If you’re frustrated with chronic pelvic pain that hasn’t responded to treatment, you’re not alone. Many women suffer from chronic pelvic pain, and it is often difficult to diagnose because there are so many potential causes. “Pelvic pain can sometimes be a sign of a gynecological problem, such as cysts on the ovaries, endometriosis, pelvic … Read More
Tag: ob/gyn
Gynecology Appointment During Your Period (Video)
If you have ever thought about canceling or rescheduling your GYN or Pap smear appointment because you’re on your period, think again. Colleen Raymond, MD, OB/GYN at Cleveland Clinic, explains why she strongly encourages patients not to cancel or reschedule their appointment. She cites that Pap smear screenings can still be preformed during menstruation and there are … Read More
‘Full Term’ Pregnancy: Newly Defined
This isn’t your grandmother’s full-term pregnancy. Doctors used to define 37 to 42 weeks as the time span of a full-term pregnancy. Now, a U.S. OB/GYN group is dividing that range into different classifications after learning about critical differences in the final weeks of gestation. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the … Read More
How Often You Should Visit Your Gynecologist (Video)
If you ever wondered how frequently you should visit the gynecologist, here’s your answer. Colleen Raymond, MD, OB/GYN at Cleveland Clinic, encourages patients to visit their OB/GYN once a year. She says an annual gynecologic exam and Pap smear involves more than a cervical cancer screening. There are other important annual screenings your gynecologist performs, … Read More
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Sex Drive and Menopause: 50 Shades of Normal
Sex and menopause may seem like odd bedfellows. Especially if you’re one of the 15 to 70 percent of menopausal or postmenopausal women with sexual dysfunction, such as low desire or painful intercourse. Why do studies report such varying percentages? Perhaps because when it comes to sex, there are 50 shades of “normal,” according to … Read More
Abnormal Pap: What Is a Colposcopy?
When doctors want to do a careful evaluation of an abnormal Pap test, they usually recommend a colposcopy. This complicated word really means a fairly simple procedure — examining the cervix in detail with a pair of high-tech binoculars. The whole thing usually takes less than 10 minutes. Can you go 5 years between Pap … Read More
Did Your Gynecologist Say ‘SIS?’
Maybe you’ve had an ultrasound and something came up abnormal. Or experienced some irregular, heavy, or postmenopausal bleeding. Or you could be struggling with infertility. To better diagnose the problem, your doctor orders an SIS, or saline-infusion sonography. This is a special ultrasound for imaging the uterus. But what is it, exactly, and what does … Read More
My Pap Is Abnormal. How Worried Should I Be?
It’s never a good feeling to get a call from your doctor’s office telling you about an abnormality on your Pap test. But most of the time, there’s not much to worry about. Paps can pick up subtle abnormalities in the cells of the cervix. Officially, a Pap is looking for cervical cancer and its … Read More
Moms-to-Be and Episiotomies
If you’re pregnant, your obstetrician or midwife may have talked to you about the possible need for an episiotomy during childbirth. An episiotomy is a surgical incision made between the vagina and rectum. It enlarges the birth canal opening to help deliver your baby. Are episiotomies common? In 2007, the American College of Obstetricians and … Read More
Pregnancy and Drinking: A New Study
How much alcohol is safe for pregnant women? “We still don’t know that threshold,” says Cleveland Clinic OB/GYN Rebecca Starck, MD. She was asked by ABCNews.com to comment on a study published by Danish researchers earlier this year. The researchers published a series of papers in the BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology … Read More