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Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) Split My Sense of Self in Two
Read More: Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) Split My Sense of Self in TwoMay is Mental Health Awareness Month and National Women’s Health Month. As told to Erica Rimlinger My first period divided my life into before and after. Before I started menstruating, I was a regular 14-year-old girl: skateboarding, swimming and hanging out with my friends. Then, my period came, and within a year, it felt like…
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What Is PMDD?
Read More: What Is PMDD?May is Mental Health Awareness Month and National Women’s Health Month. Mood swings. Bloating. Breast tenderness. The terrible trilogy can only mean one thing: Winter — sorry, your period — is coming. About 3 out of 4 people who menstruate experience symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) up to two weeks before their period actually starts.…
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Period Pain Meets Innovation: New Devices Are Interrupting Menstrual Cramps
Read More: Period Pain Meets Innovation: New Devices Are Interrupting Menstrual CrampsBrittany Barreto, Ph.D., is a podcaster, an entrepreneur, and a molecular and human geneticist. (In other words, she’s really smart.) Read her column here each month to learn about what’s happening in the world of technology and innovation in women’s health. Painful periods can be more than an inconvenience. Menstrual pain, officially called dysmenorrhea, affects…
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15 Minutes With: Sateria Venable Talks Fibroids, Fertility and Fighting for a Cure
Read More: 15 Minutes With: Sateria Venable Talks Fibroids, Fertility and Fighting for a CurePainful periods. Flood-like flows. Uterine growths the size of a melon. We know this sounds like a bad premenstrual dream, but these are just a few of the life-altering symptoms associated with uterine fibroids. Sateria Venable knows firsthand how disruptive fibroids can be. Before she was founder and CEO of The Fibroid Foundation, Venable was…
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Your Period: What’s Normal (and What’s Not)
Read More: Your Period: What’s Normal (and What’s Not)Menstrual cramps and heavy bleeding are often seen as “just part of having a period,” but they can also be signs that something’s not quite right with your uterine health. If you’re having a lot of pain or heavy bleeding, it could point to a health problem that needs care — not something to suffer…
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What Your Period Blood Color Can Tell You
Read More: What Your Period Blood Color Can Tell YouMedically reviewed by Mary Jane Minkin, M.D. + Infographic text Dark red Old blood that has lingered in your body for a while but hasn’t oxidized enough (been exposed to oxygen) to turn fully brown. Can mean: You are at the end of your period You have postpartum discharge (called lochia) Concern level: Usually nothing…
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There’s Nothing Normal About Uterine Fibroids
Read More: There’s Nothing Normal About Uterine FibroidsAs told to Shannon Shelton Miller July is Fibroid Awareness Month. For too long, I was told my painful period cramps and heavy bleeding were normal. As a teenager, I was put on iron supplements, which should have been a sign I was bleeding too much. But growing up in Mississippi in the 1980s and…
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Period Products Are Not Tested Using Real Blood. (Yes. You Read That Right.)
Read More: Period Products Are Not Tested Using Real Blood. (Yes. You Read That Right.)In 2020, a period product company used red liquid to show how absorbent their sanitary pads are in a TV commercial. It was the first time a mainstream company in the U.S. swapped the typical blue liquid for red to represent period blood. After the advertisement aired, some people took to social media to applaud…
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Free Bleeding: Why Some Menstruators Are Ditching Period Products
Read More: Free Bleeding: Why Some Menstruators Are Ditching Period ProductsWhoever said you can’t wear white after Labor Day didn’t have periods. For some of us, you can’t wear white — ever. At least not comfortably without feeling like Carrie at the prom. That time of the month usually calls for a look only Morticia Addams could love: solid black pants to disguise any leaks…
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True or False: Endometriosis
Read More: True or False: EndometriosisMarch is Endometriosis Awareness Month. Living with endometriosis is a real pain in the pelvic area for many women and people assigned female at birth. The pain can be debilitating, and some people may not even know they have endometriosis because it can take years to get a proper diagnosis. Endometriosis happens when tissue similar…
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Wondering What a Menstrual Cup Is and How You Use One?
Read More: Wondering What a Menstrual Cup Is and How You Use One?Did you know disposable tampons and pads aren’t the only period products out there? There’s another, more environmentally friendly option available that you may have heard of but don’t know much about. Menstrual cups. Are you curious about what they are and how they work? Here’s what you need to know if you’re thinking about…
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Here’s Why “Going with the Flow” Could Be the Answer to Your Fitness Goals
Read More: Here’s Why “Going with the Flow” Could Be the Answer to Your Fitness GoalsBrittany Barreto, Ph.D., is a podcaster, an entrepreneur, and a molecular and human geneticist. (In other words, she’s really smart.) Read her column here each month to learn about what’s happening in the world of technology and innovation in women’s health. Have you ever left Zumba absolutely glowing and feeling like the fittest version of…
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The Female Reproductive System
Read More: The Female Reproductive SystemMedically reviewed by Maureen Farrell, M.D. … + Slides transcript The Female Reproductive System Uterus Ovaries Fallopian tubes Cervix Vulva Mons Labia majora Labia minora Clitoris Urethra Vaginal opening Menstruation (The Period) Typically begins in females between ages 11 and 16 The average cycle is around 28 days but can range from 21 to 35…
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En qué forma afectan los fibromas todos los aspectos de una persona
Read More: En qué forma afectan los fibromas todos los aspectos de una personaTomeka Roberts, M.D., hizo la revisión médica de este documento. + Infographic text Los fibromas uterinos ocurren frecuentemente. La mayoría de mujeres tienen al menos un fibroma en algún momento, pero las mujeres de raza negra tienen el índice más alto. 7 de cada 10 mujeres de raza blanca y 8 de cada 10 mujeres…
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Comic: Annie Has Anemia
Read More: Comic: Annie Has Anemia+ Comic text Annie is teaching in a classroom with elementary school kids. There is a chalkboard with a container of chalk with the chalk sticking out of it. Annie is eyeing the chalk Annie: Why do I suddenly feel like eating that chalk? Annie is walking home and looks at dirt next to the…
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How Fibroids Impact the Whole Person
Read More: How Fibroids Impact the Whole PersonMedically reviewed by Tomeka Roberts, M.D. + Infographic text Uterine fibroids are common. Most women will have at least one fibroid at some point, but Black women have the highest rate. 7 out of 10 white women and 8 out of 10 Black women have fibroids by age 50. There can be just one fibroid…
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At-Home Testing for Women by Women
Read More: At-Home Testing for Women by WomenBrittany Barreto, Ph.D., is a podcaster, an entrepreneur, and a molecular and human geneticist. (In other words, she’s really smart.) Read her column here each month to learn about what’s happening in the world of technology and innovation in women’s health. Susan hadn’t felt like herself for months. She was exhausted, with a thick veil…
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My Struggle with Period Poverty Motivated Me to Help Other Women
Read More: My Struggle with Period Poverty Motivated Me to Help Other WomenAs told to Nicole Audrey Spector When I first got my period at the age of 13, I was excited. It was finally here: the beginning of womanhood. Menstruation and all that came with it wasn’t something that was ever discussed in my home, and until that moment, I’d never even talked about it with…
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How the Tampon Shortage Is Exacerbating Period Poverty in the US
Read More: How the Tampon Shortage Is Exacerbating Period Poverty in the USBy Marni Sommer, Columbia University Tampons have become the latest household product to fall foul of supply chain issues. Reports of a scarcity of the menstrual product, used by millions of women in the U.S., have combined with general inflationary pressure on the price of goods to create cost and access barriers. The Conversation asked…
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Should You Worry About Data From Your Period-Tracking App Being Used Against You?
Read More: Should You Worry About Data From Your Period-Tracking App Being Used Against You?By Hannah Norman, Kaiser Health News and Victoria Knight It’s estimated that millions of people in the U.S. use period-tracking apps to plan ahead, track when they are ovulating, and monitor other health effects. The apps can help signal when a period is late. After Politico published on May 2 a draft opinion from the…
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Adolescent, Chronic conditions, Crohn’s, Crohn’s disease, Depression, Digestive disorders, Heart health, Iron deficiency anemia, Menstrual period
Is Your Teen Anemic?
Read More: Is Your Teen Anemic?Medically reviewed by Dr. Sharon D. Allison-Ottey
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From Healthy Births to Sustainable Management, 5 Essential Reads on the Fascinating and Complex Vagina
Read More: From Healthy Births to Sustainable Management, 5 Essential Reads on the Fascinating and Complex VaginaBy Leah Samuel, The Conversation As the most common route for arriving into the world, the human vagina has, of course, existed for as long as there have been people. Despite the name, however, it’s not so much a “sheath” – the Latin meaning of “vagina” – as it is a muscular tube of varying…
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How Medical Technology Is Changing Health Care
Read More: How Medical Technology Is Changing Health CareGrace Fernandez’s biggest fear is dying in her sleep. It’s a fear that could easily become a reality for the 33-year-old and the approximately 1.6 million other Americans living with Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone needed to allow sugar (glucose)…
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Ask the Expert: What Causes Painful Periods?
Read More: Ask the Expert: What Causes Painful Periods?If you don’t like to say the words “painful periods,” you can just say “dysmenorrhea”— it will sound better, perhaps, but you’ll still be uncomfortable. So let’s talk about what’s causing the pain and how you can make it better. Let’s first discuss the difference between primary dysmenorrhea and secondary dysmenorrhea. Primary dysmenorrhea is sort…
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Short-Sleepers Are More Likely to Suffer From Irregular and Heavy Periods
Read More: Short-Sleepers Are More Likely to Suffer From Irregular and Heavy PeriodsBy Kat Kennedy, University of Arizona and Sara Nowakowski, Baylor College of Medicine The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Menstruating women who sleep less than six hours a night tend to suffer heavier and irregular periods. That is the conclusion from our new study, which was recently…
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cancer, Cancer survivor, Cervical cancer, Gynecological cancer, Medical tests, Menstrual period, Period, Prevention, Preventive health, Real women real stories
My Close Friend’s Cancer Diagnosis Helped Save My Life
Read More: My Close Friend’s Cancer Diagnosis Helped Save My LifeAs told to Fortesa Latifi I know my body, and I know when something’s wrong — even when doctors don’t believe me. My period pain had been dismissed my entire life, but after watching my close friend die of cancer, I knew I could no longer afford to be quiet. Last year, I had a…
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Menstrual Cups Are a Cheaper, More Sustainable Way for Women to Cope With Periods Than Tampons or Pads
Read More: Menstrual Cups Are a Cheaper, More Sustainable Way for Women to Cope With Periods Than Tampons or PadsBy Susan Powers, Clarkson University Every year in America, women spend at least US$2.8 billion on sanitary pads and tampons that can take hundreds of years to decompose. Is there a more economical and environmentally friendly way? To find out, we asked Susan Powers, a professor of sustainable environmental systems at Clarkson University about her…
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Endometriosis, Fibroids, Menstrual period, Period, Reproductive health, Sex & relationships, Sexual health
Period Stigma & Health Risks
Read More: Period Stigma & Health RisksSix years ago, Nkem Osian noticed a dramatic change in her period. She began bleeding for two weeks at a time and producing painful clots the size of her fist. There was bleeding between periods and the amount of blood overall was unnerving: Osian was going through two pads an hour and sometimes bleeding through…
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Heavy Uterine Bleeding and Iron Deficiency Anemia Can Affect Mental Health, Relationships and Sexual Health
Read More: Heavy Uterine Bleeding and Iron Deficiency Anemia Can Affect Mental Health, Relationships and Sexual HealthCarmen Davis knows the pain and frustration of heavy uterine bleeding (HUB) too well: Crippling cramps, constant back pain and obsessive bathroom breaks take a toll on her body and her brain. “The constant worry of bleeding through your clothing plays on your emotions for sure,” said Davis, who began experiencing HUB about a year…
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Clinically Speaking: Talking to Patients About Uterine Fibroids
Read More: Clinically Speaking: Talking to Patients About Uterine FibroidsThis article was developed in partnership with The White Dress Project. Medically reviewed by Dr. Kristen A. Matteson Uterine fibroids are the most common gynecological condition among women of reproductive age. By the time they turn 50, up to 80% of all women will have developed fibroids, with 20% of those women experiencing symptoms that…
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Clinically Speaking: What Are My Options Following a Fibroid Diagnosis?
Read More: Clinically Speaking: What Are My Options Following a Fibroid Diagnosis?This article was developed in partnership with The White Dress Project. Medically reviewed by Dr. Kristen A. Matteson Uterine fibroids are the most common gynecological condition among women of reproductive age. By the time they turn 50, up to 80% of all women will have experienced fibroids, which are noncancerous (benign) growths that develop in…
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Clinically Speaking: What to Ask Your Healthcare Provider If You Think You Have Uterine Fibroids
Read More: Clinically Speaking: What to Ask Your Healthcare Provider If You Think You Have Uterine FibroidsThis article was developed in partnership with The White Dress Project. Medically reviewed by Dr. Kristen A. Matteson Uterine fibroids are the most common gynecological condition among women of reproductive age. By the time they turn 50, up to 80% of all women will have experienced fibroids, which are noncancerous (benign) growths that develop in…
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Clinically Speaking: Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider About Periods
Read More: Clinically Speaking: Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider About PeriodsMedically reviewed by Dr. Jessica Shepherd Half the world’s population get a period, but the stigma surrounding menstruation leaves many people feeling too ashamed or uncomfortable to talk freely about periods. As a result, symptoms like heavy bleeding may go undiscussed and undiagnosed, potentially causing serious health problems. How can we know what’s “normal” if…
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The Price of Period Poverty
Read More: The Price of Period PovertyThat time of the month. Aunt Flo. Monthly visitor. The crimson wave. It seems like everyone has a different nickname for their period, but no matter what you call it, it’s totally natural. But, as natural as it is, it also costs you money. And not everyone who menstruates can afford period products. Period poverty…
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Chronic conditions, Endometriosis, Fatigue, Menstrual period, Pelvic health, Pelvic pain, Period, Pregnancy, Prevention, Sex
What is Endometriosis?
Read More: What is Endometriosis?This resource was created with the support of AbbVie.
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The Different Stages of Menstruation
Read More: The Different Stages of MenstruationThough the average woman has her period for 40 years, the way it affects her body and the way she feels about it often change as she ages. As with everything else related to health, a menstrual cycle is not static; it evolves over a woman’s lifetime. How does our period change as we age?…
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Fibroids, Heavy uterine bleeding, Hysterectomy, Iron deficiency anemia, Menstrual period, Pelvic health, Pelvic pain, Period, Prevention, Preventive health, Real women real stories
My Heavy Menstrual Bleeding Led to Iron-Deficiency Anemia and Disrupted My Career, but I Took My Life Back
Read More: My Heavy Menstrual Bleeding Led to Iron-Deficiency Anemia and Disrupted My Career, but I Took My Life BackI always knew I had a family history of fibroids and heavy menstrual bleeding. My grandmother and aunt both needed hysterectomies in their mid-30s, and my mother had one at age 40. But because I didn’t experience symptoms as early as my family members, I thought I’d escaped the odds. My heavy bleeding started when…
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cancer, Estrogen, Fibroids, Heavy uterine bleeding, Iron deficiency anemia, Menstrual period, Pelvic health, Progesterone
Iron Deficiency Anemia and Heavy Periods: What’s the Connection?
Read More: Iron Deficiency Anemia and Heavy Periods: What’s the Connection?Medically reviewed by Dr. Rashmi Kudesia Weakness, headaches, even feeling out of breath. These symptoms are common, but they may point to a larger problem: iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Although IDA is sometimes linked to insufficient iron intake or poor nutrient absorption, it is most often caused by blood loss, including from heavy menstrual periods.…
