- Second puberty is not an official medical term but describes the physical changes in your 20s, 30s and 40s.
- Some experience it as a leveling out of the proportions of their body while others are hit hard to the point of illness.
- In your late 30s and 40s, hormone levels decrease, which affects skin elasticity and the menstrual cycle.
- Men experience peak muscle and bone mass in their 20s while, in later years, they can experience ‘male menopause’
You’ve hit your mid 20s and suddenly your stomach, breasts and thighs are changing just like you’re going through another round of puberty.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone in this phenomenon.
While there technically is no such thing as a ‘second puberty’, as you age your body continues to change in areas like bone mass, muscle strengths and more regular menstrual cycles in your 20s.
Over time your hormone levels start to decline, making for more changes in your 30s and your 40s.
We had to get to the bottom of this so-called second puberty – so we chatted with gynaecologist, obstetrician and fertility specialist Dr Qinisile ‘Q’ Cele, who gave us all the insight into these changes.
What is second puberty?
As much as it isn’t an official medical term, this colloquial phrase is more of something to conceptualise this interesting change to our bodies as we navigate adulthood.
Dr Q explains it as “a slang phrase used to describe the physical, emotional and hormonal changes experienced in the body during the 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond. Medically speaking, second puberty is a misnomer as the body only goes through puberty once, at the time of adolescence (8-14 years). The bodily changes experienced as one ages seem similar to what is encountered during adolescent puberty and thus the colloquial term ‘second puberty’.”
Everyone’s body is different and so is how they experience this physical, hormonal and emotional change in adulthood.
Shamiso, 28, shares with us how gaining weight after her 27th birthday leveled out her body proportions.
“I feel like I got a bit chubby first and I was like, ‘Oh, what am I going to do with this?’ and then within the year, my body fat … started going to the right places. Like, I have more of a bum now, I didn’t have a bum before. My boobs got a lot bigger – it went up a cup size but I’ve always had boobs. So, I can say that I feel like it gave me more curves and like a womanly figure.
“That’s what it really did, that was my second puberty. I honestly used to be more on the petite side but now I’m more of like a slim thick, that’s what my figure is turning into.”
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What’s really happening to your body?
As much as we can chalk it up to the natural ageing process, Dr Q gives us a detailed look into what is really going on in the body.
“As women naturally age, the brain-ovary-reproductive system axis of hormone production matures and around the early 20s, this results in more stable and regular periods as compared to adolescence ages,” she explains.
“This also results in the buildup of the body’s peak physical state by gain of muscle strength and bone mass. These very hormones could simultaneously result in that unwanted acne and oily skin experienced during puberty ages now featuring again in young adulthood.”
Didi, 33, had more of a harrowing experience as she journeyed into her young adulthood, leaving her body struggling to fight off the common cold.
“The second puberty hit me quite hard. My health also began to deteriorate due to, I guess, what would be a poor lifestyle. It took a while to recover from small sicknesses like flu. I found that I suffered a lot of also like fibroids in my mid-20s,” she shares.
“So, it really was sort of a hard knock for me, what happened to me with the second puberty but what I did was I changed my lifestyle. I started working out more, I started then having to be more conscious of what I eat, how I spend my time. Also definitely making use of stress relievers to ensure that I can keep up with the rate at which my body is changing but still give it nutrients and natural stimulations for it to strengthen because the second puberty hit me quite hard.”
Your 30s, 40s and beyond
These changes don’t just stop there. As you get older, hormone levels start to decrease giving way to looser skin and lighter periods until menopause hits.
Dr Q says, “In the late 30s, women start to experience a decline in hormones and thus the signs of loss of skin elasticity, start of wrinkling and less hair mass. The reproductive system is affected by a decline in fertility, lighter periods and vaginal dryness. The process of decreasing in bone and muscle mass begins at this stage as well leading to the next decade of adulthood.
“The 40s are known as the perimenopausal ages as the body draws down towards menopause where ovarian estrogen production is depleted, and a cascade of estrogen deficiency symptoms begin. In this decade women experience mood swings, loss of libido, vaginal dryness and pain, hot flashes, irregular periods, etc. There is muscle strength and bone mass loss with more sagging skin evident.”
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Men get it too
Men aren’t exempt from the body changes and natural ageing process either, even if it presents itself differently.
“In early adulthood they gain their peak bone and muscle mass with all that stamina in their twenties. This also wanes down in their 30s and 40s as there is a decline in bone and muscle mass,” Dr Q explains.
“They experience skin laxity, graying of hair, erectile dysfunction and fertility decline. The term andropause, colloquially referred to as ‘male menopause’ is the syndrome associated with a decrease in sexual satisfaction or function and decline in the feeling of general well-being in men as the levels of testosterone decline with age.”
