Women’s health solutions
Charting and natural remedies for Mittelschmerz
Mittelschmerz is German for “middle pain”: it’s a telltale sign that your body is in ovulation mode. It happens in twenty percent of women and is literally pain that results from a mature follicle pressing against the wall of one of your ovaries, trying to break through and release an egg. Ovulation is not an […]
PMDD: are women’s periods making them mentally ill?
My day job is managing the marketing for a children’s psychiatric hospital; I take mental illness seriously. Depression, for example, is not a fleeting feeling of sadness, it’s a dark hole that can take every bit of someone’s ability and will to live normally. The last version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the DSM-5, lists […]
Four natural ways to help regulate ovulation
Ovulation is a sign of health. The regular monthly release of an egg is a sign that your hormones are at optimal levels and, for the most part, balanced. Not ovulating–though you still might menstruate–often means that something is awry. Most commonly that “something” is stress, but don’t ignore signs of anovulation just because “it’s […]
Is the Pill wrecking your gut?
Antibiotics get a lot of attention as a disruptor of the diverse ecosystem of bacteria, yeast and other microorganisms that serve incredibly important functions in our bodies, aka our very important but rather delicate gut microbiome. Recent studies have found that even “short courses of antibiotics can leave normal gut bacteria harbouring antibiotic resistance genes […]
What’s the good news about cervical health?
January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. We often hear the bad news concerning the cervix: risk of cancer, the need for Pap smears, HPV and HPV vaccinations. Cervical cancer is a reality, with an estimated 528,000 cases of cervical cancer worldwide, and 266,000 deaths, which makes it the fourth most common cause of cancer death […]
What fertility charting tells us about thyroid problems
Are you tired all the time? Feeling foggy in the brain and slow to “get up and go”? Despite the extra layers you may be wearing, do you feel cold, or tend to be sensitive to the cold? I know, it’s January, everyone is cold and little sluggish. But if these feelings linger, it may be […]
Spotting between your periods could be a sign of endometriosis
Spotting between periods might not seem like too bothersome of a problem to have in and of itself. But a certain kind of spotting can be a sign of a very serious disease: endometriosis. What happens when you complain about spotting to your doctor? If you are dismissed, you may need to look further. Yes, a lot […]
Are your migraines caused by a hormonal imbalance? What to do.
Jessica’s* migraine always came at very inconvenient times- right before a busy day of dentist appointments for her children, during date night with her husband, or in the middle of a trip to the park (Is there EVER a convenient time to get a migraine?). For many years, they prevented her from being really present […]
Painful sex: how tracking your cycle could fix it
Have you ever heard a man complain of painful sex? Me neither. But, among woman, it is a common problem. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), says nearly three out of four women experience painful sex at some point in their lives. This experience triggers a great deal of frustration, dissatisfaction, and even […]
The three ways fertility awareness can help with infertility
Just yesterday afternoon, at a conference in San Antonio, a couple in their early thirties shyly approached the Natural Womanhood table, attracted by our signage about fertility. The young wife almost whispered to me, “We can’t get pregnant; can you help us?” A short conversation ensued revealing that she wasn’t ovulating at every cycle, and was […]
