Changes at Puberty
Puberty In Male
In males the physical changes of puberty usually occurs between the ages of 11 and 14, this is slightly later than that of the females. The main male sex hormone that causes these physical changes is called testosterone.
The effect of this hormone initiate these secondary sex characteristics which are conspicuously seen in the following structure of the males’ body.
Testosterone allow the distribution of hair over the pelvis, upward along the linear alba, on the chest and on the face. More-so it causes the hair over most part of the body to be prolific.
Pubic and abdominal hair:
In most case pubic hair often appears on the males shortly after the genitalia begin to grow. The pubic hairs are usually first visible at the abdominal base of the males penis. This gradually progress until when the hairs are too many to number, and densely fill the “pubic triangle”. Finally, pubic hair spreads to the thighs and upward along the linear alba towards the navel as part of the developing abdominal hair.
Body and facial hair:
In the months and years following the appearance of pubic hair, other areas of the skin that are sensitive to androgen may develop androgenic hair. The usual sequence is: under arm hair, pubic hair, upper lip hair, sideburns, chest hair, and the beard area. As with most human biological processes, this specific order may vary among some individuals. Arm, leg, chest, abdominal, and back hair become heavier and more, gradually. There is a large range in amount of body hair among adult males, and significant differences in timing and quantity of hair growth among different racial groups. Facial hair is often present in late adolescence, but may not appear significantly until later. Facial hair will continue to get coarser, darker and thicker few more years after puberty.
This hormone reduces the rate at which hair grows especially on the head of the male. For some other people it could result in baldness depending on the degree of secretion and responds of receptors of hair growth under the scalp or heredity factor.
The larynx also referred to as Adam’s apple increases in size. Vocal chords become longer and thicker, and the voice begins to break or crack, then becomes normal. Under the influence of androgen, the voice box, grows in both sexes. This growth is far more prominent in boys, causing the male voice to drop and deepen, sometimes abruptly. Before puberty, the larynx of males and females is about equally small. Occasionally, voice change is accompanied by unsteadiness of vocalization in the early stages of untrained voices. Most of the voice change happens during middle stage of male puberty around the time of peak growth. Full adult pitch is attained at an average age of 15 years. It usually precedes the development of significant facial hair by several months to years.
Increasing levels of androgen can change the fatty acid composition of perspiration, resulting in a more body odor. As in females, another androgen effect is increased secretion of oil (sebum) from the skin and the resultant variable amounts of acne. Acne can not be prevented or diminished easily, but it typically fully diminishes at the end of puberty. However, on rare cases it is not unusual for a fully grown adult to suffer the occasional attack of acne, though it is normally less severe than in adolescents. Some may desire using prescription topical creams or ointments to keep acne from getting worse, or even oral medication, due to the fact that acne is emotionally difficult and can cause scarring.
For the male, testicular enlargement is the first physical manifestation of puberty. Testes in male before puberty change little in size from about 1 year of age to the onset of puberty, averaging about 2 – 3cm in length and about 1.5 – 2cm in width. Testicular size progressively increase throughout puberty, reaching maximal adult size about 6years after the onset of puberty. After the males’ testicles have enlarged and developed for about one year, the length and then the breadth of the shaft of the penis will increase and the penis’ tip will also start to enlarge to adult proportions. The average adult penile size is 18 – 20cm, besides there is wide variation in testicular size in the normal population. The testes have two primary functions: to produce hormones and to produce sperm.
It is also worth noting that during puberty a male scrotum will become larger and begin to dangle or hang below the body contrary to being up tight. This is to accommodate the production of sperm cells since the testicles need a certain temperature to be fertile.
At the attainment of puberty, adult male have heavier bones and nearly twice as much skeletal muscle. Some of the bone growth (as in shoulder width and jaw) is disproportionately greater, resulting in noticeable differences in male and female skeletal shapes. The adult male has an average of 150% of the lean body mass of an average female, and about 50% of the body fat. Often, the fat pads of the male breast tissue and the male nipples will develop during puberty.
The muscle develops mainly during the later stages of puberty, and muscle growth can continue even after boys are biologically adult. The peak of the so-called “strength spurt”, the rate of muscle growth, is attained about one year after a male experiences his peak growth rate.
The bony structure of the males’ pelvis at puberty is also remolded from an oval shape to a narrower and triangular shape.
