According to the Mayo Clinic, Turner syndrome (TS) is defined as “a condition that affects only girls and women, results from a missing or incomplete sex chromosome” causing a “variety of medical and developmental problems, including short stature, failure to begin puberty, infertility, heart defects and certain learning disabilities.”

TS can be diagnosed as early as infancy till as late as adolescent or young womanhood. Females will need continual medical attention from whatever specialist deemed necessary to meet their specialized health requirements. Thereby, allowing most to have a reasonable measure of health, which will enable them to live normal lives.

Symptoms

Signs noticed at birth or soon after may include:

Wide or web-like neck
Small lower jaw

Narrow palate
Low-set ears
Low hairline at back of the head
Drooping eyelids
Broad chest
Short hands
Arms that turn outward at the elbows
Fingernails turned upward
Swelling of hands/feet
Slightly smaller than average height at birth
Delayed growth

TS may get diagnosed in teen-aged girls or young women as well. In such cases, usually the symptoms are not as extreme. They may include:

No normal growth spurts
Short stature
Learning disabilities
Difficulty in social situations – i.e., understanding people’s emotions
Failure to sexually mature because of ovarian failure, resulting in no estrogen or hormone production
For most, no menstrual cycle or ability to conceive without fertility assistance

When to See the Doctor

If not otherwise diagnosed at the time, for babies, there are normal check-ups that should be kept for well-baby care anyway. But especially is this true if you notice anything yourself. Please do not hesitate to bring this to the attention of the pediatrician. Regular visits to the doctor gives him the opportunity to catch TS as early as possible say…if baby isn’t growing at the expected rate and/or puberty hasn’t started.

Comment on this post

We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.