Puberty 101 For boys

More Than a Funny Word Puberty is the time when bodies begin to change.. It can take several years, and usually happens between the ages of 9 and 17. Girls often start puberty before boys do.

TIME TO CHANGE – IT’S ALL ABOUT THE HORMONES As part of the endocrine system, glands manufacture hormones. Hormones are special chemicals your body makes to help it do certain things. Hormones are chemicals that carry messages from glands to cells within tissues or organs in the body.

TIME TO CHANGE – IT’S ALL ABOUT THE HORMONES When your body reaches a certain age, your brain releases a special hormone that starts the changes of puberty. It's called gonadotropin-releasing hormone, or GnRH for short.

HORMONES When GnRH reaches the pituitary gland (a pea- shaped gland that sits just under the brain), it causes it to release two more puberty hormones into the bloodstream: luteinizing hormone (LH for short) and follicle- stimulating hormone (FSH for short).

HORMONES For guys, these hormones travel through the blood and give the testes the signal to begin the production of testosterone and sperm. Testosterone is the hormone that causes most of the changes in a guy's body during puberty.

HORMONES In girls, FSH and LH target the ovaries, which contain eggs that have been there since birth. The hormones stimulate the ovaries to begin producing another hormone called estrogen. Estrogen, along with FSH and LH, causes a girl's body to mature.

IT DOESN’T HURT…..IT’S JUST A GROWTH SPURT "Spurt" is the word used to describe a short burst of activity, something that happens in a hurry. And a growth spurt is just that: Your body is growing, and it's happening really fast!

TAKING SHAPE Guys' shoulders will grow wider, and their bodies will become more muscular. Their voices will become deeper. Guys will notice other changes, too, like the lengthening and widening of the penis and the enlargement of the testes. All of these changes are normal during puberty.

TAKING SHAPE Another area that grows during puberty is the larynx (say: LAIR-inks) or voice box, in the throat. This larger larynx gives both boys and girls a deeper voice. When the larynx grows larger during puberty, sometimes it sticks out at the front of the throat.

TAKING SHAPE With all this growing and developing going on, many teens notice an increase in body fat.

TAKING SHAPE

About Face One of the first changes that comes with puberty is acne, or pimples.

What Can I Do About Acne? Wash your face once or twice a day with warm water and a mild soap or cleanser. Don't scrub your face. Scrubbing can actually make acne worse by irritating the skin. Wash gently, using your hands instead of a washcloth. If you wear sunscreen, make sure it is "oil-free,"

What Can I Do About Acne? If you use hair sprays or gels, try to keep them away from your face because they can clog pores. Baseball caps and other hats can cause pimples along the hairline. Avoid them if you think they are worsening your acne. Wash your face after you've been exercising and sweating a lot. Try not to touch your face. Don't pick, squeeze, or pop pimples.

Hair, Hair, Everywhere Guys and girls both begin to grow hair under their arms and in their pubic areas (on and around the genitals). It starts out looking light and sparse. Then as you go through puberty, it becomes longer, thicker, heavier, and darker. Eventually, guys also start to grow hair on their faces

SWEAT AND BODY ODOR Sweat , also known as perspiration, is made almost completely of water, with tiny amounts of other chemicals like ammonia, urea, salts, and sugar. Sweat is made in sweat glands – Eccrine & Apocrine glands Sweat cools you through evaporation

Putting the P.U. in Puberty

So fresh and so clean

Putting the scent in adolescent

Male reproductive anatomy

erections An erection is what happens when a penis fills up with blood and hardens. The penis will become bigger and stand out from the body. Boys will start to notice erections occurring more often when they reach puberty.

Ejaculation, Semen and Sperm During the process of ejaculation, sperm passes through the ejaculatory ducts and mixes with fluids from the seminal vesicles, the prostate, and the bulbourethral glands to form the semen.

Sperm Men produce an average of 525 billion in a lifetime There are approximately 200- to 500-million sperm in a single ejaculation

Talk to a trusted adult

Use your resources