Women's Health

What is women’s health?

Women’s health focuses on symptoms and conditions affecting the female reproductive system.

Common health problems like diabetes, infectious diseases, high blood pressure, heart disease, and depression affect everyone, regardless of gender. However, some health conditions affect women exclusively or are more common in women.

What conditions do women’s health care providers treat?

The female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone control reproduction and menstruation. Challenges relating to the menstrual cycle, like painful periods and premenstrual syndrome (PMS), are common. Cervical, uterine, and ovarian cancers are some of the more severe women’s health disorders.

Other women’s health conditions that the Gulf Coast Medical Clinic team may treat include:

• Menopause
• Ovarian cysts
• Uterine fibroids
• Hormonal imbalances
• Yeast and bacterial infections
• Vaginal atrophy
• Painful intercourse
• Menstrual problems
• Endometriosis
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
• Breast disorders
• Urinary incontinence
• Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)

If you have any urgent women’s health concerns, make an appointment at Gulf Coast Medical Clinic. You should also attend a regular well-woman exam — your provider will tell you how often you need one.

How does a well-woman exam improve my health?

A well-woman exam or wellness visit is similar to a regular physical exam, checking general health and well-being. However, a well-woman exam also focuses on women’s health issues.

Your provider performs a pelvic exam as part of a well-woman checkup. They need to see and feel the inside of your vagina and up to your cervix to check for any signs of infection or abnormalities. During the pelvic exam, your provider can also perform a Pap smear.

What part do Pap smears play in women’s health?

Pap smears are essential tests that help prevent cervical cancer. Your provider swabs a sample of cervical cells they send for lab analysis. The test results show whether you have any changes in the cells that could indicate they’ll become cancerous.

Having a positive result doesn’t mean you have cancer, as not all changes in the cervical cells are malignant. Being able to treat you at this early stage is vital, though, because later stages of cervical cancer aren’t so responsive to treatment.

If you have a women’s health problem, Gulf Coast Medical Clinic provides compassionate, discreet services with tailored treatments. Call the office to schedule a consultation or book an appointment online today.