health
From the ovaries, outward, all about female-focused health and medicine.
My Story - The Life of Endo I Live
Endometriosis affects almost every aspect of my life! My job, my social life, relationships, and my eating habits. Most children I knew were worried about acne, sex, and what they looked like when they hit puberty. My worry was reaching the time of the month when my period came! I was 11-years-old when I first started my monthly circle.
Sinead SmythePublished 6 years ago in VivaMy IUD Story and Why You Should Get One
Ahhh, the IUD. First of all, most of you are probably asking, what even is an IUD? Isn’t that for women who have already had kids?
Ella RileyPublished 6 years ago in VivaLearning Curves With a Chronic Disease
I'll never forget the day I woke up and never got better. I was supposed to make it to college for an 8 AM lecture but instead it was 4 AM and I was on on the bathroom floor experiencing pain I've never had before. Imagine being sick with the worst flu... After days, weeks, months of this every single day I finally realized, "this is never going away."
Ivy NorrisPublished 6 years ago in VivaThe Evolution of Hidden Fertility
We are the only female primates that do not undergo estrus—a time when the anogenital areas turn red and swell signaling receptivity for sex. The obvious bright swellings also indicate the female is fertile. This is also referred to as sexual heat. Science is a male-dominated occupation, full of bias in assessing the role of women in evolution. Nowhere is this seen so acutely as it is in considering why human females do not undergo estrus. Many of my male counterparts see the loss of sexual heat as simply the evolution of continual receptivity that benefitted the males of our species., and others believe sexual heat still exists in more subtle ways. Some of the current thinking on the end of estrus can be summed up as follows:
Monica BennettPublished 6 years ago in Viva10 Things Every Woman Thinks About Their VaJJ
A vagina is so many things. Mysterious. Magical. Beautiful. Like an enchanting unicorn. However, it's also a giant pain in the ass or more like a pain next to your ass. Unlike man parts which can be lifted, flipped, and flopped, a woman's "secret garden" requires so much more love, attention, and upkeep. Located and designed to make it near impossible to see it yourself, it is hands down the most confusing and complicated part of the human body.
Jus L'amorePublished 6 years ago in Viva10 Common Questions About Birth Control Usage
From the basics to more complex understandings of birth control methods, these are the top ten questions about birth control usage. Is my birth control making me fat? Or how about, am I safe to skip one pill every once in a while?
Kelsey LangePublished 6 years ago in VivaFolic Acid Supplementation Tied to Health Risks for Women and Their Babies
More and more studies are showing alarming health risks for women and their babies as a result of synthetic folic acid supplements and fortification of foods. While folates have long been known to be crucial for healthy fetal development, the synthetic version of folate, folic acid, has been linked to increased risk of asthma for infants and double the risk of breast cancer for mothers, among other risks.
Alicia BayerPublished 6 years ago in VivaBreast Cancer Awareness
My Story: On my father’s side of the family there is a painfully long history of breast cancer. Over time my grandma has lost both her breasts to breast cancer, but is still alive and well. Her sister however wasn’t so lucky.
Soul Cysters
I want to start off by saying thank you for being here! PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) sounds like such a scary thing, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re reading this, whether you have been diagnosed with PCOS, friend, a loved one, or you're just simply curious about what it is, you’ve come to the right place!
Andrea ScroghamPublished 6 years ago in VivaIs My Birth Control Giving Me Anxiety?
I have been a faithful friend to hormonal birth control methods for over fourteen years now. Mostly oral contraceptives to start, and switching to hormonal IUD’s a little later on. This hadn’t been a significant fact until recently, when I started doing a little digging into my health, and some of the health hiccups I’d undergone throughout my teenage years and now into my twenties.
Em McMahonPublished 6 years ago in VivaVagina Troubles and How to Prevent Them
Okay, so I decided to take a break from writing about Disneyland to address a topic that is really important to me: VAGINA HEALTH. Ladies...It is shocking to me that in the time of amazing accessibility we live in, SO MANY OF YOU don't know how to take care of your beautiful, wonderful, lady parts!
Kathryn C.Published 6 years ago in VivaMerry Christmas to Me, I Got an IUD
I have been a big fan on IUDs (intrauterine devices) for quite some time, but I never made a real effort to get one. I mentioned it to by OB/GYN in Chicago about a year ago, but they were having trouble with my insurance. I was already on the pill, and it was working quite well—in the sense that I hadn’t gotten pregnant. So I dropped the idea of an IUD and stuck with the birth control I already had.
Grace MikusPublished 6 years ago in Viva