BODY HAIR, FACIAL HAIR, PERSPIRATION, SPOTS AND OTHER PUBERTY CHANGES: VOICE CHANGES

by admin Posted in Men's Health-Erectile Dysfunction

Another change you may notice as you go through puberty is that your voice becomes lower and deeper. This happens because testosterone causes your larynx, or voice box (the part of your throat that contains your vocal cords), to grow larger. Your vocal cords get thicker and longer, and this changes the tone of your voice. Voice changes usually happen when a boy is about 14 or 15, but they may happen earlier or later than this.

For some boys, this voice change happens without their really noticing it:

I didn’t realize that my voice had changed, except that people stopped thinking I was my mother or my sister when I’d answer the phone.

Bill, age 19

For some boys the change in their voices is more sudden and noticeable:

My throat was sore for about a month or so, sort of scratchy. I thought I just had some kind of sore throat. My voice was froggy. I was always going ahem, ahem – you know, how you clear your throat. Afterwards I noticed my voice was deeper than before.

Phil, age 17

Some boys experience what is called ‘breaking’ of their voices as they’re going through this voice change. They’ll be talking in a normal voice and all of a sudden their voice will get very high and squeaky. A lot of boys found this breaking one of the most embarrassing things about going through puberty.

As one man explained:

I’d finally get up my nerve to call a girl on the phone and ask her for a date. I’d say, ‘Hi, Susie,’ or whatever her name was, ‘this is John’, and my voice would be just fine. I’d sound perfectly cool. Then I’d say, ‘Would you like to go to the cinema?’ – and right in the middle my voice would go all high and funny. It would sound like it was Minnie Mouse talking.

John, age 36

Another man said:

Really, it was the most embarrassing thing. It seemed like it happened all the time. I’d try to control my voice and never get really excited or happy-sounding. Any time I got nervous and excited, that’s when it would happen. I tried not to get too emotional, but of course I did. I never really got control over it. Finally, after a year or maybe it was two years, it stopped happening.

Tyrone, age 28

Your voice may change suddenly and dramatically or it may happen without your really noticing it. Like John and Tyrone, your voice may break and you may feel embarrassed about it, although there’s no real reason to be embarrassed, because people know it’s just a part of growing up. Eventually, though, your voice will ‘settle down’ and you’ll find yourself sounding more adult.

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