Download Boardman High School Health Class

Introduction to
Women’s Health Care
 What in the world is a women’s health exam?
 Why would anyone have one?
 Do I need one?
Women’s Health Care
Pregnancy and Birth
Women’s Health Care
 Annual
exams and PAP tests
 Birth control
 STD testing and treatment
 Common problems
Pregnancy and Birth
 Prenatal
 Birth
care
Why do I need an exam?
When do I need one?
Who will do my exam?
What will happen?
 Screening for breast and cervical cancer
 Common gynecologic problems
 Family planning
 STD testing and treatment
 Lifetime risk is 12.8%

This is one out of every eight women!
 Breast cancer is the second most common
cancer among women (skin cancer 1st)
 Lung cancer is leading cause of cancer death in
women, breast cancer is second
Non-Modifiable
Modifiable
Being female
Aging
Reproductive history
Oral contraceptives
Hormone replacement
Alcohol
Weight
Family history
Genetic Risks
Personal history
Certain types of breast
cancer
Menstrual history
Race
*Injury to the breast is
NOT a risk factor
 Early diagnosis is the key to surviving breast
cancer

Nearly 97% of women who are diagnosed with
breast cancer at an early stage survive for more than
5 years
 Breast cancer occurs when there is erratic
cell growth and proliferation in the breast
tissue
Malignant
(cancer)
Non-malignant
(not cancer)
Invades, compresses and
destroys normal tissue
80% of breast lumps
Cells may break away to
form new tumors
Do not invade or spread
Life-threatening
Not life-threatening
 Fluid-filled sacs within the breast
 May become enlarged and tender just before
your period
 Not cancer, but any new lump should be
checked out by a health care provider
 Treatment:
possibly decreasing
caffeine
 Screening Mammogram
 Yearly for women over 40
 Clinical Breast Exam
 Performed by a doctor, nurse practitioner
or nurse-midwife
 Yearly for women >40
 Every 3 years for women 20-39
 Breast Self Exam (BSE)
 Monthly
 X-ray of the breast to detect breast cancer
 Can detect a lump before it can be felt
 Studies demonstrate that mammograms reduce
the risk of dying from breast cancer
 You feel a lump
 There is a change in your skin
 Dimpling
 Retraction
 Looks like an orange peel
 Red, warm, swollen
 Your breasts hurt, and it’s not related to your
cycles
 Nipple discharge when you are not pregnant or
breastfeeding
 There is anything that concerns you
 Potential complications
 Infection, can be severe
 Nerve damage*
 Blood-filled cyst
 Scarring, including keloid formation
 Can contract hepatitis B or C, or HIV (rare)
 Allergic reaction to the metal
 Damage to the nipple if pulled
 Need to remove to breastfeed, may leak breast milk
through piercing hole
Abnormal cells on the cervix
that multiply out of control
 Human Papillomavirus
 Common virus: more than 100 subtypes
 30 of these sub-types are sexually transmitted
High-risk strains cause cervical cancer, cancer of
the tonsils and throat**
 Low-risk types cause genital warts

 Most common sexually transmitted infection
 11,000 new cases each year
 3,600 women die each year
(that’s 10 per day in the U.S.)
Worldwide, the 2nd most common type of female
cancer
 Overall 5-year survival rate for women
diagnosed with cervical cancer, regardless of
stage - 73%
 Screening done with PAP test
Cells collected from cervix
 Looked at under microscope

 Abnormal Pap test results are quite common
 They are usually only slightly abnormal
 If followed up and treated early, you can prevent
the abnormality from turning into cervical cancer
 Starting at age 21
 Every year until age 30
 After age 30, if you have had only normal
results, you may have them every 2 to 3
years (after talking with your health care
provider about your level of risk)
 PAP testing is not a one-time test

New changes (abnormalities) can occur after you get tested,
even if you have not had new partners

It could take many years for changes to develop or to be
noticed

Your risk changes if you have new partners, or if your partner
has other partners *
 Age 21
 When sexually active (or considering it)
 Women’s health problem
 Abnormal vaginal bleeding
 Periods more often than every 3 weeks
 Periods less often than every 6 weeks
 Bleeding between periods
 Periods that last longer than a week
 Very heavy periods (soaking a pad per hour)
 Painful Periods
 Cramps that interfere with your lifestyle
 Headaches that occur with menstruation
 PMS
 Breast lump or pain
 Vaginal itching, burning, or odor
 Painful urination, or blood in your urine
 Testing for STDs
 Family planning (birth control)
 Pregnancy care
 Women’s health provider
Physician or physician’s assistant
 Nurse practitioner
 Nurse-midwife

 Male or Female
 Physicians and Midwives also deliver babies
 First things first
Weight
 Blood pressure

 Know the first day of your last menstrual period
 Medical history (asthma, diabetes, etc.)
 Surgical history (tonsils, etc.)
 Menstrual history
 Sexual history
 Problems you want to address
 General exam
 Breast exam
External exam
Examine external anatomy
Internal exam: 2 parts
1. Speculum Exam
Examine vaginal walls and cervix
PAP test and testing for STD’s can be done
2. Bimanual Exam
Feel uterus and ovaries
 Speculum
 Collection devices
and liquid medium
 Cells are collected from the surface of your cervix
by a health care provider