Top 3 Women’s Health Tips
1. Go for your smear tests and your mammograms on schedule.
Yes they are unpleasant but so are the consequences of cervical and breast cancer. Breast cancer is the second most fatal cancer in women and women over 60 are most at risk. The NHS offers routine screening every three years for women between 50 and 70, although it is currently being extended to 47-73. The screening programme for breast cancer has reduced mortality in the UK to the lowest in Europe. Cervical cancer affects women who are sexually active and are between the ages of 30-45, rarely is it seen in women below 25. Incidence rates in the UK have increased more than 20% in the 25-34 age group in the last 20 years, although the good news is that screening saves 4500 lives per year in the UK. If you have concerns over either of these conditions or you think you should be tested then call your GP.
Find out more about the Breast Cancer Screening Programme here……..
Find out more about the Cervical Screening Programme here……
2. Make sure you do your pelvic floor and core exercises post pregnancy.
There’s lots to think about after you have a baby, but if you can find a few minutes a day to do some simple exercises it will protect your back, hips and pelvis from dysfunction and pain in both the short and the long term. We frequently see patients who have pain in the weeks, months and even years after giving birth and most of them haven’t completed their pelvic floor exercises. The pelvic floor and the ‘core’ muscles are important for the stability of our pelvis and a lack of strength here can lead to all sorts of problems, such as stress incontinence and pubic symphysis disorder.
Find out more about pelvic floor exercises here…….Or call us on 01225 571084 and we can advise you on the best exercises for you.
3. If you are training for an event or sport make sure you are following a programme specifically designed for women.
Men and women’s bodies are structurally and physiologically different to each other, this means that when when hard physical training is undertaken, the each should be treated to recognise the differences. The biggest difference is that women will find it harder to gain muscle size (although strength gains will be the same as men) than men, if you are a woman undertaking a programme to increase muscular size make sure you are using goals designed for females. You can find some examples here
Also, women are more predisposed to certain types of injury, especially knee injuries, this means selecting the correct footwear and keeping the leg muscles strong are vital for the female athlete. Women who are endurance athletes are at risk from menstrual dysfunction which can result in bone mineral loss leading to early osteoporosis. The main risk factors for this are women who are involved in gymnastics, performance dancing and endurance running, who also have poor nutritional habits, low body fat or stress. Click here for some good guidance for female endurance nutrition.
If you have concerns over injuries that you have had in the past, present or feel may be an issue in the future then give us a call on 01225 571084.