So you have fibroids… Maybe you had an ultrasound to investigate pelvic pain or heavy periods, or you had imaging done for a non gynecologic reason and fibroids were noted incidentally. However they were found, now you know you’ve got them. This is a common scenario in our offices at Kamm McKenzie; once fibroids are identified the obvious next questions are: what are fibroids, and what needs to be done about them!?
There are many reasons why induction of labor might be needed or wanted at the end of pregnancy. Common medical reasons for induction include diabetes, high blood pressure and twin pregnancies. There are also many other medical conditions for which advancing pregnancy becomes risky for mom and baby. For any given condition, when the risks of ongoing pregnancy outweigh the benefits of it for baby, delivery is generally recommended.
As many of you are aware, I have two daughters and at dinner we were discussing the importance of October as breast cancer awareness month. (Their grandmother had breast cancer.) To my surprise they brought up #FreetheNip…Well, how could it be that I take care of many women, most of whom have nipples and didn’t know about this movement? But my daughters did…I had to hash it out.
We at Kamm McKenzie are updating our Pap smear guidelines to follow the most recent recommendations. In the past, many women have been advised to have annual Pap smears or Pap smears every 3 years. The most recently updated guidelines as of April 2021 have changed to increase the duration between screenings due to our evolving knowledge of how cervical cancer develops. We have learned it takes many many years to go from an abnormal Pap to cervical cancer, thus allowing us to space out the time between screenings.
Presentation of symptoms with endometriosis is variable. I was always taught that someone with the most severe endometriosis can be asymptomatic and someone with the tiniest amount can have severe pain. The most common symptom is pelvic pain, especially with periods.
Pelvic pain and lower abdominal pain (outside of pregnancy) is by far one of the most common reasons women see our providers for appointments. I thought it would be nice to write a series of blogs about the different gynecological etiologies of pelvic pain to add a resource for you to refer back to, were you to experience this type of discomfort in the future. This blog will serve as an introduction to pelvic pain and let you know how we think about the different causes and do a gynecological specific work up.
