Physical changes in girls and boys

Between the ages of 10 and 14 most boys and girls begin to notice changes taking place in their bodies. These changes which take place over a number of years also include emotional changes are known as Puberty.

The changes take place in all boys and girls but they start at different times. Generally, the changes start later for boys than girls. In some people they start before the age of 10 while other people only starts to change after the age of 14. The changes also take place at different rate in different people.

The some people all the changes take place in 2 years. In other people they can take as long as 4 years. Puberty starts when extra amount of chemicals called hormones start to be produced in the body. These hormones guide the changes that take place in the body. As well as causing physical changes, these hormones also cause emotional changes to occur.

Physical Changes taking Place in the girls are as follow:

A girl’s breast start to grow and her hips get rounder. Hair starts growing under her arms. Hair also known as pubic hair, starts growing between her legs. She also starts to have periods.

When a girl has her period then a small amount of bleeding that a few spoonfuls takes place from her vagina. The vagina is a small opening that girls have between their legs. The bleeding will last for a few days and usually happens every month. This bleeding is sometimes referred to as menstruation and it is not something to be scared of.

Some girls get a white strain in their panties before they have had their first period and this means their fist period may begin soon. Many girls have their first period between the ages of 11 and 14. But some girls will start as early as 8, while the others may be as late as 17.

Once a girl has had her period a few times she may notice that her body or mood changes slightly beforehand. For Eg her breast may feel sore or become larger. She may get spots on her face. But no one can tell if a girl has her period just by looking at her.

When a girl has her period then she can either use sanitary towels or tampons to soak up the blood. Most girls start by using sanitary towels. Sanitary towels are thing pads made of soft cotton like material. The are worn by a girl inside her panties. Most towels have a sticky strip on them that sticks the pad to the inside of the girl’s panties.

A sanitary towel should be changed every few hours during the day, even if the flow of blood is not very great. A sanitary towel can be used overnight without changing. Tampons should be changed several times a day and a tampon should not be overnight.

Some girls feel uncomfortable or have cramp like pain when they have periods. For some girls the pain can be severe. But usually the pain is not very bad and does not last very long. When a girl has her period she can do the things she normally does including having a bath or shower.

Washing the vaginal are daily helps prevent infections developing. There is not set time when a girl needs to start wearing a bra and some girls go through life never wearing one. Girls who wear a bra usually do so because they feel more comfortable wearing one.

Some girls wear a bra only when they are doing sports; others wear one all the time except when sleeping. Bras are made with different breast sizes. Some girls find that their breasts start to tingle or itch whilst they grow. But these feelings stop when the breast stops growing.