GynoFiles

Hormone treatment when used as a pill, a shot, a patch, or a topical arm-applied gel is likely  a pharmacological dose of estrogen, meaning that the effects will go systemically into all tissues.Very small doses, used locally, on the genital tissues, are thought to have only local effects on the vagina and the vulva. Even for women with a uterus, it is not likely they will have uterine lining effects from the use of local estrogen. For women without a uterus, it has generally been thought that the vaginal tissues will all function the same. It is known that the upper vaginal has more systemic absorption of estrogen than the lower vagina. We can take this fact into consideration when treating painful sex, poor arousal, vaginal dryness, chronic infections, and the other common complaints that women experience. By confining treatment to the lower portion of the vagina, it is possible to self control the amount of systemic absorption a woman gets from her vaginal estrogen.  E...

Relatively common are Gartner's Duct Cysts, they do not normally get this large. Other cysts of the vagina could be an inclusion cysts, vaginal wall tumors, Bartholin's Duct cysts, or other types of infections. The Gartner's duct is present in all women, but it usually shrinks and never is discovered. Cysts can contain water, infection, blood, or tumor. In this case the cyst had developed old blood which became almost a creamy consistency and brown in color.

Painful sex in breast cancer patients is due to the effects of severe lack of estrogen that causes significant vaginal aging and thinning. In many breast cancer patients the effects of low estrogen at the time of menopause compounds the low estrogen effect. If the area is not treated sex becomes impossible. At Women’s Health Practice weadvocate therapy in breast cancer patients to regenerate the lining without havingto use hormones. In the treatments such as with MonaLisa Touch , a non-invasive therapy that treats the source of pain and heals the tissues. In a new study it was discovered that topical liquid lidocaine gel with the use of a lubricant can treat pain with an episode of sex in about 95% of the patients who participated. The study was led by Martha F. Goetsch, MD, MPH, from Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, note. Her study results were presented in 2014 at the annual meetings of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and th...

Non-hormonal vaginal health is the current buzz word. While estrogen therapy is fast, effective and safe for vaginal health through perimenopause and menopause, and the SERM Osphena appealing because of the benefits beyond vaginal health, it's the alternatives that are gaining traction current. The most shocking news yet is the finding that SSRI treatment can be beneficial for vaginal health. Since the introduction of Prozac, a medication that alters serotonin for the treatment of depression, there has been an expansion of the use of all of serotonin modulators for the treatment of a variety of conditions including sexual function, smoking cessation, and pain syndromes. When used in a study of hot flash treatment it was found that a short eight week course venlafaxine improved the vaginal dryness and pain of intercourse of sex and that it was even better than low dosage estrogen in this trial. Just improving mood and having more sex is also beneficial for vaginal health, so do no...

Osphena is a newly approved prescription medication for menopausal women with painful intercourse. Painful intercourse, or dysparunia, in menopausal women is due to the thinning and dryness of the vaginal walls. If a woman is experiencing more than painful intercourse it is called the post-menopausal vulvovaginal syndrome . The active ingredient in Osphena is ospemifene which was studied in three clinical trials. It is related to estrogen, and thus it is possible that it will thicken the lining tissue of the uterus. any women with post menopausal bleeding needs to contact her health care provider regarding that symptoms. Women who are using medication for vaginal atrophy. The Women's Health Practice Clinical Research Division wants to thank our research trial participants in the research trials for ospemifene, and hope they hear about the successful treatment. The medication can cause some vaginal discharge, and some women reported hot flashes and muscle spasms. The risk of having...

Pap tests can be used to judge your sexual health. This is the test called a Maturation Index: this is not a cancer test, but it is a type of pap smear. It is done with the same collection technique of getting cells from the cervix with a swab and placing them in fluid or on a slide. It is an analysis of the vaginal wall cells from the upper third of the vagina. 100 cells are evaluated and the proportion of the parabasal cells (the lower most layer that sits on the top of what is called the basement membrane), the intermediate and the superficial cells. Prior to menopause, if you have a normal healthy vaginal wall you will have somewhere between 40-70/100 intermediate cells and about 40-60/100 superficial cells, and no parabasal cells. If you have early menopause, and a bit of estrogen, you may start having some parabasal cells when your maturation index is taken. Once women are fully in menopause, and the vaginal walls become atrophic, then they may have as many as 65/100 cells as ...

Love Locks, Prague, Czech Republic Fertility forced sex is not as fun as functional, and anything that causes the function to be improved definitely helps the sex lead to a baby. As fertility physicians discovered: getting pregnant is directly related to having more sex! And if not other experts say we will just turn to test tube babies by 205 0. But before we panic, first do what you can to make sure you are healthy for a pregnancy , and visit your gyno for that. Next do what you can to optimize your natural fertility . Do try all your best moves, and if wetness is a problem: no worries, try lubricants! About a fourth of us used lubricants for sex in the past month. So fertility patients trying to have sex should they be concerned that these lubricants can decrease the viable sperm count? The research shows that when sperm and sex gel meet in a dish the common lubricants like KY Jelly, Astroglide can stop sperm in their tracks. Some women use coconut oil and that really has ...

Moderate Cystocele, Atrophic Vaginal Tissue  The base of the bladder is located in the upper vaginal wall. When that wall protrudes into the vagina or through the vaginal opening, the medical term is cystocele. Some will just call it vaginal wall prolapse. Factors that cause the wall to weaken: age, straining, birthing, or even overly full bladders on a chronic basis. In the case when the cystocele is more than just a fullness when your bladder has filled the condition becomes a bulge and the condition is called a cystocele. For most women, it's something you are first told about at a gyno exam. Some women hear an actual pop and then notice the bulging. Others just notice that there is tissue plopping into their vagina. Other women just report discomfort with intercourse. Kegals exercises for your pubococcygeous muscles or strengthening balls (yes, you've been reading about these in your 50 Shades book!) help to make the muscles strong, but will nev...

Sex is definitely healthy and now and then it needs to be spiced up. Sex toys are definitely one way to spice up your sex life, and sex toy stories.seem to be abounding. No need to wonder where to get them, as you can buy them at tea parties, in your spa catalogs, at your gyno's office or Walgreens, women are enjoying options for sexuality that they never had before! Sex toys are often recommended by gynos. They can be very successful dilators, they can bridge gaps between partners or when your partner is on a trip, they can help with Kegal's exercise, just to name a few obvious benefits. Vaginal dilators are prescribed by gynecologists for chronic infections and vaginal pain with intercourse, for women with bladder pain conditions, for women with lichen sclerosus and for women with vulvodynia or vaginitis. For the most part, there are specific medically sized dilators that are used, but in fact you can get some double duty from your sex toys. But being safe, and making sure t...

Lichen Sclerosus Lichen sclerosus is a chronic condition that will cause itching, burning, skin changes and eventually changes to your vulvar anatomy. It may make you more susceptible to yeast or bacterial infections, but discharge is not usually a common symptom from this condition alone. Women of any age can get this, cases as young as girls prior to puberty have been reported, it's not thought to be caused by infection. Looking at the conditions of the external tissues a physician cannot always make an accurate diagnosis, but the tissue has characteristic thin white paper look that has been called "cigarette paper" look. So the most accurate way to diagnoses is a biopsy Severe Lichen Sclerosus with Ulceration without a biopsy. If there is a condition that presents itself and then clears up with treatment, that may be a situation that wouldn't need a biopsy. But conditions that do not clear up with treatment especially are good cases for a biopsy. One sign...

In the new position statement from NAMS on hormone therapy there is a differentiation between hormone therapy with estrogen and hormone therapy with progesterone and estrogen, and there has been some differentiation between hormone therapy over the skin verses systemic pill therapy. There has also now been a distinction between the various types of vaginal estrogen treatments. We have known that vaginal estrogen can normalize not only the lining tissue back to the condition prior to or during the menopausal transition, but it normalizes the vaginal environment and the types of bacteria. Through this effect it can result in fewer chronic bladder infections. Also in the position statement, they point out that the 2 mm vaginal ring, which leaks estrogen on a daily basis, can in fact reduce the symptoms of over-active bladder as well. So if you happen to have chronic bladder issues that are not resolving, see your gyno, perhaps she has suggestions for you that can help.

If you are around the age of menopause or beyond and you have painful intercourse you may have post-menopausal vaginal syndrome . Estrogen during the premenopausal years is important for walls of the vaginal and the tissues of the vulva to remain healthy. It is important for the whole urogenital tract to remain healthy, so even the urethra and the tissues near the anus can become affected when the levels of estrogen decline as women get older. With post-menopausal vaginal syndrome women may experience vaginal dryness, vaginal discharge, burning with urination, itching of the vaginal area, and itching of the area of tissue between the vagina and the rectum known as the perineum. In severe cases women will report bleeding after sex, bleeding after exercising or spot bleeding unexpectedly. If you have a pelvic exam you may be told by your gyno that you have vaginal atrophy which is a thinning and dryness of the vaginal walls. Lack of estrogen and the post-menopausal vaginal sy...

Graves and Pederson Speculums Sex shouldn't hurt. It's an immediate signal to get to the gyno if it's a new problem, and it's a signal to get around to an appointment if it's been going on awhile. In younger women it's likely to be an infection that's easily treatable, in ollder women it's likely to be low levels of estrogen that is also an easily treatable condition. And when you are checked, tiniest of speculums can help the examination be tolerable!