When boys supposedly get boobs
Today's topic concerns boys aged twelve to 15, or their parents. Everyone else can of course continue reading :-). The topic is called "gynaecomastia" and often leads to boys being somewhat desperate in the surgery and parents being really worried.
What worries them is the fact that in boys, usually around the age of twelve to 13, a mammary gland suddenly becomes thick, so that it almost looks as if a small breast is developing. This happens more frequently when children or adolescents are a little overweight. First things first: this is a completely harmless, almost normal story, but it often causes great anxiety and embarrassment for the young person.
It is crucial to understand the reason for the swelling and also the reason why it is so harmless. When boys reach puberty, they produce more hormones - mainly testosterone, but also oestrogen, especially at the beginning of puberty. And everyone's mammary gland tissue is susceptible to this female hormone. This is why breast tissue can swell during these phases. Funnily enough, and I know of no explanation for this, the swelling often only occurs on one side.
As a rule, a reassuring conversation in which we explain that it simply needs one thing: Patience. After four or six, maybe even eight months, the swelling usually disappears without any problems and the young man's breast will look normal again.
As always, if there is something about your son that makes him feel uncomfortable, we will of course be happy to take a look at it. But it's good to know that this is a normal temporary process.
Further interesting tips
Sunburn
As an introduction to the topic, here's a little joke: What is black, white and red? A zebra with sunburn. Haha. But sunburn is actually nothing to joke about.
Sleep / Sleep training
The "good old" sleep training method, known as the Ferber method, regularly causes controversy - like so many issues surrounding sleep in babies and young children. What bothers the doctor the most? The fact that people hardly talk about it because they are so divided into different camps.
Polio
Recently, there have been repeated reports that poliomyelitis viruses, i.e. polio viruses, have been found in waste water in large German cities. Is there cause for concern? A categorisation.