Breast Development

Breast Development

For many, changes to how their breasts look and feel is a good indication puberty has arrived.  Breast development, or to give it its technical name ‘thelarche’, starts with a small lump being noticed under the skin and behind the nipple about the size of a ten pence piece, its often called a breast bud. The average age for these changes to be noticed is around 10-12 years old, for some even younger.

So, what are breast buds?

• Budding boobs are made of tissue, milk glands and fat.
• A breast bud can feel quite hard to the touch and is often tender or sore.
• The nipple and areola (that coloured ring surrounding the nipple) may start to protrude and even look a little swollen as the bud starts to grow.
• Breast buds can feel itchy during this time as the skin starts to stretch and grow.
• They don’t always grow at the same time, so don’t worry if only one breast is developing first, the other will catch up over time.
• Budding boobs don’t need support straight away, so there is no need to rush out and buy a bra. But if you experience tenderness, you may find a soft cup bra or crop top helpful.
• Breast buds are not replaced by anything else, nor do they disappear. They simply continue to grow into the breast shape we all recognise.

Your final breast size is partially linked to your own unique body shape and partially inherited (genetics from both sides of your family). By your late teens your breasts will most likely be fully developed, but it’s important to know that throughout many life stages breasts can change in both shape and size.

What are breasts made of?

It’s easy to get carried away with your new breast size and often we forget to ask what’s actually inside our breasts. Let’s take a closer look at parts of the breast and what they do!

• Fatty Tissue - during your teens and early twenties and when the breasts are developing they may feel quite firm and dense, don't worry they do become softer as they grow. Breasts contain quite a lot of fatty tissue; this means they can increase or decrease in size depending on weight gain or loss.
• Breasts themselves contains no muscle, so don’t be fooled into thinking you can do any form of exercise to make your breasts fuller. There are however muscles that lie behind the breast (Pectoralis minor and major) that help support the breast itself and very often it is the firmness of these muscles that helps keep the breasts lifted and in shape.
• The lymph nodes are tiny in size; about 1cm and their job is to filter any excess fluid from your breast and to help your body fight infection.
• Lobules sometimes referred to as your mammary glands are a few millimetres long and hollow. And this is where breast milk is produced and stored.
• Ducts almost look like tree branches within the breast and are responsible from carrying milk from the lobules to the nipple, during breast feeding.
• As you enter puberty you may notice that the circle surrounding your nipple starts to become larger and darker in colour. This is called your Areola no one really knows why this area changes colour during puberty, and it’s important to remember there is no right or wrong size or colour for this area to be, we are all different.
• You may start to notice little spot like lumps on your areola, these are called Montgomery glands and just like the body produces oil to keep your scalp and face moisturised, these glands do the same for your nipple and areola.
• To put it plainly the nipple is there to help deliver milk to a baby. But it is very sensitive and has many nerve endings, this is why when you are cold or the nipple is rubbed it can become hard and stand out.

SOME GIRLS ARE REALLY PROUD OF THEIR NEW SHAPE, WHILE OTHERS FEEL EMBARRASSED IF THEY DEVELOP BREASTS FIRST. EITHER WAY, JUST REMEMBER EVERYONE HITS PUBERTY AT DIFFERENT AGES AND NOWHERE DOES IT SAY ONE SIZE IS BETTER THAN THE OTHER!