GynoFiles

Patients often ask, how much is too much bleeding? Or what is normal? As a doctor, we tell them that if they are bleeding through more than one pad an hour, they have 'heavy bleeding.' The picture on the right shows examples.

We urge women with heavy menstrual bleeding to seek answers, get therapies and if interested, participate in a clinical research trial . Uterine fibroids, uterine polyps, and hormonal imbalance get so much talk on gyno blog, if we have a heavy menstrual period we assume it's one of those conditions. And it would be smart for your gyno to rule out that cause. But there are other, less common, and more hidden causes of bleeding. If you have had a normal pelvic exam, a normal endometrial biopsy, you seem to have hormones in balance considering you have regular periods, there may be other, actually medical conditions as the cause. Could it be a deficiency of Factor VIII needed for clotting? Von Willebrand factor which carries Factor VIII can be low. When this factor is low, it leads to Factor VIII to be low which can cause bleeding. It check for on a blood test about 1 percent of women will have this. Bleeding Bleeding Bleeding on your Period? Yes, VWF deficiency can be a ca...

A recent article about the ways to make your workouts 'easie r' focused on some excellent health tips like better sleep, a few nutrition tips, and some tips about warm up. Here are a few focused tips specifically for women who have menstrual periods, beyond making sure you hydrate especially well, make sure you are consistent with your Kegal's exercises, and don't skip exercising when you are on your menstrual period. Exercise has long been shown to be a helpful preventative of dysmenorrhea or menstrual cramping. and the way the menstrual cycle hormones are, apparently strength building is extra good during the menstrual cycle , relative to training on non-period days! Although aerobic exercise is critically important as part of any lifestyle, even stretching exercises have been shown to reduce menstrual cramps . We also think that estrogen protects the heart, and in fact there are healthier heart rate patterns around ovulation, and not much overall heart rate effect...

Women have benefited from the ACA in many ways, and less out of pocket dollars and planning their pregnancies is an important way they have benefited from getting their contraception covered. However, the patients, their insurers, their workplaces, and society has benefited even more from the important non-contraceptive benefits that come from contraceptive use. Just to name of few that are directly a benefit from the oral contraceptive pills: 1. Control of heavy uterine bleeding and menstrual cramps (dysmenorrhea) 2. Prevention of ovarian cysts, and preventions of surgeries for these cysts 3. Lower Rates of  (endometrial cancer) 4. Lower rates of ovarian cancer 5. Less Ovarian cancer 6. Less colon cancer 7.  Less pelvic inflammatory disease 8. Healthier, planned pregnancies 9.  Less Anemia 10 .Fewer fibrocystic breast changes 11. Healthier bones 12. Less PMS 13. Less Endometriosis 14. Less infertility

Most menstrual cramps are not "in one's head." Most menstrual cramps have a cause and a treatment. But then apparently some gynos have come to see some as psychogenic! To be sure there are those women post hysterectomy who feel "cramps" just like their former periods, but otherwise, again, most cramps have a cause. Psychogenic dysmenorrhea is an actual diagnosis that is so obscure it appears in the billing codes, 306.52, but oddly doesn't appear in gynecologic text books. Psychogenic dysmenorrhea is apparently thinking you have menstrual cramps that you don't actually have. Dysmenorrhea, the actual disease, is a condition of painful menses. Like many conditions with pain as their major symptom your physician takes your word for it, and doesn't question the validity of 'did you really have a cramp.' We know that actual menstrual cramps exist. Researchers have documented physical contractions equivalent to the uterine contractions in labor, an...

Amenorrhea is the absence of menstruation. For women who used to have a period and now doesn't, she is said to have secondary amenorrhea . For those wo never had a period, that is primary amenorrhea and that is a very different condition. One or more missed menstrual periods is just a missed period, but over 90 days or three cycles in a row with no bleeding is termed amenorrhea. It is also true if you have not yet had a period by the age of 16 you have amenorrhea. The most common cause for amenorrhea is pregnancy. Other causes would include problems with the reproductive organs, or with the glands that help regulate hormone levels. Treatment of the underlying condition would resolved the condition. The first test is a pregnancy, and this should be done on blood.   women need in early pregnancy would be checking for anemia, checking their blood count, their blood type, whether they have infections like HIV, hepatitis or syphilis, and checking for immunity to vaccine treatable infe...

Overall nutritious diet and not having any actual vitamin deficiencies helps all medical conditions, and for women with persistent problems in spite of their own dietary adjustments are candidates to get their vitamin blood levels checked. But here's a list of the main nutrients every woman should include to reduce menstrual cramping:  Calcium, also reduces PMS symptoms, up to about 1000 mg/day  Magnesium200-400 mg daily during the menstrual cycle  Vitamin E, can be taken as Primrose oil, 400 IU of E a day, watch medications that cause bleeding as they both can increase your blood loss from your period while stopping the cramps  Vitamin B6, or Pyridoxine, 100-200 mg/day, consult your physician if you have any neurological symptoms

                                The gyno uses of peppermint are many! it can be used with cold compresses or cabbage leaves for the anesthetic properties it has, it's fresh leaves have a significant amount of vitamin C, and when applied to the forehead it can help relive headaches. In aromatherapy it has been said to increase energy, stimulate concentration, and stimulate blood flow. For women who get bowel complaints with their menstrual periods taking in peppermint tea can help with colic, diarrhea, and gas. If it's that time of the month, pop peppermint on your shopping list. It's in the natural gynos kitchen at all times!

In women whom have painful periods adenomyosis, a condition of the uterus, is a possible diagnosis. It’s less likely to just be adenomyosis if the patient complains of chronic pelvic pain, more than pain with the periods which is also called dysmenorrhea. Adenomyosis doesn’t cause ovarian cysts and should have no relationship to pains that occurred with a current or prior ovarian cyst. Adenomyosis, a condition of glands from the uterine lining being entrapped within the wall of the uterus, generally by itself, if just a few glands, in a normal size uterus, the condition causes minimal symptoms. But a common finding in women with adenomyosis is an enlarged uterus. Almost 90% of the cases of adenomyosis occur in women who have had children, and the first symptoms usually occur when a woman is 40 or 50 years old. When the uterus is enlarged it is more common for the woman to have uterine prolapse. Uterine prolapse lifetime risk is about 1/11; but with adenomyosis the risk of having...

1. Dysmenorrhea or Painful periods 2. Painful Intercourse or Dysparunia 3. Painful Urination or Dysuria 4. Painful bowel movements or Dyschezia 5. Lower back pain 6. Abdominal discomfort 7. Mid Cycle pelvic pain 8. Pelvic Pain throughout the Cycle 9. Ovulation Pain 10. Blood in urine or with bowel movements Endometriosis is a disease of the pelvis in which growths of cells, that is similar to, but not identical uterine lining tissue, appear in locations not just within the wall of the uterus. Endometriosis is a cause of pelvic pain, and the most common reason women are treated by their gynos for pelvic pain. Delaying the diagnosis of endometriosis can cause progression, but the symptoms may be mild at first or thought to be due to something else. All medical therapies for endometriosis also decrease a woman's estrogen in her body. Because of this management of endometriosis can be very difficult and lead to side effects that need treatment. In many cases women suffe...

Preventing Acne: three pills are approved for acne control, most all do work for this Treating PMS Preventing Endometriosis Preventing Ovarian Cysts Preventing Menstrual Cramps Preventing Heavy Menstrual Bleeding Preventing Menstrual Migraines Stopping Periods (if you don't want them! or just arrange them when you do!) Decreases Ovarian, Colon and Uterine Lining Cancer Makes periods predictable    11. Shrink Fibroids (not in every study, but in many they do)    12. Better Bones: this is for women over 40, for younger women the effect is probably neutral    13. Less Benign (non-cancerous) Breast Disease    14. Fewer Irregular Menstrual Periods