Elaine

Great thought but unfortunately her plans are set without any flexibility.
I recently blogged about the most asked questions that teens have about periods, puberty, products and relationships. As a beinggirl.com women’s health expert, I can attest to the fact that teens don’t hesitate to research about what is bothering them. They go to beingirl.com, yahoo, facebook, WebMD or wherever there are health experts and they ask away, then ask away some more. However, it seems that while we women continue to have questions about our changing bodies as we age, the older we get the more hesitant we can be about finding out what is happening to us.

While I believe that everyone should ask questions about their health to learn about the best way to manage their situation or to figure out if the changes are normal or not, you can’t force information on someone. Sometimes we accept abnormalities for so long it becomes the norm for our beings. I truly believe that should not be the way it happens. Laughing about a problem is good, but finding out what can help us is even better.

One of my passions is helping women and teens find answers to bothersome health issues. Before responding to questions, whether I am familiar with the answer or not, I still research the topic to ensure I am providing the most current information or research available. On the beinggirl.com website, where I am one of the women’s health experts, we have been answering questions from teen girls for years. Historically, Dr. Iris Prager developed the answers on the site, when she was the education manager for Tampax and Always. She has a PhD in health education and is a past president of the American Association for Health Education. Women’s health experts, including me, as well as physicians, educators, scientists, and other nurses reviewed her responses. The content on beinggirl.com along with the responses used as the basis for responding to the questions asked continue to undergo regular reviews to ensure the information remains accurate and current.

Back to the women and the topic of not asking questions or addressing their health concerns. I read lots of blogs that reflect laughter, tears, frustration, anger and despondency. Some blogs share wonderful touching (and some very frightening) stories about the physical and emotional changes some experience with perimenopause, menopause, as well as older lady aging stuff like stress or urge incontinence. The blogs are situational sharing with a theme of acceptance until the annoying symptoms or physical changes go away or get so horrid a doctor’s appointment is finally made. By the way, stress and urge incontinence are a pathological condition, not a normal part of aging.

While it is great to know we are not alone in our suffering, it would be even better to identify information that can help us manage whatever it is that is ailing us. There are tips and advise out there on credible sites in Internet land that can help us avoid issues before they even begin. For those of you who do ask and find answers, GOOD FOR YOU. For the others who suffer needlessly, ask away, there is help and you are not alone!

p.s. Thanks to Mary B., Dr. Iris, and Virginia for inspiring this topic.