Dealing With

Embarrassing Body

Changes

By Mrs. Esmeralda D. Gamil

Science Teacher

On the way to manhood your body is going to do a lot of things that you really,really wish it would’nt.

1. pimples will pop up and so will hair.

2. You’ll drip sweat and you will stink.

3. You’ll get erections when you least expect or want them.

SURE. But remember this four things:

1. Everybody goes through this( though not in exactly the same way or on the same schedule)

2. It is normal ( no matter how hard that is to believe)

3. None of it will go on forever (eventhough it might seem too)

4. There are plenty of things you can do to make the experience bit easier.

There are two types of sweat glands.

1. The most common type of sweat glands (eccrineglands are spread all over our body and theyproduce sweat that is mainly salt and water. Thissweat helps keep your body at the righttemperature.

2. We also have sweat glands (apocrine glands) incertain places, such as under the arms and in thegroin, which make oils as well as ordinary sweat.This glands only start making the oils after thebeginning of puberty. These sweat glands makesweat at the same times as the eccrine glands, andthey make even more sweat when you are stressed.

Believe it or not, some boys just starting pubertyactually wants to smell bad.

Sweat by itself does not have much of an odour.Most of the smell is caused by bacteria which liveon the skin and in clothing. These bacteria usethe sweat for growing.

When sweat gets onto clothes, bacteria can alsogrow there, making the clothes smelly too.

Most body odour is produced by bacteria feedingon the apocrine sweat from under the arms andin the groin.

. Strange as it may seem, people with

unpleasant body odour are

unable to smell their body

odour. Because they live

with it all the time, they are no

longer sensitive to the smell.

. Most people do not have an unpleasant smell, but many people are very anxious that they may have an unpleasant body smell.

. You may have an unpleasant smell if you do not wash under your arms and in the groin area at least once a day, if you wear the same clothes day after day and they don’t get washed often, or you wear the same shoes day after day.

1. Wash your body regularly,especially underarms, groin andfeet.

2. Change and wash yourclothes often.

3. Let your shoesdry completelybefore wearing themagain. If possible,wear different shoeson alternate days.

4. Cotton socks might be better thansynthetic socks, but the mostimportant thing is to wash your feetdaily, and change your daily ifpossible.

5. If someone has told you thatyou have an unpleasant bodyodour, and you think that might betrue, you could try an antibacterialsoap when you wash your body.Most people do not need this.

Once you start going through puberty,it may be a good idea to start usingunderarm deodorants and anti-perspirants.

1. Underarm deodorants make the sweatacidic which stops bacteria from growing.We still make the same amount of sweat,but there are fewer bacteria to make thesmell.

2. Anti-perspirants block the sweat ductswith aluminium salts, so that less sweat isproduced. Less sweat equals fewerbacteria and less smell. They should onlybe used on underarms-you need to beable to sweat over the rest of your body tokeep yourself healthy.

ACNE

Acne is pimples ( or zits) – those red lumps in

or under the skin that many young people getwhen their hormones start getting active aroundpuberty. It is usually at its worst between 11 and18 years of age, but some people acne can stillbe a problem in their 20s. Acne can involve mildto severe outbreaks of pimples and cysts on theface and sometimes on the back, shoulders andchest.

1. As you enter puberty, a lot of hormones start to beproduced by your body. Some of these hormones arecalled 'androgens' – both boys and girls have them, butboys have more of them. These androgens can affect oilglands in the skin of the face, neck, back, shoulders andchest.

2.The glands get bigger and produce more oil (sebum).

3.Bacteria (germs) that are commonly found on the skinmake this oil thicker so that the skin's pores becomeblocked and the oil cannot get out.

4.Blocked pores can become blackheads, white-heads,pimples and cysts.

5•You can mainly blame your genes (heredity) for acne.

6. If your mum or dad had bad acne as a teenager, youare more likely to get it too.

7. But even in the same family, some peoplecan get worse acne than others.

8• Girls tend to get it younger than boys.

9• For girls, it can get worse or break out atcertain times of their menstrual cycle whenhormone levels change (usually just beforethey have a period).

10• Boys will often have more outbreaksthan girls, and they often seem to get worsepimples and more cysts.

• Unfortunately, acne hits young people at atime when they most want to look their best –acne can make you feel embarrassed and feelbad about yourself.

• Parents and older people might tell youthat pimples are a part of growing up, andthat you just shouldn't worry about them, butif your acne or pimples are making youmiserable, you should speak to your doctorbecause there are medical treatments thatcan help a lot.

• The short answer is “No” – acne is not causedby dirty skin. Some people who do not take careof their skin do not have trouble with acne, andothers who take a lot of care of their skin still getbad acne. Acne is not fair!

• Wash the areas where you get acne with soapand water only 2 or 3 times each day. Any morecan dry your skin too much.

• People with oily hair often have worse acne(oilier skin). It is often recommended that youkeep your hair clean, and off your face and neck.This may not make any difference, but generallyclean hair is a better look.

• Many acne treatments can be bought over the counter atchemists or supermarkets, and some of these can be helpful.

o It is a good idea to talk to the chemist to find out whichare the most useful.

o Be aware that what worked for a friend may not work foryou.

o If you are using any form of treatment and your skinbecomes very dry or irritated, stop using it straight away.

o Some of the treatments make your skin very sensitive tosunlight. Check if you need to use a sun block as well.

• Some treatments that your doctor can prescribe for youcan make a lot of difference.

Acne can appear overnight. Unfortunately acne treatments donot work so fast! It can take several weeks before you can seemuch difference in your acne. If a pimple starts to appear justbefore something important, none of the treatments willmake it go away in just one or two days.

Your doctor may prescribe medication or refer you to adermatologist (skin specialist) for treatment of your acne.

• Medical treatment can include antibiotics to kill thegerms which are part of the cause, or medications whichcan reduce the amount of oil being produced, or theamount of androgen in your body.

• These treatments can lead to huge improvements inhow your skin looks, and can reduce the number of newpimples.

• The treatment can, however, have some unwantedeffects. Ask your doctor how the medications work andwhat effects you might experience.

• These treatments also need to be taken for manymonths to make a major difference.

• Some people try to see how much oozeand goo they can squeeze out of a pimple. Asfascinating as this is, no matter how muchyou are tempted, try to not pick or squeezepimples.

• Squeezing can spread germs into the skin around the pimple and make things a lot worse. It can lead to scarring of the skin.

Thank

you…..