International Women’s Day is a worldwide event that celebrates women’s achievements – from the political to the social – while calling for gender equality. It is recognized every year on the 8th of March.
The theme for IWD 2019 is #BalanceforBetter which is a call to action for driving gender balance across the world.
As we push for balance across gender, it is important that we as women, take the necessary steps to keep ourselves healthy by taking the right steps. Adopting some new habits can make all the difference in our gynecological health.
1) Get your pap smear done
A pap smear or (Papanicolaou test) is a method of cervical screening used to detect changes in the cells of the cervix (which is the neck of the womb) These changes may indicate potentially precancerous and cancerous processes in the cervix. For women between ages 21-65 years, it recommended to have the smear test every 3 years. The good thing about having this test done regularly is that if any abnormal changes are picked up on routine testing, further testing can be done and if necessary procedures can be carried out to prevent progression to cervical cancer, which is the eight most common cancer in the world.
2) Consider contraception.
For sexually active women, it is important to think carefully about when you want to reproduce and plan accordingly. There is a wide range of contraceptive options available, ranging from pills to patches to intrauterine devices. Certain options may not be suitable for some individuals and the honest truth is that some methods have associated side effects, and not every woman will react to them the same way, however it is still worth doing some research and speaking to your health care provider about your options in order to prevent unwanted pregnancy.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by GARO/PHANIE/REX (4137784p)
Contraceptives.
Various
3. Track your period.
In this technological age, there’s an app for everything and tracking your period is now as simple as entering some basic data into an app on your phone. If you are not too fond of technology, there’s also the good old fashioned calendar which you can use to keep track of your period. As simple as this is, tracking your period can have significant impact on your health. There’s the basic benefit of minimizing the surprise arrival of your period, and there’s also the benefit of pattern recognition, so if you know your period usually lasts three days, if you get a seven day period, you will know that this is not normal for you and this may be the only symptom for women who have uterine fibroids. If you track your period and notice lower abdominal pain that occurs around the same time in your cycle, you may be able to relate it to your ovulation, so that if you notice a similar pain that isn’t related to your cycle, you know that this pain may have a different cause.
Sad woman with negative pregnancy test and calendar. A concept being failed to get pregnant
4. Do not ignore any unusual vaginal discharge.
The healthy vagina produces a discharge. This discharge varies in consistency/scent depending on the menstrual cycle. Tracking your cycle and paying attention to your vaginal hygiene helps you know what is normal for your body. Changes in vaginal ph can affect your vaginal discharge. This can be caused by a number of things ranging from pregnancy to taking antibiotics. If you notice an abnormal vaginal discharge, it is best to get it tested in order to confirm the cause. If the discharge is caused by a sexually transmitted infection, you may need antibiotics to treat the infection, even if you do not feel sick. This is because some sexually transmitted infections can cause long term problems which include infertility when not detected and treated properly.
This is only a short list, there are lots of things we can all do to keep ourselves healthy as women, so that we can continue to push for progress while maintaining good health.
