has not fallen in the past 60 years.)
Facts
- Girls may start puberty any time between the ages of 8 and 13.
- Boys generally begin puberty between 10 and 14.
- The pituitary gland, in the brain, tells the body when to begin puberty.
- Boys often have some breast growth during puberty.
- It is common for boys to have nocturnal emissions at puberty, but it is also healthy not to.
- If you started puberty early, your kids might, too.
- A girl's first period is called menarche.
- There is normally a growth spurt at puberty, often with the hands and feet growing larger first, then the arms and legs, then the rest of the body catching up. Not everyone notices this, but it may explain why some people appear to be rather clumsy around puberty, although in general co-ordination is not affected.
- Men usually have deeper voices than women, because their voice boxes (larynx) grow larger.
- The appearance of pubic hair does not necessarily mean that true puberty has started.
- The isolated development of breasts in girls younger than 6 years old without other changes is most likely benign premature thelarche.
- Breast development is the earliest sign of true puberty and may occur in healthy white girls as early as age 7 and even earlier in African American girls.
- Girls with normal early menarche (age 10) will grow an average of 4 inches more.
- Boys who are distressed by pubertal delay may be treated with low doses of testosterone to accelerate growth and pubertal development without affecting their final height.
