Puberty for boys

what happens during puberty?

Puberty is a series of changes your body goes through during your teens.

Your body starts to produce hormones which change your body and can also affect your emotions. And getting used to all the changes can be stressful.

Boys usually start puberty between the ages of 12 and 18. Some boys start puberty earlier and some later. Everyone's different.

Puberty also lasts for different lengths of time, depending on the person. Puberty might take a couple of years for all the changes to happen, or for some boys it could last as long as 4 years. This is completely normal and doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with you.

5 things boys will experience during puberty:

voice gets deeper - some people might refer to this as your voice "breaking"
you'll get taller, bigger and more muscular
you might get spots and start to sweat more
pubic hair will start to grow - hair under your arms and around your penis and testicles (balls)
penis and testicles will grow larger.

what to expect during puberty

You'll go through lots of changes during puberty. Some changes are obvious to other people, like growing taller, and some only you will know about.

Facial hair and body hair

When you go through puberty you will start to grow hair on your under your arms, on your private parts (pubic hair), on your legs and sometimes on other parts of your body.

It's your choice whether you decide to shave your pubic or body hair. If you decide to remove this hair, you can buy razors and shaving gel or cream from a supermarket or pharmacy. Some people prefer to use electric shavers.

If you have sensitive skin, you might have to be careful to make sure that you don't get a shaving rash from shaving. You can do this by washing your face before you shave. The blade on your razor will eventually become blunt. When this happens, you should change the blade or get a new razor.

You might not need to shave much at first. But as you get older you may have to start shaving more often.

Erections

An erection is when your penis goes hard and stiff. This usually happens when you're thinking about sex or someone you fancy. It's normal for an erect penis to be slightly bent or curved and this is nothing to worry about.

Sometimes you might get an erection even when you're not thinking about sex. When you're going through puberty, it's normal to get an erection at times when you don't expect it – like at school or on the bus. This may seem embarrassing but it happens to most boys. It's likely to happen less as you get older.

Sexual thoughts, feelings and 'wet dreams'

A wet dream is when you ejaculate ('come' or 'cum') and release sperm (male reproductive cells) in your sleep. It's normal to have sexual thoughts and feelings, especially during puberty when your body is changing. It can be confusing and strange at first but it isn't unusual. Your feelings should calm down after a while when your body adjusts to the changes.

Usually wet dreams happen during dreams that have sexual images. Sometimes you might wake up from a wet dream, but often you'll just sleep through it.

Find out more about sex.

Sweating more

As you go through puberty you might find you sweat more. This is because your sweat glands change and produce more sweat to help control your body's temperature. It's important to wash regularly and wear clean clothes so you don't smell. You can also wear deodorant or antiperspirant if you're worried about smelling.

Producing sperm

Sperm are made in the testicles (balls) and make up the semen that you ejaculate ('come') from your penis. Every time you ejaculate you can release 100 million sperm!

Changes to your mood

Mood swings are completely normal when you're going through puberty. One minute you might feel happy and like it's easy to get on with people, and the next you might snap at people or get annoyed easily. It's normal to feel low or angry sometimes when you're going through puberty. But usually this is something you grow out of.

More about feelings and emotions.

Awkward puberty moments

Message boards

Get help and advice about puberty from other young people.

is this
normal?

Check out our puberty message boards

Masturbation

Masturbation is when you touch your body and your genitals because it feels good or pleasurable. You can make yourself orgasm or 'come' by doing this.

Both girls and boys masturbate and it's completely normal. It's a way of discovering your body, how it makes you feel and what kind of things make you feel good during sex. Some people might say that it's wrong or that you shouldn't masturbate, but it's a normal part of life and not something to be ashamed of.

Knowing when it's OK to masturbate

Some people masturbate a lot and some people hardly do it at all. Everyone's different. It's normal to have urges or want to masturbate often when you're going through puberty. But it's important to make sure this doesn't lead to anything that makes someone else feel uncomfortable. For example, masturbating in public when other people are around is not acceptable.

Think about if you feel uncomfortable with how often you do it. Do you find it hard to concentrate at school or while doing homework because you want to masturbate? Are you less interested in your hobbies? If this is the case, then it may be a problem. You could try masturbating slightly less each week until you are only doing it as much as you feel comfortable with.

Online porn

It's natural to feel curious about porn. We can help answer all of your questions.

Your penis

Penises are all shapes and sizes. There's no right size or shape. Whatever size your penis is, you're normal. A penis can also change size. Sometimes it might be soft and small. Other times it may get bigger and harder.

A cold temperature can affect the size of a penis and can make it smaller, but this is only temporary until it warms up again. Some penises are straight and some might be curved slightly. Both are normal.

Penises in porn

Sometimes watching porn can start to change the way people see real life. In porn, the actors often have very large penises. Some of the men in porn have had penis enlargements – this is an operation to make their penis bigger.

In real life, most males have much smaller penises than the actors in porn. Try not to compare your body to others. Everyone is different.