9 Essential Health Checks for Folks With a Vagina
Learning how to monitor your health and becoming aware of the indicators for when you should visit the doctor is not only important, but can, in some cases, save your life. While some things can affect anyone, particular ailments can arise specifically for a person with a vagina. Thus, learning how to perform self-health checks becomes pertinent to your well-being, bringing issues to your awareness in time for you to seek the help of a medical professional.
If you are unsure of how to track your health, including the ways that you can easily test your health at home, we’ve got nine things for every vulva owner to consider below.
Pay attention to your mental health
Part of learning how to monitor your health better includes being aware of your mental health. While changes in your moods and behaviours can indicate treatable mental illness, it can also be a symptom of physical ailments.
Take note of your heart rate
Regularly check your heart rate by recording your pulse (by placing your finger to the main artery in your neck). The average resting heart rate of an adult ranges from sixty to one hundred beats per minute.
One of the health benefits of sex is that it gets your heart pumping and keeps you active! It’s a win-win.
Look at your vulva with a mirror
Check your vulva for anything that seems out of the ordinary — bumps, rashes, discolouration, and new moles are just some of the things to watch out for. If you have a regular sexual partner, ask them to bring anything that might be strange to your attention after they’ve performed cunnilingus or fingering.
An interesting vagina fact: both labia sets are often darker than the rest of the skin, and the vulva darkens further with arousal.
Keep track of your menstruation cycle
Monitoring your menstruation dates and the symptoms experienced not only helps you learn when your period is set to begin, but can help gauge underlying issues (such as endometriosis, fibroids, PCOS), including those related to infertility. To make it simple, there are plenty of apps available to download that track cycle days and symptoms and can even predict fertility.
Test for urinary tract infections (UTIs)
Because the urethra is so close to the vagina, it’s easier for vulva owners to develop UTIs than it is for those with penises. Peeing after sexual intercourse and wiping front to back after using the washroom are two main ways to avoid a UTI, but they aren’t fool proof. Should symptoms of a UTI arise, you can take an over the counter test or visit a walk-in clinic for testing. A doctor will then be able to prescribe you the right antibiotic.
Go for regular pap smears
After the age of twenty-one (or after someone with a vagina has become sexually active), going for a pap smear every three years is paramount. This will detect cancers and pre-cancers in the cervix; while avoiding sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is a great start, they are not the only way a person can develop cervical cancer.
Check your breasts for lumps
Once someone born with a vagina turns forty-five, going for annual mammograms is critical to screen for breast cancer. However, before this age — or in between mammograms — you can perform self-checks on your breasts by feeling for lumps, unusual tenderness, atypical differences in size or colouration, swelling, and dimpling (among other things).
Be aware when your body feels ‘off’
While going for regular testing and being aware of noticeable changes in your body is undoubtedly important, it’s also vital to be mindful of less ‘dramatic’ physical or emotional changes. You know your body best; listen to what it is telling you and, if you feel you need to seek medical attention before your usual check-ups, go!
Go for your annual check-up
Whether you feel sick or not, a yearly visit to your doctor is a great way to ensure that you are the healthiest you can be. Your doctor can perform necessary tests on you, including screening issues that you may not be able to check yourself, in the comfort of your home.
By improving your knowledge of how to track your health, including how you can simply test your health at home, you can be fully aware of the changes in your body over time. Getting to know yourself physically and emotionally is vital to understanding when things are amiss, and a visit to the doctor is required.
After reading this today, we hope that you will feel inspired to take the reins by monitoring your health and performing regular health checks.
Do you already test your health at home? What are your own recommended health checks? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
