You might have heard the song
that has the line,
I enjoy being a girl.
Most women wouldn't
trade places with a man
even if you paid her all the money in the world.
It's great being a woman.
But with feminine mystique,
nifty cool shoes,
and the ability to get out of
a traffic ticket
by batting your eyelashes,
comes a special set of medical
concerns.
Women have special
medical needs.
Medical care is not one size fits all.
Not only do we have a different outward
physical characteristic
than men,
but our insides are relatively
different as well.
We are more prone and less prone
to certain diseases and ailments,
and we also react to stress
and illness
differently than men do.
This is why you need
to make sure
that you seek out the care you need
and don't lump yourself into the
same category
as your husband, son,
or any other man in your life.
For example, just because your husband's doctor
tells him that he should increase his protein intake
does not mean that you should
take that advice
as something that pertains to both of you.
Of course, there are some things
that are valid for both genders.
You should exercise,
keep your fat intake low, etc.
But there's also other things
that are definitely gender specific.
This is why you need to make sure
that you pay attention
to the things that you, as a woman,
need to be concerned with.
You need to remember to do
your breast self -exams,
you need to remember to pay attention
to your menstrual cycle,
and you absolutely need
to see a medical professional
who is going to encourage you to remember
to do these types of things.
Don't settle for a one -size
-fits -all attitude
when it comes to your health,
just because it just isn't the case.
If you want a female doctor,
say so.
Studies and polls
both show that many women,
as well as men,
feel intimidated or embarrassed
when in an appointment with their doctors,
and for this reason many people don't bring up
valid health questions and concerns like they should.
The thought that your doctor
is going to judge you or think you are stupid
is not something that you
should allow to consume you so much
that you hold back information
from your doctor.
You are your own health advocate
and that means that you need
to realize
what makes you the most comfortable
and what you should do
in order to partner
with your doctor
and get the best medical care possible.
If a male doctor
just makes you feel uncomfortable
or if you spend too much time
gazing into to his
dreamy eyes
so that you get tongue -tied,
then there is absolutely
nothing wrong
with deciding to switch
to a female doctor.
Sometimes it doesn't matter
how much schooling or experience
a male doctor has
because there's just always something a little weird about
him conducting sensitive exams,
at least for many women.
The same principle applies
to a doctor
with whom you just aren't
comfortable,
regardless of gender.
You may find a female doctor
who seems to be quite book smart,
but just does not seem to have the
bedside manner.
If a warm personality is important to you,
then find a different doctor
who will make you feel
more comfortable.
Remember that you are paying
the doctors
to provide you with the service.
Just because they usually have infinitely
more schooling
and are highly regarded
within our society
does not mean that they are infallible.
You should always be comfortable enough
with your doctor
that you feel as though you can bring
absolutely any medical concern to him or her,
and he or she will turn in the answer
to your questions thoroughly
and make you feel
better about the situation.
Some women have a difficult time
being aggressive,
especially when it comes to matters
involving authority figures.
If you hope to take charge
of your health, though,
you need to get a little more aggressive
with not only asking the questions
you need to be asking,
but also by insisting on a doctor
with whom you feel comfortable.
We get ailments that men
don't.
This is certainly not to say
that all male physicians are inept
and have no idea what diseases
women can get.
To the contrary,
there are plenty of fine male physicians
out there
who probably know the inner workings
of a female body
better than the majority of women
who never attended medical
school.
This is more of a reminder for you
than for your doctor.
You have to remember
that there are some
ailments and diseases
that women can get that men don't,
simply be cause the body
parts are different.
You should be vigilant
in paying attention
to the parts of you
which are distinctly female.
Men don't have to worry
about what their discharge smells like
or the amount of blood
that they lose every month
during their periods
because these things aren't
what their bodies do.
Women, on the other hand,
need to pay attention to
these things
in order to make sure that everything
is functioning like it should.
You should especially make sure to keep all
your regular appointments
pertaining to those things that
only women need to deal with.
In other words, just because your husband does
n't have to go see a doctor once a year
to have his penis inspected
doesn't mean that you shouldn't have to go
see your doctor once a year
or however frequently your doctor recommends
to have your pelvic examinations
and all the other invasive, intrusive,
awful, nasty procedures
that women have to deal with
simply because we're different and
have different equipment.
Your period should not
stop your life.
Excess bleeding
isn't necessarily normal.
Your period is probably pretty
annoying.
Most women do not find joy
in the process of monthly bleeding,
and for some women
it becomes enough of a problem
to inhibit them socially
and exhaust them for days.
You may be familiar with
the joke that some men tell,
I can't trust anything
that bleeds for five days
and doesn't die.
There's an element of truth to that joke,
no matter how lame the joke actually is.
The truth is that you can't bleed
and bleed for days on end
and not have some physical
residuals from it.
When the bleeding becomes
so much
that you can't seem to function
or you keep ruining pieces
of clothing
because the bleeding can't be contained
within pads or tampons,
then it's time to take your concerns to
a doctor.
This is especially important
if the women in your family
do not have a history of heavy bleeding
and if you used to have shorter
periods
with less bleeding than you do now.
A sudden or eventual shift
to heavy bleeding
can be a sign of something serious,
but on the other hand,
it can be a natural evolution of your body.
So try not to panic
if this happens to you.
Just make an appointment
with your doctor
and see what options you have.
If your doctor agrees with
you
that your bleeding is more than it should be,
then you will probably go into a series of
unpleasant but not incredibly painful tests,
which will make sure there is nothing
serious going on.
When the results come back negative,
you will probably be offered a few options.
You can try to take birth control pills
or receive a birth control implant
because these things can sometimes
lessen your blood flow
during your period.
If you're already on birth control,
then this is obviously not an effective solution,
unless you're at a low dose
and you want to try a higher one.
You can try an endometrial ablation,
which is a relatively new procedure.
