Infection with human papilloma virus (HPV) is the cause of almost all cervical cancers. There are specific strains of HPV that are cancer causing, most notably HPV 16 and 18. But what is the risk of getting cancer from HPV? Here are some eye-opening stats. HPV 16 and 18 are more cancer causing than cigarettes. [...]
One of the biggest relationship red flags: the “If only you…”
Recently I have had cause to reflect on my relationship mistakes. What bothers me the most about my marriage was my wanton disregard for a key relationship red flag: the "If only you..." You know what I mean. Those 3 words slipped casually into a conversation (because that hurts so much less) that represent the [...]
Got a genital itch that just won’t go away? It could be pubic lice…
When people think genital itch, they usually think yeast. But yeast typically produces an internal vaginal itch, not outside on the vulva. If you are itching where your skin touches your underwear pubic lice has to be considered in the differential diagnosis. Pubic lice are insects called Pthirus pubis, that, er, hang out around the [...]
The Cosmopolitan in Vegas: the hotel that cares about your orgasm!
It's something I look for in every hotel gift shop. Yup, vibrators. Traveling with vibrators is tricky when you are flying with carry on only. It's possible the shape and electronics could trigger interest at security. Visions of standing by in abject horror as a TSA agent pulls out your Lelo G spot and says [...]
I just attended the worst CME lecture of my life…and what I did about it!
Yesterday concluded Pain Week, the largest pain conference in the United States (or so they said at the opening ceremonies). There were a lot of really interesting lectures, some very pertinent to my pelvic pain practice and others less so, but still interesting. For example, I don't treat head and neck pain, but many pain [...]
Persistent pain after a c-section: when is it nerve pain and what can you do?
Persistent pelvic and/or abdominal pain post c-section often poses a diagnostic and treatment dilemma, because most OB/GYNs know very little about pain and most pain doctors know very little about the pelvis. But that's where I come in, being both board certified in OB/GYN and Pain Medicine. It is hard to know how many women have [...]
In Alabama only men have a constitutional right to orgasm
It is illegal to sell vibrators in Alabama. That's right, according to the Anti-Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1998 selling sex toys in the, ahem, Yellowhammer State is a criminal act (Yellowhammer just sounds like the name of a vibrator, doesn't it?) Sex toy meaning any device designed or marketed primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs. In [...]
Targeting Big Tobacco to save a few billion in health care costs
The United States spends about $200 billion a year on health costs related to tobacco use, half of the money is spent on direct health-care and the other half on lost productivity. 18% of women of reproductive age smoke and 173,940 women die every year from smoking related cancers. Never mind the effects of smoking [...]
Leaking urine during sex…what’s up with that?
You are in the throngs of great sex when all of a sudden there is a new sensation. It takes your brain, very occupied with other things, a few seconds to switch gears and process. And then you realize that you have inadvertently emptied your bladder. This is a real medical problem called coital incontinence. [...]
Can you be pro-life and pro-tobacco? Presidential hopeful Rick Perry thinks so.
In 2009 Texas lawmakers decided to tax smokeless tobacco by weight rather than volume. This raised the taxes causing sales in Texas to drop by 50% (stats courtesy of those most concerned with plummeting sales, the makers of the Redman Chewing tobacco, apparently the number one brand). Less chewing tobacco is good because it causes [...]
