Originally appeared on Health & Wellness

By Parveen Vahora, M.D.

It’s almost the New year! However, before we start celebrating, you might want to prepare a bit for important wellness visits and examinations. Have you had your gynecological wellness examination this year? Are you due or overdue?

Some common conditions can proliferate quite quickly in females. It’s imperative to stay on top of your appointments and maintain regular examinations. Even if you don’t think any is wrong, it’s not wise to cross your fingers and procrastinate. Anything that is detected early will be easier to treat and offer optimal outcomes.

Let’s say you do have symptoms of something new—Even more critical that you get seen by your gynecologist as soon as possible. Ignoring symptoms is dangerous, to say the least. Being proactive saves lives and can mitigate long-term issues.

Cervical Cancer Screening

Even if you don’t need a pap smear, you should absolutely still schedule your gynecological wellness exam every year to evaluate for disease and disorders, including cervical cancer.

The most important thing that women can do to prevent cervical cancer is to have regular cervical cancer screenings. These are given during a Pap test or wellness exam, which should be at least every year, or if you are at high risk or have had HPV, cancer, precancer, or other genital disorders, your routine visits should be several times per year. There are preventative tests that Dr. Vahora includes in her regular cervical cancer screening called, Papanicolaou (Pap) test, which checks for HPV specifically.

Pain Down There or Pain with Intercourse is Not something to Take Lightly.

As we age, many women think pain, burning, dryness or discomfort with intercourse is normal. It’s not. It means that you need to get to the root cause of your issue which is often related to hormonal imbalance.

Many Conditions and Disorders Can Disrupt Vaginal Mucosa and Hormones.

Lack of estrogen, cancer treatment for ovarian cancer, cervical, breast cancer, others can disrupt the vaginal mucosa. If you have had an oophorectomy or hysterectomy, vaginal changes also occur quickly due to a disruption in hormones and vulvovaginal tissues. Menopause is a one of the primary issues of dryness, pain with intercourse and other disorders.

You do not have to live in pain and discomfort. There are viable treatments that have helped countless women find relief and turn back the clock. Along with hormone replacement (women who have had breast cancer usually cannot take hormone therapy), there is an innovative procedure called MonaLisa Touch^®.

MonaLisa Touch^®

Now it’s possible to have relief from vulvovaginal atrophy due to the MonaLisa Touch’s^® ability to gently improve the tissue of the vulvar and vaginal mucosa. No medications, no cutting, no lengthy healing times: This innovative laser therapy is for VVA. It’s quick, efficient, and can be safely performed in the comfort and privacy of Dr. Vahora’s office. With this treatment, women no longer have symptoms of dryness, pain, itching, or irritation. Women can enjoy intimacy once again. The MonaLisa Touch^® treatment also helps urinary symptoms such as incontinence and urgency.

Regular Women's Wellness Exams are Essential

Your Wellness Visit

Both Dr. Vahora and Cammy Acevedo can identify any concerns such as heavy bleeding pelvic pain, menopausal symptoms, low libido, and pain with intercourse. If you have a family history of cancer, genetic testing can be offered. These conditions can be further worked up, and custom-tailored procedures and treatment options can be addressed to meet your specific needs. We can also identify if you have vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA) or pain with intercourse and talk about treatment options including to see if you are a candidate for the MonaLisa Touch^® treatment.

Parveen Vahora, M.D.

Dr. Vahora specializes in pelvic pain and endometriosis and is passionate about educating fellow physicians and the community on these topics. She is fellowship trained in minimally invasive surgery. Another focus of hers is sexual health and she offers MonaLisa Touch^® for patients who have issues from having children, going through menopause, as well as post-menopausal women, cancer survivors, and those suffering from pain during intercourse or intense dryness or incontinence or prolapse.

Cammie Acevedo, APRN

Cammie is a board-certified Nurse Practitioner with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Her academic background includes a Masters degree in Nursing from Chamberlain College of Nursing. Her previous nursing experience includes Labor and Delivery, Mother/Baby and Trauma/Surgical Intensive Care as well as working as an Advanced Practice Nurse in Family Medicine. With an extensive career in Women’s Health, she has a passion for empowering women and she truly enjoys being able to provide high quality care while improving the lives of women through promotion of mental, physical, and sexual health and wellness. As a busy mom of 5, she enjoys spending time with her family attending sporting events and visiting different beaches when she’s not proving patient care.

IF YOU HAVE BEEN PUTTING OFF YOUR GYNECOLOGICAL EXAM OR WELLNESS VISIT, NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT.

Contact us today to schedule an appointment at Info@ParveenVahoraMD.com or during office hours call (727) 376-1536 or text (813) 548 4412.

To find out more, please visit ParveenVahoraMD.com or email info@ParveenVahoraMD.com.