Teen Girls' Health

Features Related to Teen Girls' Health

21. Smoke Signals: What Your Cigarette Says About You
    

    About a million years ago—like, in the 60s and 70s—smoking was supposed to make you seem cool, sophisticated, and worldly. That image is total history. In movies and TV shows today it’s almost always the bad guy that smokes, not the hero. Today smoking doesn’t say “I’m cool.” Instead it gives off th

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22. Painful Periods
    

      Not a day goes by when a patient doesn’t come in for help with cramps, aches, and other period-related pain. That’s not surprising. Studies show that 60 to 92 percent of teenage girls have painful periods. So if you’re dealing with pain, know you’re not alone. About 15 percent of girls have pain t

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23. Suffering is Out: What You Can Do
    

      Even in normal periods, your monthly cycle can affect a lot more than your uterus and vagina. Some symptoms are easy to explain. Cramps, for instance, happen because your uterus contracts when it sheds its lining (called the endometrium)—similar to the way it contracts during labor. No wonder it h

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24. Prescription Drugs
    

      Over the past few years we’ve heard more and more about prescription drug use as a source of serious problems for teens. At one end of the spectrum is sneaking prescription medications from your parents’ medicine cabinet. At the other end there’s “pharming.” Possibly an urban legend, but one that

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25. Why We Get Periods
    

    My patient Jolie had heard it all in health class and even from her mother. But she still wasn’t totally clear on why we get periods. So I gave her the CliffsNotes version. At puberty the brain starts sending chemical signals to your body, via estrogen and other hormones, saying it’s time to get dow

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26. Talking to Your Boyfriend: Practice Makes Perfect
    

    One of the best tips I give my patients who want to delay sexual activity— but aren’t sure how to resist temptation—is to be prepared. Anticipate the obstacles that may pop up in your path and make a firm plan to deal with them. Preparation is key. Your plan might be as simple as figuring out how to

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27. Be Street Smart About Street Drugs
    

    If you think all drug users are gang members, rock stars, pro athletes, or homeless people, guess again. Hard-drug users are also suburban housewives, doctors, movie stars, and even high school students, like my patient Leslie. Smart and pretty, Leslie tried cocaine at age sixteen when her friends t

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28. Dealing with Friends
    

      A funny thing I’ve noticed: Although I talk to thousands of patients every year (many of those just before or just after they lose their virginity), none of them, not one teenage patient, has ever said to me, “Oh, Dr. Ashton, I love my boyfriend so much, and I really want to sleep with him because

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29. Happier Hormones: Treating Period Pain With the Pill
    

      Thirteen-year-old Brooke came to see me for horrible cramps. High-dose Motrin cut her pain in half within a few months. I could have prescribed oral hormones, but I usually try to avoid prescribing hormones within two years of the first menstrual period, while systems are still “working out the ki

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30. Birth Control Briefing
    

      Don’t expect to learn all you need to know about birth control in school. Many schools provide no instruction in birth control methods except for abstinence. It’s a shame, because there are more birth control options than ever, many newly approved for teens. Of course, condoms are still the only w

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