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Girl changes
Teenage years are exciting and challenging.
During puberty everybody has a different body shape and a different time when their body changes. Girls often feel under pressure to have a certain body type or to be thin and beautiful.
It’s important to feel comfortable with your own body and not to worry about the changes (in you or your friends’ bodies) during puberty. For most girls, the biggest change during puberty is getting their first period.
Possible changes:
- Sudden growth from 11 years old.
- You gain some weight.
- Your breasts might grow bigger and feel sensitive sometimes.
- You grow wider hips and a slimmer waist.
- You get your period (menstruation).
- It's normal for your period to be irregular at first. (Regular periods occur about once a month.)
- To get a white discharge from your vagina (another hormonal change)
Here are some questions that often worry teenagers:
What is menstruation?
Menstruation or your period is a monthly bleeding from the vagina. It can begin anytime during puberty and a period can last between two and seven days. Almost every healthy girl will get her period at some point during puberty and it is an important sign that she is becoming a woman. It is caused by the release of an egg from the ovaries and the body’s preparation for pregnancy. If the egg and its protective lining are not used, they leave the body as a period. It's normal to lose around five teaspoons of blood during your period but this usually looks like much more. Period blood is often thick and a reddish brown colour.
Will you get PMS (premenstrual syndrome)?
Many girls have PMS in the days before their period so it’s possible. This is caused by hormone changes and can make you feel bloated, with cramps (stomach pains), irritable, have sore breasts, backache, headache or feel tired. Or you might not have any PMS feelings. A couple of days after your period you start to feel better again. Some girls find that exercise or parecetomol help relieve PMS feelings.
If you suffer from very painful or irregular periods on an ongoing basis, ask your doctor to check for any other health issues that may be causing a problem.
What should you do during your period?
When you get your first period, always talk to an adult for advice. You can use sanitary pads/towels or tampons to soak up the blood. Most people try both and decide which they are more comfortable with. Pads are worn inside your underwear and should be changed several times a day.
Tampons are worn inside the body and need to be changed every 4 hours to prevent the risk of TSS (Toxic Shock Syndrome), a very rare infection. Make sure to read the full instructions in the tampon box before using them. If it is your first period, it's recommended to use the type of tampon with an applicator. Also, eco-friendly alternatives to tampons and pads are becoming more popular. Ask your local health food store if they have them.
Period blood only smells if it comes into contact with the air, so you can prevent this by changing the pad or tampon regularly. The vagina keeps itself clean, so you don’t need to use any sprays or perfumed products – these can cause irritation of the vagina. Wash the area gently with warm water instead.
What do you do about body hair?
It’s normal for body hair to grow more during puberty especially under the arms, on the legs and on the upper lip. What you do about it is your choice. Some people remove the hair and others don’t. If you want to remove the hair you can shave, use hair removal cream, wax or bleaching.
