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Suddenly you are going to bathe your daughter and you are faced with a volume in her breasts. But how so? She’s still a baby, what will that be? This breast enlargement in children is called the early thief.
Many parents are surprised by the evidence of breast development in baby girls. This situation can also be detected by the pediatrician in a routine visit and, therefore, parents should be warned about what it is.
What is Early Telarca?
Telarca is the medical term that refers to the development of breasts in girls, which usually occurs after 8 years of age and is accompanied by other signs of puberty , including a growth spurt.
The early telarca is considered for girls who develop small breasts (usually two centimeters or less), typically before 3 years of age .
Girls with early age do not have other signs of puberty. A girl who has started puberty will show an increase in breast size within 4 to 6 months , but a girl with early age may spend a year or more with little or no change in breast size, and in some cases they tend to decrease .
Usually, both breasts grow, but in some cases it affects only one side. The genitals show no signs of hormonal development or stimulation, and growth is generally not affected.
Girls with early age usually have their first menstrual period at a normal age. The problem occurs in less than 5% of girls of white ethnicity, in 12% of girls of black ethnicity and in 19% of girls who live in Latin America, with normal values of weight and growth.
In those with overweight and obesity, the prevalence of early telarche up to eight years of age is higher, compared to girls with normal weight.
Causes of Premature Breast Growth
The causes for early telarche are varied, and we can classify them as follows:
- Breast development of newborns
- Breast development due to exogenous exposure (external causes) to estrogen
- Early puberty
- Ovarian cysts or tumors
Breast hypertrophy (breast growth) in the newborn is produced by the effect of maternal and placental estrogens in normal babies, usually disappearing in a few days or months. Only on some occasions does it persist beyond the first year of life. There is no need to take any action, just observe the baby until the breast volume disappears and returns to normal.
Another common cause of early telarche is exposure to external estrogens . These estrogens (female hormones) can be found in vaginal creams, dermatology, hair toners or other hair products, oral contraceptives, foods like soy and chicken, etc.
Contact with creams that contain estrogen can happen through hygiene care provided by the mother or another person in charge of caring for the child.
In some girls who have an early telarche, small cysts are observed in their ovaries. One theory is that these cysts can produce a small amount of estrogen and then disappear, but the effect of estrogen on breast tissue may persist for some time.
The other causes correspond to childhood illnesses like puberty. The fact that the girl has breast development as the first sign of precocious puberty, should be a matter controlled by an endocrinologist, who will perform the necessary exams.
Symptoms of Early Telarca
The main and probably only symptom of early telarche is the presence of an increase in the volume of the mammary gland (usually 1 to 2 cm), of greater consistency than the adjacent tissue, which is usually painful to touch, sometimes with asymmetric development. .
Early Telarca Diagnosed
In a girl who has breast development before the age of 3, often all that is needed is patience and observation. At this age, true precocious puberty is rare, so any girl with breast development that barely changes over time and is growing at a normal rate on the growth chart is likely to have only the early telarch, without any major problems.
Thus, many doctors will not order tests. Some of them order blood tests, the most useful being the pituitary hormone called LH , which must be low, and the main estrogen hormone called estradiol, which must be normal for age or slightly increased.
Some doctors will also order an X-ray of the left hand (also called bone age), but it is rare that bone age is significantly advanced in cases of early telarche.
For girls who develop breasts between the ages of 6 and 8, it is still possible to happen early, but early puberty is much more likely.
If the early telarche of these girls is accompanied by other symptoms of precocious puberty, such as accelerated growth, appearance of pubic hair and other signs of puberty, it is necessary to consult a specialist to try to establish the cause of this problem and stop puberty, as these girls if they show menarche (menstruation) at an early age, they will generally be short in stature because the growth cartilages will close and their growth will stop.
Therefore, it is important that careful monitoring is carried out, which shows changes in the amount of breast tissue over time. Therefore, the tests in this case are extremely important.
Early Telarca Treatment
Once this condition is diagnosed, it does not progress and there are no complications, there are no treatments to be done. These girls should not be consulted by a surgeon, as breast cancer is not known at this age and surgery should never be considered.
Follow-up studies have shown that it is unusual for a girl with an early age to start before 3 years of age to develop true early puberty at a later age.
These girls go through puberty at a normal age, that is, the early telarca leaves no sequelae in those who developed the condition.
See also: Breast Accessory – What is it?
My name is Dr. Alexis Hart I am 38 years old, I am the mother of 3 beautiful children! Different ages, different phases 16 years, 12 years and 7 years. In love with motherhood since always, I found it difficult to make my dreams come true, and also some more after I was already a mother.
Since I imagined myself as a mother, in my thoughts everything seemed to be much easier and simpler than it really was, I expected to get pregnant as soon as I wished, but it wasn’t that simple. The first pregnancy was smooth, but my daughter’s birth was very troubled. Joana was born in 2002 with a weight of 2930kg and 45cm, from a very peaceful cesarean delivery but she had already been born with congenital pneumonia due to a broken bag not treated with antibiotics even before delivery.
