From menopause to miscarriage, pleasure to pain the articles in this series will delve into the full spectrum of women’s health issues to provide valuable insights and resources for women of all ages.
As part of my research, I interviewed egg donors and doctors and also observed women in fertility clinics to get a better sense of what the process was actually like.
Sex isn’t just about penetration.
Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock
Clinical trial funders now insist studies use female participants. But it will still take a long time for our understanding of how medicine affects women to catch up.
The wishbone pessary didn’t look comfortable
Science Museum Group Collection
The sexual revolution made it acceptable for women to have premarital sex. Yet, an orgasm gap remains. Addressing the cultural forces driving this gap has social implications beyond pleasure itself.
A protester carries a #metoo sign at a Women’s March in Seattle on Jan. 20, 2018.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
After thousands of women spoke out against sexual harassment, scholars asked, does harassment affect women’s health? Their findings suggest that it does.
Urinary incontinence is often seen as a degrading condition and women can feel too ashamed to seek help.
from shutterstock.com
Women with urinary incontinence are often too embarrassed to seek help from their doctor. But there is more likelihood of a cure for those who receive treatment at an earlier point.
Studies show Chinese women view advanced age as a positive time of wisdom and maturity.
from shutterstock.com
Three out of four women going through menopause suffer hot flushes, and suffer they do. But research shows the way society views ageing and menopause can reduce the severity of symptoms.
Girls star Lena Dunham suffers from endometriosis, a condition that affects one out of every ten women of menstruating age.
EPA/Peter Foley
We must try harder to explore what causes endometriosis and not reinforce theories that imply fault on a woman’s part, or are shaped by old ideas about women’s roles and bodies.
Some women have experienced relationship conflict or breakdown over how the STI that led to their PID was acquired.
from shutterstock.com
Pelvic inflammatory disease’s traumatic consequences are unmatched by the low level of awareness around it. Left untreated, it can cause chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy and infertility.
For about 5% of women, the symptoms of thrush recur or never really go away.
from shutterstock.com
While most women will have one or more episodes of uncomplicated and temporary thrush, some suffer from recurrent episodes. These can be shameful and often debilitating.
Girls are socialised early and told normal functions of the female body must be spoken of, if at all, in strictest privacy, indirectly, and not to men.
from shutterstock.com
There are endless euphemisms for women’s conditions and body parts. If you can’t name a body part, how can you seek medical help if something appears to be wrong with it?
It’s important a woman has a good relationship with her general practitioner.
from shutterstock.com
Women visit the GP more than men, particularly between the ages of 15 and 44. This difference is partly due to the management of gynaecological and reproductive issues.
Research Fellow in Women's Health at Monash University and Honorary Researcher, General Practice and Primary Health Care Academic Centre, The University of Melbourne