Young women will experience the most changes in their bodies during their adolescent years. Hormones will affect how their bodies shape and develop, grow and change; this is a time of awakening and a journey that can be exciting and daunting at the same time.
Adolescence is a time when young women need to learn to feel comfortable within themselves. Adjusting into this new skin is important for the emotional and psychological development that inevitably follows during this time. It is thus important that from early on, our teenagers feel secure and safe asking questions about their bodies, identifying what is normal and what is concerning, and learn what it means to be a woman.
There are many questions that sometimes are not necessarily answered well by relatives. Questions that may cause embarrassment on both sides and are sometimes avoided or not addressed appropriately. Teaching our teenagers to take responsibility for their own bodies and giving them confidence on how to best care for it is an important step that our practitioners at Alana are good at doing.
Most commonly addressed issues:
- Menstrual irregularities
- Heavy periods
- Painful periods
- No periods
- Sex and sexuality
- Pregnancy
- Contraception
- Sexually transmitted infections
- Pap smears
- Cervical cancer (HPV) vaccinations
- Irregular breast development
- Genital anomalies
- Sports effects on the reproductive system