3 Common Below-the-Belt Health Issues and How to Deal With Them
From your first period to your most recent orgasm, you've had one thing on your mind:What's going on down there?And just when you think you know everything about your lady parts, they surprise you. "Women in their 30s and 40s are often starting to experience medical conditions like fibroids or dryness that impact everything from their menstrual cycle to intercourse to simply how they feel about themselves," says Pamela Berens, MD, professor of ob-gyn at the University of Texas Health Science Center.
Don't worry: We're not going to make you get a hand mirror and examine yourself. But we're not going to tiptoe around gyno issues, either, and neither should you. Here are the best ways to handle menstrual mysteries, puzzling pains and other very personal problems.
Problem No. 1: Vaginitis
The lowdown: Got discharge and itching or burning? You probably have vaginitis—vaginal inflammation due to irritation or infection. The most common culprits are yeast infections, which are caused by fungus overgrowth, and bacterial vaginosis (BV), resulting from bacterial overgrowth. You may be particularly prone to vaginitis if you've recently finished a course of antibiotics (they can throw off the normal balance of microbes in your vagina), you have diabetes or your hormone levels are in flux, as happens around pregnancy and menopause, says Mary Jane Minkin, MD, an ob-gyn at the Yale School of Medicine.
What it feels like: You'll have irritation and extra discharge (grayish white and foul-smelling if it's BV; cottage cheese--like if it's yeast). It may also hurt to have sex, and you could see light vaginal bleeding or spotting.
Rx: If you think it's a yeast infection but over-the-counter meds don't work, see your doc. Yeast and BV are easily confused but have different remedies: A yeast infection is usually treated with an over-the-counter antifungal med such as Monistat; BV requires antibiotics.
Problem No. 2: Dryness
The lowdown: Low estrogen is the usual suspect for women over 35; levels of the hormone plummet during perimenopause, as well as when you're breast-feeding, making your vaginal tissue thinner and drier.
What it feels like: Vaginal itching, stinging, burning and soreness, in addition to pain or light bleeding during sex.
Rx: Pick up a vaginal moisturizer like Replens, plus a water-based lubricant such as Astroglide or K-Y Jelly to use during sex, advises Hilda Hutcherson, MD, professor of ob-gyn at Columbia University Medical Center. Nookie time in fact helps relieve dryness (the more activity down there, the more blood flow, which makes vaginal tissue more elastic). If dryness is still a problem, your ob-gyn can prescribe topical estrogen in the form of a cream, ring or tablet.
Problem No. 3: Fibroids
The lowdown: Up to 80 percent of women develop these noncancerous uterine growths. "A single cell in the muscle wall of the uterus divides again and again, forming a rubbery benign tumor," says Susan Haas, MD, clinician in residence at Northeastern University's Health Care Systems Engineering Institute in Boston. They seem to be hereditary and are most frequently diagnosed in your 30s and 40s, partly due to hormone production—progesterone is key to promoting fibroid growth. African American women are particularly susceptible; you're also more at risk if you're overweight or eat a diet high in red meat.
What they feel like: Usually nothing. But if they're large or in certain areas of the uterus, they can cause heavy and/or too-long periods, pelvic pain, pain during sex, frequent urination and back or leg pain.
Rx: Most of the time, no treatment is needed: Fibroids often shrink once you hit menopause, when your hormone levels are no longer high enough to fuel their growth. But if they're causing symptoms, or if you're having trouble getting pregnant, your gyno will need to take a closer look. If heavy bleeding is a problem, first-line treatment is usually birth control pills or a progestin IUD. Medications such as Lupron can shrink fibroids by blocking the production of estrogen and progesterone. (Since these drugs temporarily throw you into menopause, however, don't use them for longer than six months.) If medications aren't effective, you may need to undergo a more invasive procedure, such as uterine artery embolization, which eliminates fibroids by cutting off blood flow to them, or a myomectomy (surgical removal).
Don't worry: We're not going to make you get a hand mirror and examine yourself. But we're not going to tiptoe around gyno issues, either, and neither should you. Here are the best ways to handle menstrual mysteries, puzzling pains and other very personal problems.
Problem No. 1: Vaginitis
The lowdown: Got discharge and itching or burning? You probably have vaginitis—vaginal inflammation due to irritation or infection. The most common culprits are yeast infections, which are caused by fungus overgrowth, and bacterial vaginosis (BV), resulting from bacterial overgrowth. You may be particularly prone to vaginitis if you've recently finished a course of antibiotics (they can throw off the normal balance of microbes in your vagina), you have diabetes or your hormone levels are in flux, as happens around pregnancy and menopause, says Mary Jane Minkin, MD, an ob-gyn at the Yale School of Medicine.
What it feels like: You'll have irritation and extra discharge (grayish white and foul-smelling if it's BV; cottage cheese--like if it's yeast). It may also hurt to have sex, and you could see light vaginal bleeding or spotting.
Rx: If you think it's a yeast infection but over-the-counter meds don't work, see your doc. Yeast and BV are easily confused but have different remedies: A yeast infection is usually treated with an over-the-counter antifungal med such as Monistat; BV requires antibiotics.
Problem No. 2: Dryness
The lowdown: Low estrogen is the usual suspect for women over 35; levels of the hormone plummet during perimenopause, as well as when you're breast-feeding, making your vaginal tissue thinner and drier.
What it feels like: Vaginal itching, stinging, burning and soreness, in addition to pain or light bleeding during sex.
Rx: Pick up a vaginal moisturizer like Replens, plus a water-based lubricant such as Astroglide or K-Y Jelly to use during sex, advises Hilda Hutcherson, MD, professor of ob-gyn at Columbia University Medical Center. Nookie time in fact helps relieve dryness (the more activity down there, the more blood flow, which makes vaginal tissue more elastic). If dryness is still a problem, your ob-gyn can prescribe topical estrogen in the form of a cream, ring or tablet.
Problem No. 3: Fibroids
The lowdown: Up to 80 percent of women develop these noncancerous uterine growths. "A single cell in the muscle wall of the uterus divides again and again, forming a rubbery benign tumor," says Susan Haas, MD, clinician in residence at Northeastern University's Health Care Systems Engineering Institute in Boston. They seem to be hereditary and are most frequently diagnosed in your 30s and 40s, partly due to hormone production—progesterone is key to promoting fibroid growth. African American women are particularly susceptible; you're also more at risk if you're overweight or eat a diet high in red meat.
What they feel like: Usually nothing. But if they're large or in certain areas of the uterus, they can cause heavy and/or too-long periods, pelvic pain, pain during sex, frequent urination and back or leg pain.
Rx: Most of the time, no treatment is needed: Fibroids often shrink once you hit menopause, when your hormone levels are no longer high enough to fuel their growth. But if they're causing symptoms, or if you're having trouble getting pregnant, your gyno will need to take a closer look. If heavy bleeding is a problem, first-line treatment is usually birth control pills or a progestin IUD. Medications such as Lupron can shrink fibroids by blocking the production of estrogen and progesterone. (Since these drugs temporarily throw you into menopause, however, don't use them for longer than six months.) If medications aren't effective, you may need to undergo a more invasive procedure, such as uterine artery embolization, which eliminates fibroids by cutting off blood flow to them, or a myomectomy (surgical removal).
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