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What are the symptoms of puberty, precocious puberty, & delayed puberty?

Normal Puberty

In Girls

The signs of puberty include:

  • Growth of pubic and other body hair
  • Growth spurt
  • Breast development
  • Onset of menstruation (after puberty is well advanced)
  • Acne

In Boys

The signs of puberty include1:

  • Growth of pubic hair, other body hair, and facial hair
  • Enlargement of testicles and penis
  • Muscle growth
  • Growth spurt
  • Acne
  • Deepening of the voice

Precocious Puberty

The symptoms of precocious puberty are similar to the signs of normal puberty but they manifest earlier—before the age of 8 in girls and before age 9 in boys.

Delayed Puberty

Delayed puberty is characterized by the lack of onset of puberty within the normal range of ages.

Citations

  1. Styne, D. M., & Grumbach, M. M. (2008). Puberty: Ontogeny, neuroendocrinology, physiology, and disorders. In Kronenberg, H. M., Melmed, S., Polonsky, K. S., & Larsen, P. R. (Eds.), Williams textbook of endocrinology (11th ed., chap. 24). Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier.
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