Teen Girls' Health

News and Features Related to Teen Girls

31. 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

    Read Full Article
32. 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

    Read Full Article
33. 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

    Read Full Article
34. 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

    Read Full Article
35. Learning to Cope
    

    As a young girl you’re evolving rapidly into an adult—which means experiencing a new range of emotions. Learning to deal with these emotions is a vital skill that you’ll use for the rest of your life. You learn coping strategies from family and friends and also by trial and error. Here are some stra

    Read Full Article
36. Going to Pot: The Risks of Smoking Marijuana
    

      One of my patients, Beth, sixteen, smoked pot several times a week. Her mom knew about it but was afraid if she told Beth to stop, it would make things worse. “Then she’d just do it behind my back,” her mother told me. I told Beth the facts about marijuana and encouraged her to quit. “The health r

    Read Full Article
37. Just a Bad Day? Or a Mood Disorder?
    

      We all get in a bad mood sometimes (I sure do—just ask my family!). But most of the time we get over it. The good news is, as you become more mature, you also get smarter about what helps you get out of a bad mood. One patient of mine realized that she got bitchy whenever she stopped exercising—no

    Read Full Article
38. Bad Things Happen When You're Drunk
    

      Ever said anything you really regretted later? Done anything that made you feel like an idiot? Remember that miserable mortified feeling that made you wish you’d never been born? Getting drunk is like volunteering to feel that way all over again. It’s hard enough to say and do the right thing when

    Read Full Article
39. Help for Mood Disorders
    

    If you think you or a friend or family member might have depression or another mood disorder, tell someone—a parent, an adult friend, a teacher, or a doctor. If you don’t tell someone, things probably will get worse, not better. To diagnose a mood disorder, a doctor talks to you about your feelings

    Read Full Article
40. Complementary Treatments: Nutrition, Exercise, Heat, and Touch
    

      My patient Olivia had terrible cramps that started when she was about sixteen. When even prescription-strength ibuprofen didn’t work, I suggested the other standard prescription for severe periods—oral hormones (aka birth control pills). Olivia and her mother both looked a little nervous when I me

    Read Full Article