“Vaginal thinning of the wall or called vaginal atrophy (VA), though not as well-known as other things brought on by menopause—like hot flashes or night sweats—it’s estimated that over half of all post-menopausal women have VA.!”
Health Central (8 Signs You May Have Vaginal Atrophy)
What are the complications of vaginal atrophy (GSM)?Vaginal atrophy can affect your quality of life and your relationship with your partner(s). There are physical and emotional side effects of GSM. Physical symptoms like pain, burning, itching and leaking pee can disrupt all areas of your life. Emotional side effects are just as complicated as the physical side effects. If you’re experiencing symptoms of vaginal atrophy, you may lose interest in sex and intimacy or lose confidence in yourself. Please know that all of these feelings are normal and that your healthcare provider is there to help you.
A healthcare provider can diagnose vaginal atrophy based on your symptoms and a pelvic exam to look at your vagina and cervix. Classic signs of atrophy during a pelvic exam include:
While healthcare providers typically rely on examinations to diagnose atrophic changes or GSM, they may do the following tests to rule out other conditions:
It’s common to feel uncomfortable discussing symptoms of vaginal atrophy. Don’t feel ashamed to mention it to your healthcare provider if you think you have symptoms. There are several different treatment options available and most are successful in treating your symptoms.
Estrogen therapy and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) are the only hormone therapies for vaginal atrophy.
Topical vaginal estrogen treats symptoms of vaginal atrophy without increasing levels of estrogen levels in your bloodstream. It’s available in a cream, a vaginal pill or a ring. Your healthcare provider can discuss each option with you and which may work best for you.
Also called systemic estrogen therapy, this type of hormone therapy may be helpful if you have other symptoms of menopause such as severe hot flashes. This is taken in higher doses that go to other cells of your body, not just to your vagina. If you’re more than 10 years past menopause or only have vaginal dryness, you’ll probably use local therapy. If you do need systemic hormone therapy, there are benefits, such as improved vaginal health, better sleep, fewer hot flashes and improved mood. You and your healthcare provider can discuss if systemic hormone therapy is right for you.
You and your healthcare provider will work closely together to come up with a treatment plan for vaginal atrophy. They’ll help you decide which plan is most effective based on your symptoms and the severity of them. Estrogen and DHEA therapy are considered to be the most effective. However, these therapies aren’t for everyone. There are several treatment options available that don’t involve hormones.
Lubricants and moisturizers treat vaginal dryness. This improves comfort during sex. Multiple brand names are available over the counter at your local grocery store.
Vaginal lubricants should be used during intercourse to reduce friction and pain with sex. They’re water, silicone or oil based. These products are very short-acting.
based on your health history and your situation. They’ll work with you to determine the most successful treatment plan. Keep in mind that many people find success combining treatments.
You don’t have to just “live with” vaginal atrophy. Even if you’re in menopause or postmenopausal, that doesn’t mean you should have to deal with UTIs, vaginal itching or painful sex. Treatment for GSM can be very successful. Don’t be afraid to try different treatments and work with your provider on a method that works best for you.
Vaginal atrophy can’t be cured, but you don’t have to live with the discomfort. With proper diagnosis and treatment, the symptoms can be managed.
Yes, it can. That’s why prompt treatment is important. The sooner you get treatment, the less likely it is that your vaginal atrophy will worsen. For example, the longer you go without estrogen, the dryer your vagina will become. Without treatment, your vaginal atrophy may get worse. Occasionally, atrophy can become so severe that it can significantly narrow your vaginal opening. This may make it harder to treat the atrophy if treatment is started too late.
Losing estrogen is part of your body’s natural aging process.
However, there are ways to keep vaginal atrophy from getting worse. Avoid vaginal irritants such as perfumes, dye, shampoo, detergents and douching.
Remember, regular sexual activity is good for vaginal atrophy because it increases blood flow to your vaginal tissue.
Vaginal atrophy can seriously affect your quality of life in general, not just your sex life. The pain, dryness, burning/itching, spotting, bleeding, urinary problems, UTIs and discharge can make you very uncomfortable and interfere with your daily living. One in 4 women report that vaginal atrophy has had a negative impact on other areas of their lives including their sleep, sexual health and general happiness.
Prioritize your sexual health as much as any other aspect of your health. Look to your healthcare provider for answers to any questions and concerns.
Even if you’re not in menopause, be sure to report any symptoms of dryness, pain, burning/itching, urinary problems, unusual spotting or bleeding or discharge to your healthcare provider.
If weeks go by and the over-the-counter moisturizers you’re using for dryness don’t work, you should see your healthcare provider.
Also, always see your healthcare provider for any symptoms that negatively impact your daily life.
Both vaginal atrophy and yeast infections can have symptoms of dryness, itching, redness and pain. However, lack of estrogen causes vaginal atrophy while a fungal infection causes a vaginal yeast infection. Consult with your healthcare provider regarding symptoms so that, together, you can determine what condition you have.
Vaginal atrophy is serious. It affects your quality of life with discomfort, frequent bathroom trips, frequent UTIs, burning, pain with sex and more. Fortunately, there are many treatments and your healthcare provider can help you find the best option for your symptoms.
Seek treatment. Don’t be afraid to have the conversation with your healthcare provider and with your partner(s). Always follow your healthcare provider’s instructions and do what you can to manage vaginal atrophy.
“Vaginal atrophy used to be a medical term for thinning and drying of the vagina’s inner lining, often after menopause. Another name for it was atrophic vaginitis. These terms are no longer used. The physical changes they described are now considered to be part of a group of symptoms that affect the genitals and lower urinary tract, called genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM).”
MAYO Clinic (Vaginal atrophy – Symptoms & causes – Mayo Clinic)
Vaginal atrophy is a condition where the lining of your vagina gets drier and thinner. This results in itching, burning and pain during sex, among other symptoms. The condition also includes urinary tract problems such as urinary tract infections (UTIs) and urinary incontinence.
Vaginal atrophy most often occurs during perimenopause and menopause when your ovaries produce less estrogen. It can occur when your estrogen levels decrease due to cancer treatment or having your ovaries removed. You may experience many uncomfortable symptoms when hormone levels decrease. These symptoms can disrupt your quality of life.
Recently, the term vaginal atrophy has been replaced with the newer term, genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM). This new term helps describe not just the vaginal, but also the urinary symptoms that may occur as a result of low estrogen.
At least half of women who enter menopause show signs and symptoms of genitourinary syndrome of menopause. Vaginal dryness is typically the first indication that you’re developing vaginal atrophy.
The tissue that lines the wall of your vagina becomes thin, dry and inflamed when you have vaginal atrophy. Often, the first sign is less lubrication (dryness), which you may notice during sex. Other symptoms of genitourinary syndrome of menopause include:
It can also affect your urinary system and cause symptoms like:
During menopause, your body makes less estrogen. Without estrogen, the lining of your vagina can become thinner and less stretchy. Your vaginal canal can also narrow and shorten. Less estrogen also lowers the amount of normal vaginal fluids and changes the acid balance in your vagina. All of these factors make your vaginal tissue more delicate and more likely to become irritated.
Your body can also produce less estrogen during events other than menopause. If you’re breastfeeding, receiving treatment for cancer or have had your ovaries removed, you can experience vaginal atrophy due to lack of estrogen.
Women in menopause are the most likely to experience vaginal atrophy because their body naturally produces less estrogen. However, other factors can decrease estrogen levels and lead to vaginal atrophy. These include:
is an umbrella term for two main conditions=
and
Both cause inflammation in the digestive tract and are considered chronic conditions, which means they are long-term conditions. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease tend to flare and calm down over time. Both are treatable with medicines.Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease can look similar at first, with symptoms such as diarrhea, belly pain and fatigue. But where they occur in the intestines and how deep the inflammation goes, known as transmural involvement, are different. Those differences help explain the symptoms and help your healthcare team decide which tests to order and what treatments or surgeries might be recommended. There are main differences between ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease”
MAYO CLINIC (Ulcerative colitis vs. Crohn’s disease – Mayo Clinic)
IBD refers to both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, however they can be distinguished from one another by their symptoms, GI involvement, biopsy, and antibody testing.
You’ve had stomach cramps for weeks, you’re exhausted and losing weight, and you keep having to run to the bathroom. What’s going on?
It could be an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). But which one?
There are two: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. They have a lot in common, including long-term inflammation in your digestive system. But they also have some key differences that affect treatment.
By the way, if you hear some people just say “ulcerative colitis” you have sores (ulcers) in the lining of your colon, as well as inflammation there. With Crohn’s disease you may have ulcers.
Facts on Ulcerative Colitis:
Belly cramps and pain, Diarrhea, Constipation, An urgent need to have a bowel movement, Feeling like your bowel movement wasn’t complete, Rectal bleeding, Fever, Smaller appetite, Weight loss, Fatigue, Night sweats, Problems with your period. You might skip them, or their timing might be harder to predict.
You might not have all of those symptoms all the time. Both conditions can come and go, switching between flares (when symptoms are worse) and remission (when symptoms ease up or stop).
Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis are most often diagnosed in teenagers and young adults — although they can happen at any age — and tend to run in families.
1.)Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease affect men and women equally
2.)The symptoms of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are very similar
3.) Both diseases often develop in teenagers and young adults although the disease can occur at any age.
4.) The causes of both UC and Crohn’s disease are not known and both diseases have similar types of contributing factors such as environmental, genetic and an inappropriate response by the body’s immune system
2.) In Crohn’s disease, there are healthy parts of the intestine mixed in between inflamed areas. Ulcerative colitis, on the other hand, is continuous inflammation of the colon.
3.) Ulcerative colitis only affects the inner most lining of the colon while Crohn’s disease can occur in all the layers of the bowel walls.
Since the differences between the two conditions mostly revolve around where in the digestive system inflammation happens, the best way for a doctor to give you the right diagnosis is to take a look inside. To look inside is either a endoscopy or colonoscopy depending on where the M.D. thinks the disorder is located.
Prior to these invasive tests the M.D. might order:
X-rays that can show places where your intestine is blocked or unusually narrow.
Contrast X-rays, for which you’ll swallow a thick, chalky, barium liquid so doctors can see how it moves through your system.
CT scans and MRIs to rule out other conditions that might cause symptoms similar to an inflammatory bowel disease.
After the M.D. see’s something on these tests indicating more invasive tests now he or she may order:
Endoscopy, in which a doctor uses a tiny camera on a thin tube to see inside your digestive system.
Specific types of endoscopy can be:
Scientists are working to make two blood tests better at helping to diagnose ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s. They check on levels of certain antibodies found in the blood:
Sometimes, even after all these tests, doctors might not be able to tell which of the two conditions you have. That’s true for 1 in 10 people with IBD. They show signs of both diseases. So they get a diagnosis of “indeterminate colitis,” because it’s not clear which ailment it is.
Because of the similarities between the conditions, many treatments of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease overlap. These things help for both:
The appendix is a small pouch attached to the large intestine. The appendix is a small, finger-shaped pouch of intestinal tissue located between the small intestine (cecum) and large intestine (colon). The appendix is a small finger-shaped tube that branches off the first part of the large intestine.
Appendicitis (means append=appendix and itis=inflammation. Appendicitis causes pain in your lower right abdomen. However, in most people, pain begins around the navel and then moves. As inflammation worsens, appendicitis pain typically increases and eventually becomes severe.
Although anyone can develop appendicitis, most often it occurs in people between the ages of 10 and 30. Standard treatment is surgical removal of the appendix.
The site of your pain may vary, depending on your age and the position of your appendix. When you’re pregnant, the pain may seem to come from your upper abdomen because your appendix is higher during pregnancy.
Strongly suggestive of appendicitis is pushing down on the R lower quadrant and upon letting go the pain is severe compared to when pushing down. It is called “rebound effect”.
Appendicitis treatment usually involves surgery to remove the inflamed appendix. Before surgery you may be given a dose of antibiotics to treat infection. There are times though antibiotics may only be used and the MD see’s if the appendicitis is resolved; it depends on the MD and the severity of the appendicitis.
Appendectomy can be performed as open surgery using one abdominal incision about 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) long (laparotomy). Or the surgery can be done through a few small abdominal incisions (laparoscopic surgery). During a laparoscopic appendectomy, the surgeon inserts special surgical tools and a video camera into your abdomen to remove your appendix.
In general, laparoscopic surgery allows you to recover faster and heal with less pain and scarring. It may be better for older adults and people with obesity.
But laparoscopic surgery isn’t appropriate for everyone. If your appendix has ruptured and infection has spread beyond the appendix or you have an abscess, you may need an open appendectomy, which allows your surgeon to clean the abdominal cavity.
Expect to spend one or two days in the hospital after your appendectomy.
If your appendix has burst and an abscess has formed around it, the abscess may be drained by placing a tube through your skin into the abscess. Appendectomy can be performed several weeks later after controlling the infection.
Things to remember in life:
Healthline
The answer is yes.
If you have a body you’re proud of, thanks to hours of lifting weights and watching your diet, you may on occasion show it off by wearing something form fitting, but make sure it’s not TOO constrictive. As a recent news story showed, wearing tight clothing, in this case, “skinny jeans” could land you in the hospital.
Are Your Skinny Jeans TOO Tight?
Recently, a woman donned a pair of skinny jeans to help her friend move to a new apartment. While milling around her friend’s old apartment, she squatted down time after time to pick items up with the skinny jeans hugging her legs. By the end of the day, she could no longer feel her legs because of leg swelling and nerve compression, and fell while walking through a park. When she couldn’t get up, she had to crawl to the side of the road and hail a passing taxi to transport her to the hospital.
Sadly, she went on to spend four days in the hospital getting treatment to repair the damage the form-fitting jeans did to her muscles, nerves, and blood vessels. The swelling in her legs was so pronounced that medical personnel had to cut her skinny jeans off. Lab studies showed she had abnormally high levels of creatine kinase, an enzyme that rises when muscles are damaged.
The diagnosis was rhabdomyolysis and compartment syndrome – a condition marked by the build-up of pressure within a muscle. When muscles swell inside a space that’s too tight, it can quickly damage tissues by blocking the blood supply they need for survival. Muscles are surrounded by fascia, connective tissue that doesn’t stretch or expand easily. So when pressure builds up, it can’t be easily released. People sometimes develop compartment syndrome when they have an arm or leg in a tight cast and less commonly from wearing clothing that’s too tight. Some people are more prone to developing compartment syndrome because their fascia is overly rigid.
Can Wearing Tight Clothing Cause Nerve Damage?
Compartment syndrome from wearing tight clothing is rare, but what isn’t so rare is a condition called meralgia paresthetica, another health problem caused by, among other things, wearing tight pants. With meralgia paresthetica, the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve that supplies sensation to the outer aspect of the thigh is compressed by constrictive clothing, usually a pair of tight pants. Pregnancy, having diabetes, and being overweight are also risk factors for this condition. Fortunately, damage to the nerve usually isn’t permanent, although surgery may occasionally be needed.
If you wear a compression garment or shape wear that makes your tummy and hips look slimmer for a night out on the town, you’re at higher risk for meralgia paresthetica. Better to tone up those areas through exercise than wear something overly constrictive to push in your hips or tummy.
Can Tight Clothing Cause Spinal Problems?
Ask a chiropractor and they’ll tell you not to wear clothing that limits movement of your hips and core. Why? Doing so tightens the muscles that support your spine and throws off your postural alignment. A study published in Applied Ergonomics showed wearing tight pants restricts movement of the lower hips and trunk. As a result, the lumbar spine has to work harder to compensate. It’s always risky to limit movement of one part of the kinetic chain since another part has to take up the slack.
It’s not just tight pants that are a problem but tube and pencil skirts that force you to take short steps and place greater stress on your joints. Combine a tube skirt with high heels and you make the problem even worse by throwing off your center of gravity. Your risk of injury is higher too when you slip into a tight tube or pencil skirt. Ever tried to squat down or bend over to pick something up in a narrow skirt? It’s not easy – or safe.
Don’t forget – you may not feel the impact wearing tight clothing has on you right away, unless you develop an acute injury. Think of the risk as being cumulative over time. Keep in mind that anything that alters your natural gait and stride can create back and spine problems over time.
Digestive Issues and Yeast Infections
Wearing tight clothing around your waist or abdomen increases the pressure inside your abdomen cavity. This pressure pushes up on your diaphragm and can trigger or worsen acid reflux symptoms. So, if you have heartburn, indigestion or bloating after a meal, check to see if your pants are too tight, and if you have on tight clothing, watch how much you eat! Clothing with tight waistbands and belts that constrict your waist or tummy are common culprits as are compression garments like Spanx.
Finally, tight clothing that reduces air flow to your “private parts” place you at greater risk for vaginal yeast infections. When you walk around in tight pants, moisture builds up in your crotch area and serves as a breeding ground for Candida, the fungi that cause yeast infections.
The Bottom Line
Not only is constrictive clothing uncomfortable, it may be hazardous to your health. If you wear something tight, keep it on for the least amount of time possible. Just as you save your stilettos for a special occasion, treat tight clothing the same way. It’s not comfy nor is it healthy. Wearing pants that are tight around the calves is especially risky when it’s warm outside and you’re standing or sitting a lot. The warm weather and standing can cause leg swelling and with tight pants on, your calves can only expand so much, leading to a build-up of pressure.
The take-home message? Be fashionable but sensible about what you put on.
Some clothing-related maladies go by mundane-sounding names that hardly hint at their potential to sicken. For example, a middle-aged or older man whose belly hangs below the waist of his pants may suffer from “tight pants syndrome,” a term coined in a 1993 article by Dr. Octavio Bessa, an internist in Stamford, Conn.
Bessa described a collection of gastrointestinal symptoms including abdominal pain, heartburn and reflux a few hours after meals that he would see in 20 to 25 men every year. The common thread: All wore ill-fitting pants with waistbands several inches smaller than their bellies, Bessa reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Three years later, two diagnostic imaging specialists from Wales described a “sporting variant” of tight-pants syndrome that they linked to tight Neoprene bike shorts worn to prevent muscular injury. Drs. Charles G.F. Robinson and Nigel Jowett recounted how the shorts blocked venous blood flow in the legs of a 25-year-old man after his workout on a stationary bike. The doctors determined he’d suffered deep venous thrombosis (DVT), clotting probably exacerbated by a hip fracture four years earlier.
Despite treatment with blood thinners, the patient later developed a dangerous pulmonary embolism, indicating a clot had traveled to his lungs.
Pants that are too snug can lead to certain health issues, research suggests. Meaning you can be fit not just overweight.
Women suffer their own tight-pants agonies, too. A gynecological variation can foster yeast infections, pelvic pain, itching and irritations easily mistaken for a sexually transmitted disease. The solution? Looser, cotton clothing.
The way a woman wears her slacks might leave her prone to the breakdown of fatty tissue at the outside of the thighs, called lipoatrophia semicircularis, dermatologists say. “Persistent mechanical pressure” exerted by “strangling folds” of too-tight trousers can impair circulation and set the stage for this condition, especially in women who sit for long periods, according to a study from Chile’s Universidad Andres Bello in the June 2007 Journal of Dermatology.
Wearing tight neckties and shirts with constricting collars can impede blood flow through neck veins and arteries and may affect vision. In a 2003 study of 40 men, half with glaucoma, three minutes with a tightened tie raised eye pressure among the majority of those with and without the disease. Elevated eye pressure is a key element of diagnosing and monitoring glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness.
The lead researcher, Dr. Robert Ritch, a glaucoma specialist at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, maintained in the study in the British Journal of Ophthalmology that the transient rise in pressure readings “could affect the diagnosis and management of glaucoma.” But several prominent glaucoma specialists said the study failed to establish that transient high pressure from the tightened ties could cause glaucoma.
Believe it or not but too-tight neckties might impede proper circulation in severe cases, research suggests.
Tight neckties also can limit neck movement and raise muscle tension in the upper back and neck, researchers at Korea’s Yonsei University reported last year in “Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation.” They tested 30 computer workers when wearing and not wearing tight neckties and concluded that “it is especially important for male workers to select and tie neckties appropriately” to prevent musculoskeletal injuries.
Although clothing-related pain and dysfunction can affect almost everyone, Avitzur said women have a tendency to overlook discomfort, for the sake of appearance. An admitted fashion health victim, Avitzur said she had worn ill-fitting boots and “too-heavy earrings that tore through one of my lobes.”
She got the idea for a blog about skinny jeans while at the office of the plastic surgeon who repaired the damage from her poor earring choice.
References:
Applied Ergonomics xxx (2013) 1e9. “Effects of restrictive clothing on lumbar range of motion and trunk muscle activity in young adult worker manual material handling”
Medical Daily. “Fashion Victim In Tight Pants Experiences Nerve And Muscle Damage: Medical Conditions Caused By Skinny Jeans” June 22, 2015.
ABC News.go.com
“Cardiovascular disease can be deadly for anyone. But females face unique risks, largely due to differences in anatomy and hormones. They’re more likely to have other heart attack symptoms along with chest pain, and they have a higher chance of developing symptoms from heart failure. Heart-healthy lifestyle changes can help.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) affects women in unique ways. Sex-specific differences like anatomy, red blood cell count and hormones seem to impact a person’s risk factors, symptoms and other aspects of their cardiovascular health.
Researchers have found many sex-specific differences in the cardiovascular system. These complex differences, often at a microscopic level, can affect how females experience heart disease compared to males. A few examples include:
Cleveland Clinic (Heart Disease in Women: Risk Factors, Symptoms & Prevention)