GIRLS AND PUBERTY: PERIOD PAINS
March 12th, 2009 | Posted by admin | Category: Men's Health-Erectile DysfunctionNo Comments
Period pains are abdominal pains that may occur early in the menstrual period or a few days before the period actually starts. The pains may vary from a feeling of fullness or pressure, to a dull, achy feeling, to a sharp pain or spasm. Almost every woman has pains at some time in her life, but for most women they’re not a real problem and don’t interfere with their daily activities. There are, however, some women who have such severe pains that they have to spend a few days in bed each month.
Severe pains can be a sign of some underlying medical problem, and women who have them should see a doctor. Often, though, the doctor is unable to pinpoint a cause for the pains. Many doctors used to think that the pains were ‘all in your head’, and some doctors still think this. Recently, though, medical research has shown that women who have period pains often have unusually high levels of hormones called prostaglandins, which cause the uterus to contract painfully during menstruation. There are now anti-prostaglandin medications available to help such women. For most women, though, their pains, if they have them at all, aren’t uncomfortable enough for them to need medication. If they do need to take something, aspirin or paracetamol will usually do the trick.
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GIRLS AND PUBERTY: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
March 12th, 2009 | Posted by admin | Category: Men's Health-Erectile DysfunctionNo Comments
Girls’ bodies also change quite a bit as they go through puberty. In some ways puberty in girls is similar to puberty in boys. Both sexes undergo a growth spurt and a change in the general shape of their body. Both boys and girls begin to grow pubic hair.
Boys start to make sperm for the first time and girls produce their first ripe ova. The genital organs of both sexes begin to develop. Both boys and girls begin to perspire more, to take on adult body odours and to get spots at this time in their lives.
But boys and girls are different, so puberty happens a bit differently in girls than in boys. Some of the things that happen to boys don’t happen to girls. For instance, girls don’t experience the same lowering and deepening of the voice that boys do. Also, there are things that happen to girls that don’t happen to boys, such as development of the breasts.
Even though boys and girls don’t go through exactly the same physical changes during puberty, their feelings about their body changes and their emotional reactions to growing up are, as we shall see, very similar. Let’s start with the physical changes.
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EJACULATION AND ORGASM
March 12th, 2009 | Posted by admin | Category: Men's Health-Erectile DysfunctionNo Comments
When a male ejaculates, the muscles round the prostate gland, as well as the muscles in the penis and surrounding area, contract. These muscle contractions, or spasms, force most of the sperm out of the ampulla. The sperm and semen mix together and are pushed into the urethra. They’re propelled along the urethra and come spurting out through the opening in the glans, or tip, of the penis. The semen usually comes out in three or four spurts. In all, a tea spoonful or two of white, creamy, milky semen comes out of the penis during ejaculation.
The feeling that you get when all these muscles are contracting and semen is spurting out of your penis is called orgasm. It is possible to ejaculate without having an orgasm, but most of the time a male does have one when he ejaculates. Slang terms for having an orgasm include ‘coming’ and ‘climaxing’.
It’s a bit difficult to describe exactly what an orgasm feels like. For one thing, it feels different to different people. Also, the feeling of an orgasm may differ from one time to the next. Sometimes the orgasm may be really strong and involve not just the penis and other sex organs but the whole body. At other times the orgasm may be less intense and the feeling seems to centre round the penis and the genital area.
When a male is about to have an orgasm, his penis is stiff and erect. The skin on his scrotum gets tighter and thicker as the scrotum draws up close to his body. His heart starts beating harder and his breathing gets deeper and heavier. The skin on his face or chest or other parts of his body may get flushed and reddish. This is called the ’sex flush’. His nipples may become deeper in colour and stiffer and may stand out more. The muscles around his anus may tighten up. A drop or two of clear or milky white fluid may appear at the tip of the penis. The opening in the glans, or head, of the penis, may become more slit-like, and the glans may become a deeper, more purplish or red colour.
As the orgasm is about to begin, the man may be aware of all these changes (the increase in heartbeat, the heavier breathing, the changes in the glans), but often the feeling is so intense that he is totally involved only in the feeling. The changes may happen without his being consciously aware of them.
During the orgasm the muscles contract and the semen comes out in three or four spurts that usually happen within less than a second of one another. These spurts may be followed by a series of six to fifteen other muscle spasms. The whole orgasm normally lasts about ten seconds. The feeling is so intense, though, that it often seems longer.
After the orgasm, the heartbeat and breathing gradually return to normal. The testicles and scrotum loosen up. The penis gets soft again. All of this may take just a few seconds or it may take a half-hour or so. Afterwards, men often feel really relaxed and they may be sleepy. Some men are ready to have another orgasm straight away. Usually, though, there’s a period of time that must pass – anywhere from a few minutes to a half-hour, several hours or a day or so-before a man is ready to have another orgasm. Generally, the older a man gets, the more time it takes before he’s ready to have another orgasm.
As we say, it’s a little difficult to explain how an orgasm feels, but most people agree that it’s a very good feeling. We asked the men we interviewed to describe it, and many said things like ‘great’, ‘terrific’, ‘beautiful’ or other simple, one-word answers. Most had trouble putting it into words, saying things like, “There’re just no words to describe it’ or ‘It’s not something you can explain.’ Some men, however, were able to give a description. One man gave a description that other men seemed to think was rather good. Here’s what he said:
Well, it feels like there’s a sort of good sensation in my genitals and body that builds up and then goes off, a sort of wave of good sensual feeling throughout the whole body. The spurting part, when the semen is actually coming out, is a jerky kind of thing. It’s not really all that great a feeling, but the waves of the sensual feeling are timed with pulses of the spurt, which does feel great. Afterwards, I feel tingling and then relaxed all over.
Will, age 46
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SHAVING
March 12th, 2009 | Posted by admin | Category: Men's Health-Erectile DysfunctionNo Comments
Some grown men shave off their facial hair every day or even twice a day (if they have thick, fast-growing hair). Others will let their moustaches, sideburns and/or beards grow and only trim them every once in a while to keep them neat. Still others just let their facial hair grow and only rarely, if ever, shave or trim it. It is a personal thing, a matter of individual taste.
Many of the men we talked to shaved when their facial hair first started to grow, even if later in life they decided not to shave. One moustached man said:
I don’t shave it now. When I was a teenager I did, though-because it was just these few scrawny hairs. It looked rather pathetic; kind of scraggly. It didn’t look like a real moustache.
Phil, age 30
Another man said:
I don’t shave anymore, just too lazy to shave every day. When I got that first peach fuzz, I shaved every day, religiously. It was sort of a macho thing. Also, I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I heard the more you shave, the faster your moustache and beard would grow in.
Ted,age 36
A lot of the boys we talked to felt excited about shaving and looked upon shaving as a sign of growing up. Many boys wished they had as much facial hair as some of their friends had. One man told a funny story about this:
I went round with my cousin, Albert, and his gang, who were all in their mid-twenties. I was, say, 19. Albert had a car, a Model-T, which was something – having a car that is – in those days. So it was really exciting for me to go round with these older men. I wanted to look as old as them, so I’d take my mother’s eyebrow pencil and colour my moustache in, you know, to make me look more mature.
So we go to a dance, and afterward I’m smooching with this girl in the back seat of Albert’s car, and my moustache smears off all over her face. Talk about embarrassing! I thought I’d never live it down!
Charlie, age 67
Getting their first razor was also a big event for some boys. Some bought these razors themselves; others got theirs as gifts. Some used their dad’s razor at first:
When I first started shaving, I didn’t say anything to anyone. I didn’t want to buy one [a razor] and just leave it there in the bathroom ’cause I knew my family would just tease me to death about it. I really didn’t have that much to shave. So I just used my dad’s razor.
My sisters were starting to shave their legs, and they were using dad’s razor, too. He’d get hopping mad ’cause he’d go to shave his face and the blade would be dull and nicked ’cause my sisters and I used it all the time. He’d cut his face and then he’d start yelling, ‘Who’s been using my razor?’ My sisters and I would say, ‘Not me, not me!’ Finally he went out and bought us all razors and told us, ‘You kids use my razor again and I’ll kill you.’
Sam, age 35
If you do start to shave, make sure that the blades of your razor are smooth and free of nicks or you’re likely to cut yourself. A dull blade can pull at your skin and irritate it, so make sure you’ve got a sharp one. But be careful – you can cut yourself with a sharp blade. Using soap or shaving cream will ease the pull, or drag, of the razor on your skin. There are also electric razors. You’re a lot less likely to cut yourself with an electric razor, but some men don’t like them. You might talk to your dad or another adult male to find out what he recommends for shaving.
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THE STAGES OF PUBERTY: KEEPING TRACK OF YOUR PROGRESS AND THE FIRST CHANGES
March 12th, 2009 | Posted by admin | Category: Men's Health-Erectile DysfunctionNo Comments
Boys can go through these changes in different order. For some boys the first change that happens is that they begin to grow pubic hair. For most boys, though, the first change that takes place during puberty is that their sex organs begin to grow. This usually happens before they begin to develop pubic hairs, grow taller or go through the other changes that take place during puberty. As puberty continues, the sex organs – the penis, scrotum and testicles continue to grow larger.
Some of the boys in our classes get really interested in the stages of puberty. They pore over the table and try to work out what stage they’re at and when to expect other changes. Some of the boys in our classes, however, couldn’t care less. They know that these changes are going to happen whether or not they pay attention to them, so why should they bother doing it? You may be like the curious boys in our classes or you may be like those who are not as interested. If you are the type who likes to keep track of things, you might want to keep a record of your progress through puberty. Before you fill in the chart, though, you might want to read the next few chapters, which talk about some of the other changes that happen to a boy’s body during puberty.
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