All women’s health and wellness professionals who are working with women with pelvic pain must be knowledgeable about the risk of this common pregnancy complication. What is ectopic pregnancy?An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg implants outside of the uterus, 1.Ectopic pregnancy is common, accounting for 1-2% of all pregnancies. What are the associated risk factors?Women and people with a history of a previous ectopic pregnancy, pregnancy loss, previous Chlamydia trachomatis…
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What is functional medicine?Functional medicine is a systems biology based approach that looks for the root causes of diseases and symptoms. Functional medicine aims to optimize functioning of the body’s cells, systems, and the environmental systems where the person lives.The goal of a functional medicine perspective is not simply to quiet the symptoms, but to relieve the symptoms at the root cause.Functional Medicine vs. Functional Nutrition Technically, functional medicine is only practiced by providers…
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For moms and parents in your practice who decide to breastfeed, there is so much that you can do to encourage them to build a healthy breast milk supply. [caption id="attachment_8139" align="alignleft" width="615"] "I make milk. What's your superpower?" - Unknown[/caption] Supporting your clients to build a healthy breast milk supply is beneficial to the newborn babies as well as the mom or breastfeeding parent. There are several factors to…
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The foundation of our mission at The Integrative Women's Health Institute is to help provide higher-quality, integrative pelvic healthcare for ALL people. My name is Dr. Jessica Drummond, and I am the founder and CEO of The Integrative Women's Health Institute, where our mission is to educate and empower practitioners in order to help improve the standard of care for women and people of all gender identities. Pelvic healthcare in…
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How to Heal and Treat Vulvodynia Vulvodynia affects over 14 million people in the US alone. This complex pain syndrome is a frustrating condition to treat. Vulvodynia is a condition that causes pain in the vulva (or specifically in the vulvar vestibule). The root cause of vulvodynia is not fully understood. Vulvodynia is most bothersome when provoked and when the tissue is irritated. This often happens during sex, when wiping…
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Gluten and Endometriosis Is there a link between gluten and endometriosis? Should women avoid gluten to lower their risk of endometriosis or to help to resolve the symptoms of endometriosis? Let’s look at the research… First, it’s important to consider that endometriosis has many characteristics of an autoimmune disease (Eisenberg, et al., 2012). It is clear that endometriosis is an inflammatory disease process. In endometriosis, the presence of endometrial glands…
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One of the most frustrating challenges that our clients with endometriosis face is how to relieve the chronic bloating known as “Endo Belly.” Over the years, my practice has seen thousands of women struggling with this, and we have developed an integrative protocol for relieving the bloat for good. What is “Endo Belly”? Before we get into the steps to relieving Endo Belly, let’s talk about what it really…
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People with pelvic pain conditions, including endometriosis, are at an increased risk of some types of cancer. Other common cancer risk factors: Inflammation Having a history of some viral infections, including HPV History of smoking Family history of cancer Chronic stress Drinking alcohol While cancer risk factors are common, let’s focus on the good news. You have the power to create an environment within your body, within your cells, where…
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Xenoestrogen Exposure is a Clear Risk Factor for Breast Cancer and Others For our clients and patients with exposure to xenoestrogens, the first step is to reduce the exposures, lowering their overall toxic load, and in turn reducing the risk for breast cancer. Everyone is exposed to some level of xenoestrogens; it’s impossible to completely avoid them. Thus, it’s important to emphasize the benefit of small, consistent reductions of exposure,…
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Hormone imbalance is a frustrating issue to deal with for many people, which is why I love to recommend hormone-balancing recipes, like this one! For women with endometriosis, interstitial cystitis or painful bladder syndrome, bloating, and other hormone issues, salad can be tricky. On the one hand... "Salad is healthy, right?" On the other hand..."Salad makes me bloated!" is a common refrain in my practice. When do raw vegetables help…
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