13-year-old boy has a lump in his breast

After girls enter puberty, their breasts will gradually develop due to the large amount of estrogen secreted in their bodies. Therefore, the biggest physical change for adolescent girls is the gradual swelling of their breasts. For adolescent boys, there will also be some obvious physical symptoms. For example, hoarseness, Adam's apple, and beard are signs of being a boy, but what if a 13-year-old boy has a lump in his breast?

Breast development is generally the first sexual change that occurs in girls during puberty. This is mainly due to the high level of estrogen secreted by the female ovaries, which stimulates the development of mammary alveoli and mammary ducts, causing the breasts to bulge. However, some boys who have reached puberty may occasionally feel a little pain in their breasts. When they touch them carefully, they find lumps in their breasts, which makes them feel anxious.

In fact, breast lumps during male puberty are normal physiological changes. The breasts are mainly composed of mammary tissue, fat and connective tissue. There are special structures on the surface of mammary cells that can recognize and accept estrogen. When estrogen binds to the receptors of breast cells, the metabolism of breast cells becomes active, causing breast cells to proliferate and the breasts to develop and bulge. After male adolescents enter puberty, their testicles secrete a small amount of estrogen while producing androgens, but the amount is extremely small.

Estrogen causes breast cells in the nipple area to proliferate continuously, leading to the formation of lumps in the breast. Breast lumps in adolescent boys are often limited to the area below the nipples and may sometimes be painful when touched. According to a survey, among male adolescents aged 13-15, 1/3-2/3 were found to have unilateral or bilateral nipple protrusion, an increase in the diameter of the areola, and pigmentation, but less than 1/5 had breast nodules.

Some boys do not care about subtle changes in their bodies and may not even notice these changes in their breasts. Since the increase in estrogen levels in male adolescents during puberty is only temporary, this type of breast lump usually disappears on its own after a few months to a year. So, neither the boys nor the parents need to feel embarrassed.