My younger patients, twenty and under, are often confused and seem a little uncomfortable when I ask them about their “Desire” for sex. Their answers include: “fine,” or “ok.” I will then try and make them more comfortable and normalize the idea that sexual desire is a normal and healthy part of life. Many women …
Continue ReadingBecause Sex is Not Just About Sex
Here’s an excerpt from an e-mail I recently received. I LOVED getting this e mail, not only because it was good news, which is always nice to get, but because I believe the writer highlighted something so crucial- how quickly sexual issues can snowball and affect the entire relationship even when a couple loves each …
Continue ReadingSlowing Down Inside
Meditation is nothing new, but it’s become a lot more popular these days. And that’s a good thing. I used to think that meditation meant sitting for a long period of time and having a blank mind. I’d meet people who told me they meditate for a half hour each morning and I felt like …
Continue ReadingLOVE, NOT SO BLIND
A young patient at Maze Women’s Health is perplexed that the passion she had felt early in her marriage has cooled. What happened to the strolls under perfect skies and the rides to the stars? Psychologist Israel Charny sees “normal” marriage as a relationship intrinsically laden with conflict and considers husbands and wives to be each other’s “intimate enemies.” We have to compromise …
Continue ReadingVietnam & Beyond
I recently returned from volunteering on a medical mission in Vietnam with The Children of Peace International (COPI). It was an absolutely amazing experience. 21 Vietnamese and 19 Americans joined together to provide care to 1,238 patients (mostly children) at 7 clinics in 5 different cities over 14 days! We started in Hanoi (North) and …
Continue ReadingA Spring of Anxiety
Many of us in the Northeast suffer from what is commonly referred to as SAD. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), is the time between November and March when the temperature drops and the sun goes down at 4PM. Why then is everything not all better when spring rolls around? Rational thinking would lead one to believe …
Continue ReadingUnderstanding Bioidentical Hormones and Compounding Pharmacies
Often patients have misinformation about bioidentical hormones and compounding pharmacies since there is so much confusing and misleading information out there about both of them. Hopefully this sheet will clear up some misunderstandings and misconceptions. Bioidentical hormones – are products in which the chemical makeup of the hormones exactly matches the chemical makeup of the …
Continue ReadingBirth Control Pills and Vulvodynia
A recent study published in The British Medical Journal found that low-dose estrogen plus levonorgestrel birth control pills seem to be the safest in terms of cardiovascular risk. It is important to note that all hormonal birth control pills have the potential to cause vulvodynia. The tissue in the vulvar vestibule has androgen receptors so …
Continue ReadingIs There Really Medical Help For Low Libido?
The answer is: yes and… no. If you feel like the part of you that wanted sex seems to have gone on an extended vacation, or if you feel like you never want sex and you can’t figure out why, it may be that you are missing hormones, your other medications are affecting you or …
Continue ReadingNo “Normal” Down There
Why is it that so many of us go through our lives without looking deeply at our sexual self? There are few aspects of our lives that produce as much shame as sexuality, and the need to be “normal.” Society has created this mythical notion of what is “normal” or “ideal.” The normal weight, the …
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