Your emotional health is just as important as your physical health. Know that you are not alone. Seeking help is the best thing you can do for yourself and your family.
Through a new openness to talk about menopause, there's more help available to women who are having difficulty coping with this time in their lives.
A woman's body is very different and more developed than the body of a young or adolescent girl, and the gynecologic problems of younger females need special expertise.
Women & Infants Hospital offers a variety of health education programs aimed at keeping you and your family healthy.
When you are experiencing a change in your life with pregnancy or have added stress due to illness, there is nothing more beneficial than meeting other women who are dealing with similar issues.
Women’s Care is a unique practice that consists of a collaborative team of obstetric and gynecologic physicians along with certified nurse midwives. Our mission is to provide comprehensive and first-rate obstetric, gynecologic, midwifery, and wellness services.
We are passionately committed to assisting both men and women in building a family, no matter their fertility challenges or sexual orientation.
If you need to discuss abortion care for pregnancy, please feel free to contact the Family Planning Clinic.
Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system, most often the liver and kidneys.
What is heavy bleeding?
Heavy menstrual bleeding, or menorrhagia, is prolonged or very heavy menstrual bleeding that could be related to various health conditions, including hormones or diseases. It is a treatable problem.
Causes
When an egg is not fertilized, the lining of the uterine wall begins to deteriorate and break down, which causes bleeding.
HormonesDiseases and other causes
Symptoms
If a tampon or pad has to be changed every one or two hours and is soaked through or bleed for longer than a week, a healthcare provider should be sought.
Diagnosis
Treatment
What is Polycystic ovarian syndrome?
Polycystic ovarian syndrome is a series of symptoms due to issues with women’s hormones and affects the ovaries. In polycystic ovarian syndrome cysts that can develop on ovaries create a hormone called androgen, which is mostly found in men. Though naturally found in small amounts in women, when the level is too high, it causes issues with a woman’s menstrual cycle and subsequent symptoms.
Women with polycystic ovarian syndrome could develop other serious health concerns, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and uterine cancer.
Risk factors
Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment
Sexually transmitted diseases can most often occur through direct and unprotected sexual contact vaginally, anally, or orally. Commonly, symptoms usually include a combination of the following:
These diseases can also be contracted by sharing needles.
Types of STI’s
The most common types are:
Chlamydia – Bacterial infection that causes pain during sex or urination and in the lower abdomen, and colored discharge from the genitals. It can lead to various infections as well as pelvic inflammatory diseases and infertility. Babies born to untreated mothers may develop blindness, eye infections, or pneumonia.
Gonorrhea – Bacterial infection that often does not present symptoms, but those that do include a lighter colored discharge from the genitals, pain during sex or urination, frequent urination, itching around the genitals, and sore throat. It can lead to other infections, infertility, and pelvic inflammatory disease, and it is treated with antibiotics. It can pass from mother to child during childbirth.
Herpes – Officially called the herpes simplex virus, there are two strains of the virus, which commonly are transmitted sexually. It causes cold sore, with are blisters on the genitals or mouth. They heal on their own within a few weeks. It can be passed to a fetus in the womb or to a baby during childbirth, and congenital herpes can be dangerous. There is no cure
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) – Immune system becomes damaged or compromised and can lead to contracting other diseases, developing cancer, and possibly to AIDS, a more severe form of the virus if not treated. Symptoms resemble the flu and include aches, chills, fever, headaches, nausea, rashes, sore throat, and swollen lymph nodes. There is no cure yet, but management, starting in the early stages, is effective.
Human papillomavirus, (HPV) – Virus that is passed by skin-to-skin contact, and symptoms usually involve warts on the genitals, mouth, or throat, and certain strains can lead to cancers affecting the cervix, rectum, mouth, and vulva. There is no treatment, but infections are often clear on their own. There are vaccines for the more dangerous strains.
Lice – Small infects similar to head or body lice and live in the public hair. Symptoms include itching, bumps, low-grade fever, fatigue and irritability. They are easy to transmit to others through contact and by sharing clothes, bedding, towels, and touching other objects.
Syphilis – Bacterial infection characterized by a sore with later symptoms including rashes, fatigue, fever, headaches, joint pain, hair loss, or weight loss, and it can lead to a loss of sensory functions, mental illness, heart disease, other infections, and possibly death.
Trichomoniasis – Tiny organism that is hard to detect. A smaller percentage of people develop symptoms, which include genital discharge, itching or burning, painful sex or urination, and frequent urination. It can lead to infections, infertility, and pelvic inflammatory disease, but it is treated with antibiotics.
What is the vulva?
The vulva is the external genital area of women. The outer folds of skin are called the labia majora and the inner folds are called the labia minora.
Services
The Vulvar Clinic at Women & Infants Hospital provides evaluation and treatment of acute, chronic and recurrent conditions.
Types of vulvar skin conditions
Folliculitis
Folliculitis appears as small, red, and sometimes painful bumps caused by bacteria that infect a hair follicle. It can occur on the labia majora. This can happen because of shaving, waxing, or even friction. Folliculitis often goes away by itself, but avoiding contact or creating more friction helps.
Contact dermatitis
Contact dermatitis is caused by irritation of the skin by items such as soaps, lotion, fabrics, or perfumes. Symptoms can include extreme itching, rawness, stinging, burning, and pain. Treatment involves avoidance of the source of irritation and possibly steroidal medication in severe cases.
Lichen simplex chronicus
Lichen simplex chronicus may be a result of contact dermatitis or other skin disorder that has been present for a long time. Thickened, scaly areas appear on the vulva. It causes intense itching. Treatment may include steroid creams. this purpose.
Lichen sclerosus
Lichen sclerosus is a skin disorder that can cause itching, burning, pain during sex, and tears in the skin. The vulvar skin may appear thin, white, and crinkled, and white bumps may be present with dark purple coloring. Treatment may include steroidal creams.
Llichen planus
Lichen planus is a skin disorder that causes Itching, soreness, burning, and abnormal discharge. There may be white streaks on the vulvar skin, or the entire surface may be white or darkened bumps. Treatment may include creams, prescription drugs, or injections, which may be required long-term.
Vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia
Vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia involves a development of non-cancerous cells that are often caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Symptoms include itching, burning, or irregular skin that may be bumpy, smooth, or a different color. Treatment may include cream, laser treatment, or surgery. The HPV vaccine can help prevent this condition.
Vulvar cancer
Vulvar cancer can be caused by an infection with HPV. Other forms of cancer that can affect the vulva include melanoma (skin cancer) Symptoms may include itching, burning, inflammation, or pain. Other symptoms of cancer include a lump or sore on the vulva, changes in the skin color, or a bump. Treatment varies depending on the stage of cancer, but surgery is common, while other treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation could also be used in certain circumstances.
Although the urinary system is designed to keep out bacteria that cause infection. UTIs typically occur when bacteria get into the bladder through the urethra.
Overactive bladder is any combination of problems. Several treatments are available for overactive bladder.
The LGBTQIA+ Clinic offers treatments for sexual health concerns, gender-affirming hysterectomy, fertility preservation, preconception counseling as well as prenatal and postpartum care.
What is an ovarian cyst?
The ovaries, which are responsible for producing hormones and an egg during a woman’s menstrual cycle. During the normal reproductive cycle, a cyst, or a fluid-filled sac, may develop on an ovary. Most of these cysts are harmless and go away on their own, but some can be harmful.
Most often they are non-cancerous, or benign, but some may be cancerous, or malignant. A cyst can be determined using an ultrasound.
Common types of benign cysts include:
Treatment
Treatment can utilize non-invasive surgical procedures called laparoscopy, which uses a small incision in the umbilical area.
Premenstrual syndrome is a condition in women that results in bloating, headaches, and breast tenderness in the week or so before a menstrual cycle begins. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is a more serious form that entails anxiety and depression and irritability.
The causes are unknown but could be due to decreased levels of estrogen and progesterone hormones. Other chemicals in the body, including serotonin, also may have a role.
Symptoms
In PMS, symptoms include:
In PMDD, symptoms include:
Diagnosis
A medical provider will review medical and family histories to help determine the cause of symptoms.
Treatment
Uterine fibroids are benign growths in or on the walls of the uterus that often occur in pre-menopause. They rarely cause symptoms, but some symptoms might include heavy menstrual bleeding, pain, constipation, or frequent urination.
The Program in Women’s Oncology treats the full range of gynecologic cancers, including cancer of the cervix, endometrium/uterus, fallopian tube, ovaries, vagina, and vulva.
