When you hit puberty, you might feel as if your body and mind have gone into overdrive.
If you can’t decide between declaring your love for your classmate or hiding in your room all day, relax. This is a time of massive change, and it’s normal to have conflicting feelings. Understanding what’s happening will help you cope.
Puberty is the process of your body developing and maturing. Your voice might get deeper, your muscles might get bigger, hair might start to grow everywhere, and you might have itchy balls and uncontrollable erections.
When will I start puberty?
If puberty hasn’t started yet, don’t worry. Most boys begin when they’re around 13 or 14 years old, but some start earlier and some later.
We all grow and change at different rates, and there’s nothing you can do to make it happen sooner or later. Your body will change when it’s ready.
It’s normal to feel confused or worried sometimes. It can help to talk to someone you trust.
What will happen to my body?
There are plenty of signs that puberty has started. Every boy is different, but here are some of the most common changes to look out for:
- Getting taller: your body grows, and it may become more muscular.
- Bigger penis and balls: your testicles and penis grow, and they may feel itchy or uncomfortable.
- Unexpected erections: your body produces more sex hormones, so you might get erections when you least expect them and you’re not thinking about anything sexy. At other times, you might think about sex a lot.
- Spots and sweat: hormones can make you sweaty and spotty, but as long as you have good personal hygiene you can still look and feel healthy.
- Sperm: you start producing sperm, and you may have wet dreams in which you ejaculate (come) while you’re asleep.
- Hair: areas of your body become more hairy, including your armpits, legs, arms, face, chest and around your penis.
- Deeper voice: you might sound croaky for a while, or you might have a high voice one minute and a low voice the next. It will settle down eventually.
- On the inside: you may have mood swings and feel emotional.