General Women's Health Specialist

What is women's health?

Women's health covers a broad range of medical conditions and experiences unique to women.

At puberty, girls start their periods and can experience problems such as irregularity, heavy bleeding, pain, and cramps, or in some cases, an absence of periods. Issues like these can affect you right up to menopause, which brings its own set of challenges.

Women's health also includes urinary problems such as urinary tract infections (UTIs) and urinary incontinence. Fertility, pregnancy, childbirth, and postnatal care are also significant aspects of women's health.

Taking control of your reproductive organs is vital for good mental and physical health. Choosing when or if to have children ensures you only experience pregnancy when it's right for you, and this makes birth control an essential aspect of women's health.

The female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone can affect you both physically and emotionally. An imbalance can cause conditions like premenstrual syndrome (PMS) as well as the symptoms of menopause. Lack of estrogen in later life also increases your risk of developing bone health problems like osteoporosis.

What kinds of conditions does women's health cover?

As well as menstrual problems, menopausal symptoms, and urinary tract disorders, conditions and symptoms that come under women's health include yeast and bacterial infections, breast disorders, painful intercourse, and vaginal discomfort.

Specific conditions women's health covers include:

• Ovarian cysts
• Uterine fibroids
• Endometriosis
• PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome)
• Ovarian and cervical cancers
• Primary ovarian insufficiency
• Pelvic prolapse
  
  

STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) can affect your genitals and cause serious fertility problems in some cases, so they also come under women's health.

To make certain you stay as healthy as possible and to prevent many of these problems, the Interior Women's Health team provides regular well-woman exams for their patients.

What is a well-woman exam?

A well-woman exam is a specialist type of physical, where your provider at Interior Women's Health reviews your physical and mental condition with a focus on women's health issues.

The first step is checking your vital signs and going over any issues or symptoms you're experiencing. You then undergo a pelvic exam, where your provider at Interior Women's Health examines you internally to check for any problems with your vagina and cervix.

If you're due for one, they do a Pap smear during your pelvic exam, which involves taking a sample of the cells on your cervix. The cells go to the laboratory for analysis to detect any changes.

These changes can indicate whether any cells are becoming cancerous, although most positive Pap smear results don't mean you have cancer. Having a Pap smear enables you to receive treatment at the earliest stage, preventing the fatal outcome of untreated cervical cancer.

The Interior Women's Health motto is "care for women throughout life," a promise they uphold for all their patients. Call their office today to schedule a well-woman exam or book an appointment online.