WOMEN’S BODIES: BREAST DEVELOPMENT
Breast development is the most obvious outward sign of puberty. Changes in the breast are also the first thing you’ll notice that will let you know your ovaries have started producing the hormones that will transform you into a woman.
Most girls notice something happening in their breasts between the ages of 10 and 12, though a couple of years earlier or later is within the normal range. Months before anyone else can detect the change, you’ll notice increased sensitivity and slight enlargement and puffiness of the nipple and areola. This is called breast budding. You’ll be more aware of your clothes brushing against your nipples, which may become itchy or a bit tender. You’ll discover that touching your nipples may stimulate some sexual feeling. This is normal.
Your breasts will enlarge beneath and around the nipple as the milk glands develop and fat accumulates around them. They may feel tender from time to time as they grow, including the ‘tail’ that extends up into your armpit.
Breast size and shape
Breast growth, like many of the other changes of puberty, doesn’t always happen at a steady rate. There may be spurts of rapid enlargement that can play havoc with your wardrobe, such as going through three increases in shirt sizes in six months. After some months of rapid growth (which
often happens between the ages of 13 and 15), your breasts may not enlarge much more, just changing shape as you move through your teens. Breasts usually have reached their adult form by about the age of 18, and there are as many variations in size, shape and appearance as there are women in the world.
If your breasts develop earlier than most of your classmates’ it is often an embarrassment. If breast growth is late it can also be a worry. Then there are the breasts themselves. Are they the right size (it is often said that breasts come in two sizes -too large and too small!) and the right shape? Are the nipples too protruding? not protruding enough? too dark? too pale? Why are your breasts different from the pictures and the other girls you have seen? We have all inherited different genes; it is these that determine our characteristics, including those of our breasts.
Attitudes to breasts
In our society breasts have become such sex symbols that little attention is given to their physiological purpose of feeding babies. The ‘sexy’ attitude to breasts is emphasized in the media and in advertising – think of the printed photographs of ample-bosomed beach belles bulging out of their (too small) bikini tops; the ‘topless’ craze; advertisements for beer featuring scantily clad women and publicity about implants and creams to enlarge the breasts. No wonder many of us become anxious about the development of our breasts and their size and appearance.
Should you wear a bra?
From the early twentieth century until recently, bras had been a necessary part of every woman’s underwear. They were recommended as a support to prevent the breast’s weight from stretching the fibrous ligaments that hold it in place on the chest wall. When these ligaments become stretched, the breasts sag.
Bras also served the purpose of moulding the breasts into the fashionable shape of the time, for example flat in the 1920s and fiercely pointed cones in the 40s and ’50s. When I was in my teens it was considered an outrageous breach of decent for any hint of the nipple shape to be detectable through the clothes.
There is usually no real need for the support of a bra during the teen years un less your breasts are growing very rapid or have become large and heavy. However you may feel more comfortable wearing one for sport and if your breasts are tender.
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Tags: Women’s Health