Women’s Health Gynecologist in Kendall

Love is in the air, but are you showing love to your mind and body? When it comes to women’s health, it’s easy to forget to check up on ourselves and experience self-love. Here are two tips from our gynecologist in Kendall, Dr. Susan Fox!

Listen to Your Body

Everyone talks about how you should place your physical health as a top priority, but what does that look like practically?

In your day-to-day life, listening to your body and paying attention to its physical needs can be expressed in many ways. Not getting enough sleep and dealing with too much stress are huge factors that play a significant role in women’s health, and often, women shy away from dealing with these issues because of fear or because other priorities are more important.

If you struggle with getting out of bed or with staying focused on tasks throughout the day, you’re probably not getting enough sleep. This can put you at risk of heart disease and psychological problems, and remember, you can never get back the sleep you’ve lost.

Dealing with unhealthy amounts of stress in your everyday life can also affect women’s health, as it comes with a higher risk of infertility, depression, heart disease, and anxiety.

It’s natural to feel stressed out and overwhelmed, but just because everyone deals with it doesn’t mean you can’t find a solution that works for you. Talk to your doctor about how you can manage stress in a healthy way.

Stress can play an enormous role in women’s health and contribute to long-term negative effects in your body.

Listening to your body also includes paying attention to what you eat and how your diet affects you. Don’t eat whatever you want all the time, but don’t follow an extremely strict diet that limits the joy of eating your favorite foods.

Eat sweet and salty snacks in moderation, and make sure that your everyday diet is a mix of healthy fats, fiber, lean proteins, and healthy carbs.

When it comes to calcium, make sure you’re not consuming too much of it, as it can increase the risk of kidney stones. Women under fifty years old should be getting about 1,000 milligrams per day, and women over fifty should be consuming 1,200 milligrams through foods rich in calcium, such as almonds, milk, and salmon.

Make sure to also have a balanced workout routine every week, with a mix of cardio and weight-bearing or resistance exercises. Doing these exercises three to five times a week helps prevent heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and cancer.

Better Safe than Sorry

Another important part of women’s health is to get regular checkups, specifically with your gynecologist.

If you’re 21 or older, you should receive a pap exam every three years to check for cervical cancer.

Women 30-65 years old should receive both a pap exam and an HPV test every five years. If you’re older, your gynecologist in Kendall may recommend that you discontinue testing if your body is at a low risk.

If you’re sexually active and have a higher risk for STDs, make sure you are regularly tested for diseases like gonorrhea, HIV, syphilis, and chlamydia. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so don’t skip your annual checkup or women’s wellness exam so your doctor can assess your needs and concerns.

Don’t forget to make an appointment with our gynecologist in Kendall, Dr. Susan Fox! We would love to answer any questions you have about women’s health.