Health Focus: Four women's health problems and their solutions

Women often brush their health problems under the carpet putting the interests of family members before their own. These health concerns can lead to serious issues if neglected over a long duration. Dr GN Mansukhani, Consultant obstetrician and gynecologist, Jaslok Hospital picks four such problems and tells you how to address them.

Heavy periods
This should be attended to immediately as it may cause anemia in women which makes normal day-to-day functioning difficult.  Earlier, removal of the uterus (hysterectomy) was the only answer, however, now with the various modalities of investigations, one can make accurate diagnosis and prescribe the right treatment.
For example, for a uterine polyp, hysteroscopy is performed  (looking into the uterus with a telescope): for fibroids,  one can remove the fibroids by laprosocpy (with the aid of a telescope), or one may do an embolisation of fibroids to shrink them, or one can do focused MRI (burn the fibroid with ultrasound rays) without surgery being performed.  All these can be performed in a day so that the individual can get back to work soon.



Adult acne
This is definitely due to  hormones. As one gets older the female hormone decreases and the male hormone has the upper hand.  Following a healthy life style with fresh air, including plenty of fruits and vegetables in your diet and drinking plenty of water can reduce this condition.

Bladder leakage
This condition is common in women who have had multiple pregnancies.  It is also common in women who are overweight, due to the increased intra-abdominal  pressure. 
Ideally, one should have Urodynamic Studies done to see if it is due to an over active bladder muscle, which requires medication or due to weakening of the pelvic floor muscles, which requires surgery.

Vaginal dryness
This condition occurs in almost every woman who has gone through menopause. Some see a gynaecologist as there is considerable discomfort during intercourse, and then express other related problems as well. The treatment  would be to give oestrogen replacement, which would be in the form or oral tablets or vaginal creams. There is some reluctance in taking oestrogens due to the fear of breast cancer. Hence, if there is a family history of breast cancer then this should be taken only under the supervision of a gynecologist after a thorough breast and gynecological examination.

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