Teenage Steroids

Anabolic steroids can be taken orally, by injection or in creams or gels. Steroids are testosterone that is used to enhance performance in sports and to enhance a person’s physique. Over a period of time users become more dependent on the steroids since they feel better when using them than without them. Dependency continues since the teen does not want to lose their “edge” in athletics and they want to continue to enhance their physique.

In teenage boys, the first noticeable signs of using anabolic steroids are a rapid gain in muscle and/or weight at an alarming rate, sudden outbreaks of acne and recurrent mood swings. Long-term use of anabolic steroids in boys can result in shrinking of the testicles, reduced sperm count, including to the degree of infertility, development of breasts and an increased risk for prostate cancer. Teenage girls are also using steroids to get that lean but muscular look. Researchers have found that the number of teenage girls using anabolic steroids has doubled since 1991. Some permanent side effects of teenage girls using anabolic steroids include baldness, deepening of the voice, and shrinkage of breast size and enlargement of the clitoris.

Anabolic steroids are especially dangerous for teenagers because their bones aren't fully developed. The signs of teens using anabolic steroids include aggressiveness and combativeness, jaundice (the yellow color in the skin, the mucous membranes, or the eyes), purple or red spots on the body, swelling of feet and lower legs, trembling, unexplained darkening of the skin, persistent unpleasant breath odor, severe acne breakouts and oily skin.

Steroid abusers have been known to take doses 10 to 100 times higher than the amount prescribed by a doctor for medical reasons. As part of a 2009 NIDA-funded study, teens were asked if they ever tried steroids—even once. Among respondents, only 1.3 percent of 8th- and 10th-graders and 2.2 percent of 12th-graders ever tried steroids.