Definition of starting puberty?

[birdbrain01]

I'm curious about what you considered starting puberty?
What was the event that said you had started puberty?
How old where you when you started? And please be honest.
The reason I'm asking is when I was in the 6th grade I showered after gym class and almost none of us had any pubic hair at all.
Yet there are so many people on here that said they started puberty at the age of 11

[TheLotus]

I guess I first knew I started puberty when pubic hair started to grow. I don't really remember what age that was but I do believe it was around 6th grade or so.

[birdbrain01]

Interesting thank you for answering this

[ska8er]

The first time I took notice that something
was happening to me was when I was 12
and I was getting a few dark hairs around my
equipment. I was in 7th grade-the summer before
starting 8th I had a nice bush and a good amount
of leg hair but none in my pits. There r exceptions
I guess. I have a friend who was getting hairs at 10.

[birdbrain01]

I totally agree. When I was in the 6th grade and no one in my in my grade had any pubic hair yet but my younger cousin started growing pubic hair when he was 10 almost eleven. I'm not saying that guys can't start puberty 7 years old butt and honest almost all guys are saying they started at 11

[ska8er]

I had maybe two or three small very light
colored hairs above my penis when I was
10 but they were almost always there and
I didn't think they were pubes. Maybe it was
pre puberty time I guess-Idk.

[birdbrain01]

I had maybe two or three small very light
colored hairs above my penis when I was
10 but they were almost always there and
I didn't think they were pubes. Maybe it was
pre puberty time I guess-Idk.

Do you come from a naturally Harry family? What is your nationality or race

[ska8er]

Do you come from a naturally Harry family? What is your nationality or race


Yeah my Dad is hairy-uncles too so im in
for a lot of chest hair-LOL. Im Slav/Russian

[Bluebyrd]

I don't think there's a particular event or a particular change that marks the beginning of puberty because each change happens over a period of time. You don't go to bed one night with two inches and wake up with six. It happens slowly. As for how old I was when I did start though, I started to notice a lot of changes around 12-13. The first change that I really noticed was probably pubes.

[Hermes]

For me, I think public hair was probably the first visible sign. I didn't really make a note of my age when I first noticed it, though. I guess it's also worth bearing in mind that when you just have a few short hairs you'll know they are there but they won't be immediately obvious to anyone else because other people will not examine that area as closely as you have the opportunity to. You have to get a reasonable bush before someone seeing at a distance would notice.

Now, I say public hair was the first visible sign but I think there were other signs that were not visible which probably pre-dated public hair for me. One was becoming more aware of, and curious about, my penis such that, for example, I tried pulling the foreskin back and and discovered the head which I had previously been unaware of. I also remember noticing a particular girl in the last year of primary school and a game some of the boys played where we would chase the girls and they would then hide in the girls toilet. That was new too and I am sure both of these were due to hormone change.

So, the actual first events of puberty are not really visible and different people may be more of less aware of them. The first thing that happens is the hypothalamus, part of the brain, decides it's time to start and makes a hormone called GnRH. That hormone acts on the pituitary gland (also within the brain) which then makes two more hormones FSH and LH which "wake up" the testicles which then start to develop. FSH causes the testicles to start to produce sperm and LH causes the testicles produce testosterone. Testosterone then causes all of the other "secondary" characteristics like hair growth, the growth spurt, voice change etc. It also causes the prostate and seminal vesicles to mature, giving you the ability to ejaculate, and also works on the brain to make you horny. You may notice subtle effects on the brain, changing the way you think, before you notice pubic hair. This sequence of events also suggests that your testicles may already have started to grow by the time public hair appears but I guess few people measure or feel them often enough to notice.

[Bad With Names]

Pubic hair is probably the sign of starting puberty but I guess there are other signs as well. Like if you can ejaculate then you definitely have started even if you may not have pubic hair.

[birdbrain01]

Yeah for me I definitely didn't start growing pubic hair until I turned fourteen and I'll be 15 in May. Butt prior to Growing pubic hair my dick was close to 5 inches with no pubic hair probably four and three quarters

[Canadian Dream]

I'm considering the beginning of puberty as any physical or emotional change characteristic to that period or that leads to the body of an adult. Any appearance of body hair would be considered the start, change in penis size, you name it. For me the first thing was that my penis started getting longer, and yes I was actually 11. There might be minute changes that you don't notice, so don't assume the beginning of puberty is very visible to everyone right away.

[birdbrain01]

So I didn't start developing pubic hair or ejaculation until I was 14 and a half butt my dick was almost 5 inches before I saw my first pubic hair. Do you think I had already started puberty?

[eric2001]

Everything started around my birthday when I was 13. My d*** grew first and then I got some hairs. So now I'm 14 and things are happening but kind of slowly.

[birdbrain01]

Sounds like me I know but I didn't have any pubic hair when freshman year of high school started

[CreativeUsername]

I think the technical definition is when you have your first wet dream. At least that's what my doctor said

[Pichu]

I guess i'm in the minority here, but pubic hair wasn't my first sign of puberty. I think I agree with what was posted above, I knew i'd properly started puberty when I had my first wet dream at mid 14. My dick had grown a little before then, but I hadn't even started getting pubes.

I was a late bloomer, but things happen in different orders for different people.

[birdbrain01]

^^^ interesting that you didn't have any pubic hair yet but you are able to ejaculate

[RJH98]

I was about 10 when I had my first pubes (just a few though) and shortly after I started sweating and I guess that is when it started for me

[birdbrain01]

I'm starting to think that maybe I started puberty sooner than I thought

[CynicalHats]

I consider the "start" when I started growing pubic hair, which was the summer before 6th grade. I was a pretty early bloomer.

[birdbrain01]

I don't consider starting puberty or having some pubic hair at 11 to be that early. I'm just trying to figure out I have no pubic hair until I was about 14 and a half for anybody here at all but my dick Lowe's almost 5 inches when I was 12 probably four and a half inches

[Hermes]

I think the technical definition is when you have your first wet dream. At least that's what my doctor said

That's a strange thing to say given that not everyone experiences a wet dream, and yet, clearly, most people do go through puberty.

I think what is behind this is we have a preference for a "defining moment" rather than a gradual process. Puberty is a process that takes several years where you are a child at the start and, physically, at least, an adult at the end. It doesn't start with a fanfare and it is equally hard to mark the end. If you had to choose a "defining moment" what would it be?

For girls there is such a moment - her first period (called menarche). It's unmistakable and starts on a specific day so it's definitely a moment rather than a process. On the face of it, it also marks the start of her ability to reproduce which is a function the body acquires during puberty. That, and the fact it is very had for a girl to keep it secret, at least from her parents, lead some cultures to celebrate it as the start of womanhood.

The equivalent moment for guys would have to be ejaculating for the first time which may happen in a wet dream but is more likely to happen masturbating.

Neither of these moments happen right at the beginning of puberty though that doesn't stop it being the first thing you notice.

[CreativeUsername]

That's a strange thing to say given that not everyone experiences a wet dream, and yet, clearly, most people do go through puberty.



I think what is behind this is we have a preference for a "defining moment" rather than a gradual process. Puberty is a process that takes several years where you are a child at the start and, physically, at least, an adult at the end. It doesn't start with a fanfare and it is equally hard to mark the end. If you had to choose a "defining moment" what would it be?



For girls there is such a moment - her first period (called menarche). It's unmistakable and starts on a specific day so it's definitely a moment rather than a process. On the face of it, it also marks the start of her ability to reproduce which is a function the body acquires during puberty. That, and the fact it is very had for a girl to keep it secret, at least from her parents, lead some cultures to celebrate it as the start of womanhood.



The equivalent moment for guys would have to be ejaculating for the first time which may happen in a wet dream but is more likely to happen masturbating.



Neither of these moments happen right at the beginning of puberty though that doesn't stop it being the first thing you notice.



Yea that's what's I'd say. First real ejaculation. But my doctor said the first wet dream, and they must know something about that.

[Kevgpdx]

Yeah, I guess I consider the start of puberty for me when I started getting body hair like pubes and armpit hair. Mine started about 11 or 12. Probably closer to 12.

[justin007]

I'm curious about what you considered starting puberty?
What was the event that said you had started puberty?
How old where you when you started? And please be honest.
The reason I'm asking is when I was in the 6th grade I showered after gym class and almost none of us had any pubic hair at all.
Yet there are so many people on here that said they started puberty at the age of 11

i guess inside your body, puberty already has started when you see the first signs (that was getting pubes for the most people i know). first thing i noticed was hair above my penis when i was 12, end 6th/beginning 7th grade.