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At Gennev, we’ve been on something of a quest to find the perfect sleepwear and menopause clothing for women who deal with night sweats and daytime hot flashes (or summer heat, for that matter). We’ve tried several, with mixed results. Then we found Cucumber Clothing. We loved the feel, the moisture wicking, and the cool, flattering cuts and styles. Cooling clothing for menopause, if you’ve been there, might strike you as a fantastic idea. We are inclined to agree.

We loved how it helped us get a better night’s sleep and enjoy cooler days.

Cucumber Clothing’s line, like all the products we bring to our Gennev community, helps you feel and be your best self. And the founders, Eileen and Nancy, are women over 40 who understand the realities of this whole perimenopause to menopause transition. They made the clothes they were searching for, so now the rest of us can (finally!) quit searching.

We asked them to share their story with us; we think a lot of what they told us may sound familiar “¦.

______________________________________

Serious sleeplessness

So here’s the thing, some of us are good at sleeping and some of us are not.

Neither group is well defined as in my lifetime I’ve flitted between the two camps. A sound sleeper as a child, an impossible-to-rouse teenager, a late-night owl in my twenties, and a fretting, nocturnal pattern of wakefulness through the next decade with young children.

Roll on a few years and my circadian rhythms have re-set again. Sleep has become a capricious bed mate, undependable, playing to its own rules, and not to be relied on.

Beyond puffy eyes, foggy head and a general sense of weariness, why is this lack of sleep so important, and why do so many women who may once have felt they owned the holy grail of sleep, now feel they have lost, or at the very least, misplaced it? There are a few things to think about here and not all of them are under our control.

Menopause clothing, hormones, and sleep

We know that as our bodies enter peri-menopause and menopause, our level of hormones begin to fall. One of these, progesterone, helps us sleep, so as the level of progesterone tails off, our ability to have an unbroken, deep sleep does too.

A general fall in hormones can also herald the onset of hot flashes and flushes and the aptly named “˜sweats.’

Just these two factors can mean a swing from a good night’s sleep to an “˜I tossed and turned and sweated and didn’t get a wink’ sort of night, followed by a nightmare sort of day.

We need sleep to refresh ourselves, to reorganize our thoughts and memories, to repair our bodies and to rest our cardiovascular system. So necessary, and yet so frustratingly elusive for some of us.

That’s how Cucumber Clothing was born. Travelling home from a holiday with a bunch of like-minded forty plus year old women, our week-long bonding topics covered everything but the kitchen sink, and most definitely included the menopause.

Why, we wondered, were there so few solutions out there? Busy women all, some of us were suffering from the self-same debilitating double whammy of fractured sleep and sweats, which impacted hugely on the jam-packed days.

Moisture wicking clothing for menopause

We decided then and there to create a beautiful and intelligent range of thermo-regulating nightwear and clothing. One that allowed you to look great and feel great wearing it and that quickly moved any moisture (sweat!) away from the body at speed. One that meant that if you woke up in the night feeling sweaty or even drenched, within a few minutes you would feel dry again. We couldn’t stop you from getting hot, but we could help you get back to sleep comfortably and quickly.

Cucumber Clothing was launched in September 2017 and, since then, our original range of six simple and elegant jersey pieces in two colors has expanded to include a summer collection in a silk-like fabric (that works just as hard) in three new colours.

We’ve broadened the range to include leisurewear pieces that work for the gym (our drawstring trousers are great for Pilates or yoga), to the poolside (throw our ruffle dress over your swimsuit), to work (our v-neck t-shirt looks perfect under a summer jacket with tailored trousers on a hot day). They work for any time you are going to get hot. So now there are cooling clothes for “menopause belly” as well as the gym. 

They are all mix and match, and best of all, after a long day staying cool with Cucumber, you can fall into bed wearing them knowing they will be dry, odor-free (that’s our anti-bacterial nano-technology!) and help keep you cool through then night.

Cucumber’s multi-tasking pieces are ideal for travel as our fabrics don’t crush, are happiest cold-water machine or sink washed and like to hang dry as they dry super fast because of their moisture wicking properties. Remember, don’t iron our jersey pieces, and our “˜silk’ pieces rarely need a light press.

 

Have you tried Cucumber Clothing? What did you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, on the Gennev Facebook page or by joining Midlife & Menopause Solutions, our closed Facebook group.

 

 how technology can help improve your pelvic health

“Technology,” “fun,” and “pelvic floor muscles” aren’t usually used in one sentence, but for Tania Boler, women’s-health-expert-turned-tech-CEO, it’s a daily conversation.

Tania is the CEO of Chiaro, a women’s tech company that is pioneering smarter technology for women. Their most immediate goal is to help women strengthen their pelvic floor muscles using technology and a very smart device called Elvie.

We at Gennev were intrigued, because vaginal health and pelvic floor health go hand-in-hand.

We Skyped with Tania this week and learned what every woman needs to know about her own pelvic floor health: If we don’t take care of it, we can be susceptible to incontinence—better known as bladder leakage or peeing our pants. If we do take care of it, we can look forward to better core and pelvic strength, better sex, and bladder control.

Why am I leaking? Why is sex painful?
Consult with a menopause-specialist physician
from the comfort of your home with Gennev’s telehealth services.

Pelvic-floor strengthening is something that dance studios, barre classes, Pilates and yoga teachers and cross-fit gyms teach around the globe. It’s not just Kegels—it’s a weight-lifting regimen for your pelvis, and Tania and team are finding a better way to do it.

Tania Boler is an expert and PhD in sexual and reproductive health who spent years working in HIV-prevention and sex education in Africa. And yet, even she wasn’t familiar with the importance of the pelvic floor until she was pregnant with her first child. Tania’s first lesson in pelvic floor health came from her Pilates instructor.

This led to discussions with other women, and ultimately to the realization that so much of women’s health care is reactive—as Tania says, “We only know about some of the most intimate parts of our bodies when something goes wrong.”

As Tania told us, “The more I read about it, I was shocked by how common so many of these women’s health issues were, and it really resonated because a lot of them are easily preventable and there’s treatment available. We just didn’t have the educational tools.”

Tania decided this was a gap she could fill. She could educate women early to prevent problems or treat issues they were already suffering.

Except the options weren’t exactly awesome.

Physical therapy was effective, but it was short-term and involved having to go outside the home to work with a therapist. Women preferred something they could use alone, in private. Electrical stimulators didn’t really do the job, and passive devices didn’t provide feedback or inspiration to continue, so women quit using them.

What did work, Tania told us, was when women were in a hospital, outfitted with probes. As the women engaged their pelvic muscles, they could see the results on monitors, giving them incentive to improve their performance.

“It was quite a simple eureka moment. I thought, let’s just take this medical equipment and turn it into something women could use at home.”

Introducing the Elvie kegel for pelvic health

Elvie is a beautifully designed device that discreetly fits inside the vagina, tracks pelvic exercises, and streams results to an app on the user’s mobile phone. As a woman contracts and relaxes the pelvic muscles, a digital “gem” moves up and down on the screen. The stronger the squeeze, the higher the gem rises. Six unique exercises employ speed, strength, pulsing, holding, lifting, and stepping to give the pelvic floor a thorough workout.

“I was lucky that one of my first advisors was Alex Asseily, who started Jawbone. He was able to help us find the right engineers and designers to create an exercise tracker you can safely place inside the body, which requires the highest standards of water-proofing, data privacy—it’s more complicated than a typical exercise tracker.”

The real-time biofeedback helps women make that critical mind/body connection and get a real sense of how well they’re doing. As the muscles get stronger, a user can unlock levels and access new games, and the internal sensors ensure women that the exercises are being done correctly.

Wait—”games”?

Yes, we said “games.” As a user progresses, she can unlock levels within games. The creators of Elvie found a better way for women to strengthen pelvic floor muscles—and they made it fun.

Every detail of the Elvie is engineered for the best user experience: the shape and size are optimized to fit a woman’s body; it’s discreet, even elegant. It’s comfortable to use, even for a woman in motion. Chiaro, the company that created Elvie, engaged more than 150 testers to help with the evolution of the device.

Who can benefit from the Elvie device?

“Women. Women can benefit,” Tania says. Pretty much all women, of all ages, whether they currently have problems or want to avoid them in future.

“Women come to Elvie for different reasons at different points in their lives. Millennials find it fun and use it as part of core fitness or for terrific sex. New mums have a pretty damaged pelvic floor, so we have gentle exercises for them. Women get quite competitive with themselves, and it’s all about continuing improvement. We have thousands of women using Elvie now, and they email us asking for new levels, new games, new challenges.”

And it’s not all about warding off incontinence. We hear all the time about the importance of strengthening your core muscles for overall health—your pelvic muscles are part of that core. Tania says ballerinas and many competitive athletes find the information Elvie provides about their pelvic floor engagement really helps them improve their performance.

The conversation around Kegels

Currently, the conversation around pelvic health, what little there is, focuses on the negatives like incontinence and prolapse, and that can dampen (pun intended) enthusiasm for more discussion. But innovations like the Elvie inspire conversation—suddenly there’s this new, fun, helpful thing that can really make a difference in women’s lives. “Women have pelvic floor problems, but they don’t need to be reminded about it. Making it fun helps them associate more positive feelings around exercising, and that’s really key.

“There’s a sort of new revolution for women. Women are very proudly owning their bodies and proudly embracing womanhood, and with Elvie, we’re able to be a part of that.”

Many thanks to Tania Boler for sharing her story and expertise with us. We look forward to working more with Elvie and Chiaro to help all women live their very best lives.

Did you know there are foods to avoid in menopause? Depending on whether you knew or not, this could be good news or not so good news. Let’s start with the good news and what happens when you limit or remove these foods from your diet.  Many common menopause symptoms decrease in severity and/or frequency. That’s huge when you’re talking about an experience where one often feels powerless. So, good because power. But bad because one link of sausage rather than two. We don’t know about you, but it feels like the possible positives far outweigh the negatives. 

If you need a personalized diet or plan, a menopause-certified health coach can be helpful. Book 30 minutes for your personal consultation with a health coach.

6 Foods That Need to Go In Menopause

The six foods listed below aren’t “bad” when consumed in moderation. Yet, it’s easy to overdo it when it comes to all six. In fact, at least one of them has been labeled more addictive than cocaine. Not exactly a selling point, and yet another reason to think twice about what you put in your mouth.

Now, it’s feasible that we’re about to tell you many of your favorite edible options need to either exit your diet all-together, or, at the very least, make far fewer appearances in your meals. And that’s hard. We get it. So we’re also going to look at how best to go about removing/restricting these foods from your life, and what to replace them with. Remember, the likelihood of less severe and/or lower frequency menopausal symptoms. And the added bonus of taking out the non-nutritional trash and increasing your intake of the healthy fuel your body needs to be strong, stable, and ready to support you through whatever comes your way. Let’s get started!

1. Caffeine

Caffeine isn’t so bad when consumed in moderation. In fact, it boasts plenty of health benefits. Most people can consume about one cup of coffee a day without any side effects. Sadly, Americans generally drink much more than their recommended share of caffeine.

Coworkers crowd around the coffee machine in break rooms, Starbucks can be found on every block in major cities, and beverages such as sodas and even kombucha have caffeine, too. 

Because chocolate and coffee flavoring often contain caffeine, your late-night ice cream snack or pudding cup may need to go. Even your pain reliever could be hiding caffeine, which is great for speeding relief, but less so when you’re trying to minimize hot flashes in menopause and/or night sweats. The reason? Experts suggest caffeine consumption exacerbates menopausal vasomotor symptoms–hot flashes and night sweats that occur due to the constriction or dilation of blood vessels.

2. Alcohol

Alcohol plays a major role in our society. We toast the new year with a glass of bubbly, socialize with coworkers and friends at happy hour, and some even drink a sip during the sacrament at church. 

Again, drinking alcohol in moderation is perfectly fine. But even in moderation, it can really amp up menopause symptoms such as headaches, hot flashes, night sweats, and mood swings. It can even contribute to depression if you’re drinking heavily. As for why alcohol can increase menopausal symptoms? The jury is still out, but two theories include alcohol impacting our already fluctuating hormones and dilation of blood vessels (we do recommend you try Libeeration beer for menopause symptoms!)

3. Processed Foods

Potato chips. Donuts. Frozen pizza. What do these delicious items all have in common? They’re part of the processed foods group, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture defines as “any raw agricultural commodity that has been subject to washing, cleaning, milling, cutting, chopping, heating, pasteurizing, blanching, cooking, canning, freezing, drying, dehydrating, mixing, packaging, or other procedures that alter the food from its natural state.” 

That’s a big list, so let’s narrow it down by what to watch out for. Inflammation, bloating, weight gain symptoms, and fatigue can all intensify thanks to the unhealthy levels of sugar and sodium found in most processed foods. 

4. Sugary Foods

Processed sugar (sugar not occurring naturally in foods such as fruit, but rather sugar added to foods and beverages) can make your blood sugar levels higher,  which can lead to more intense/frequent hot flashes, sweating in general, and brain fog. With the sugar industry deciding to not play fair by employing 60 different names for sugar on product labels, you might find it tricky to track how much of the white stuff you’re taking in. 

5. Spicy Foods

This one is pretty easy to figure out. Under normal circumstances, foods that rate high on the heat scale can cause sweating, flushing, and elements found in hot flashes. So, for a menopausal woman who’s already dealing with hot flashes and night sweats, it’s probably best to get rid of the ghost peppers and make use of spices that add flavor without the heat, like cumin, turmeric, curry, and basil.

6. Fatty Meats

Everyone knows that fatty meats are high in saturated fat, which can cause all sorts of health issues, including weight gain. But did you know it can also lower anger attacks? And lower serotonin levels in menopausal women can lead to a lack of mood control (anger, irritation, rage). Not good. Not good at all.

So, skip the marbled steak and thick-cut bacon and go for the leaner meats, like turkey, chicken, even ground beef–as long as it’s 90% lean or better.

Foods to Eat During Menopause

Now for the foods that you need during midlife. The key at this stage is to not only eat foods that might help ease menopausal symptoms, but also ones that provide the nutrients vital to carrying you gracefully through this transition and beyond. For example, there are a ton of great foods to ease hot flashes.

Dairy

As estrogen levels decline, your risk of fractures goes up. So calcium-rich foods, like yogurt, cheese, and milk are essential for bone health. It’s also possible that dairy products improve sleep quality in menopausal women. They’re high in the amino acid glycine, which can encourage deeper sleep.

Healthy Fats

Pescararians, rejoice! Foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, mackerel, and anchovies, have been shown to decrease the frequency of hot flashes and severity of night sweats. Other foods high in omega-3 include seeds–hemp, chia, and flax.

Fruits and Vegetables

Packed with vitamins and minerals, fruits and vegetables are a menopausal woman’s friend. Especially cruciferous veggies (broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, collard greens, cabbage). Many women experience a decrease in hot flashes when they introduce more fruits and veggies into their daily diet.

Fiber

Fiber is good for everyone. But it’s especially good for women in midlife when it comes to depression. Foods rich in fiber, like beans, nuts, oatmeal, broccoli, berries, avocados, and apples have been shown to lower the occurrence of depression in menopausal women. 

Lean Protein

Declining estrogen is at it again, this time causing decreased muscle mass and bone strength. To combat this, get plenty of lean protein. Look to foods we’ve already mentioned, such as fish, legumes, and nuts. Also, try out eggs, lean meat (no red), and tofu.

Supplements

It’s always a good idea to have an awesome supplement on your side, and never more so than during menopause. Even when you stick to a strict diet, it’s likely that you’re not getting enough of this or that. So let a supplement put your mind at ease. 

Our Vitality Menopause Supplement aims to improve energy, mood, sleep, and inflammation while making sure you’re getting all the good stuff your body deserves.

How to Make Changes That Will Stick

There are three camps of thought when it comes to balancing our indulgences and cutting back on the foods to avoid in menopause. Read below for details on all three, then set up an appointment with your doctor or specialist for menopause near you to discuss the best way to go about putting your plan into place.

If you don’t already have a doc, get connected with a Gennev menopause-certified gynecologist who will give you a trusted opinion. Book an appointment here.

Start Slow

Some experts believe that making “too-sudden changes” without a plan can lead to failure. If you up and decide that tomorrow you’re going to go cold turkey on three things you might be both chemically and emotionally addicted to, quitting without a plan could lead to quitting.

Instead, pick a date in the future to make big dietary changes. Do some research. Try to find recipes that will satisfy your sweet tooth and utilize fruits or other natural sources of sugar. Create a list of virgin (or extremely low-alcohol) cocktails that give you a refreshing kick. Or, consider switching to decaf coffee a few times a day to trick your body into thinking you’re still getting your cozy cup of Joe–without the caffeine.

Stop Wasting Time

Many experts believe that waiting until a certain date isn’t the best tactic. One of the ideas behind this is that you’ll probably indulge even more between now and then. Knowing that you won’t be able to enjoy your 3 PM cup of coffee might make you want to drink even more of it between now and stopping time.

Similarly, knowing you’ll miss your happy hour glass of wine or cocktail in the future might encourage you to drink too many right now “” which could lead to menopause dehydration or hangovers. So this plan says there’s no time like the present!

The Best of Both Worlds

There’s another group of experts that believe there’s a happy medium when it comes to indulgence. Begin by seeking some support from your doctor* or coach. Make a plan together. Enjoy a glass of wine at dinner (or happy hour) and don’t “go cold turkey” and deprive yourself in the future.

If you tell yourself that you can eat one cookie today, knowing there will be more cookies tomorrow, you’ll be better able to stop after just one. It’s when we deprive ourselves that we go into panic mode and eat all the cookies.

The truth is, change is one of the few constants in our lives. And having foods to avoid in menopause is just another tweak necessary to keep you on track toward health and happiness. Will this journey be challenging? Absolutely. But a very worthwhile one. Your future self will thank you for your health, energy, and focus. 

How are you improving your health this year? Quitting caffeine? Modifying sugar intake, doubling your daily hydration? We’d love to hear about it, and support you, in our Community forums.

*It is not Gennev’s intention to provide specific medical advice, but rather to provide users with information to better understand their health and their diagnosed disorders. Specific medical advice will not be provided, and Gennev urges you to consult with a menopause clinic, qualified physician for diagnosis and for answers to your personal questions.

If you think you are experiencing perimenopause, then take our menopause assessment test to join over 100,000 women and learn more about your symptoms and where you are in the menopause journey!

The new year has arrived. And whether you consider yourself a “healthy” person or not, January represents an opportunity for new behaviors…or reestablishing old best practices.

Let’s kick off the year with the best of intentions…and actually do them! The team and I at Gennev are doing the same: smarter snacking, revitalize life fitness, dry January…and most of all, booking necessary health & wellness appointments.

Here is the 2021 healthy woman’s checklist…

To your health!

Jill

1. Create a budget

Consider what your health and wellness budget is for 2021. Are you budgeting for self-care? Do you have FSA/HSA coverage through your employer?

If you have FSA/HSA coverage, check to see what it covers in terms of health provider services and products. With a letter of medical necessity from Gennev providers, you can get coverage for appointments, supplements and lubricants on most plans. Here’s a resource for what qualifies for FSA coverage.

2. Book medical appointments

Are you in the practice of annual exams? If not, start now. Book with your physician or with a Gennev doctor.

Have you scheduled your mammogram? If you’re over 45, consider a colonoscopy if you have risk factors in your family. Whatever you do, don’t put the essentials off; talk to a women’s health specialist today.

3. Plan for necessary lifestyle change

Whether you’re in perimenopause or post-menopause, lifestyle behavior change is a must for managing weight, hot flashes, anxiety, sleep, fatigue and joint pain. We know it’s hard, so build a plan for achievable and sustainable change…even if that means baby steps.

Gennev registered dietitians/health coaches work with women of varying levels of discipline, so don’t overthink it, just start doing something. Book an appointment to build a plan for 2021. We believe this will be your best-spent $45 dollars of the year. We want you to thrive!

4. Check your supplement intake

Are you taking the right supplements for your age or stage of menopause? As women, it’s good for us to annually check-in on the supplements we’re consuming “” whether we have the right combination and whether we’re taking them at the right time of day.

If you’re not 100% confident of your routine, start by watching Gennev Director of Health Coaching Stasi Kasianchuk, RDN interview Dr Wendy Ellis about Supplement Savvy. Or – skip to speaking directly with Stasi and her team by booking an appointment with a dietitian (specify that you want a supplement audit).

5. Get the Menopause Guide

We built the Guide to Menopause from the collective expertise of our team of 25 OB/GYNs, naturopathic doctors, registered dietitians and health coaches. It’s a 60-page collection of evidence-based medical, lifestyle and herbal recommendations for every symptom of peri and post menopause. And it’s free. You can’t go wrong.

 

That’s what I’m doing this week “” hanging out with 1,200 menopause doctors “” and I’m loving it!

Some of the Gennev menopause team and I are attending the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) Annual Meeting.

It’s a time of the year when certified menopause practitioners gather for continuing education on how to better help women like you through menopause.

You can read more about Gennev’s involvement in NAMS here.

I’m not a doctor, so I basically hang out in the exhibition hall for companies like Gennev, but nonetheless, I’m getting to hear what practitioners are hearing from their patients. I’m hearing what their needs are. I’m seeing the products and solutions pushed at the docs, just like they’re pushed at women”¦and like women, doctors just want clear answers, no BS.

Why are we at a conference for physicians?

We built Gennev for women. That’s always been our goal.

But we also built Gennev as a companion-solution for doctors. We’re here for them as a trusted platform. We can provide menopause health and wellness education when they don’t have enough time with patients as or they can’t get to all the email requests for questions they may receive from their patients.

Our own Chief Medical Officer, Dr Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su, says, “I don’t get to spend as much time with each of my patients as I’d like to, so Gennev is a trusted resource I can send them to without worrying they’re going to hear something I don’t agree with.”

And guess what, other doctors agree. In our first day at the conference, we’ve given away hundreds of referral cards and scanned hundreds of badges. Just as women are hungry for trusted health and wellness information and products, physicians are too.

So, that’s why we’re here. We’re promoting Gennev to ob/gyns, nurse practitioners and internal medicine doctors who attend conferences like NAMS.

If you think Gennev would be beneficial for your doctor, send them our way. They can email us at info@gennev.com and request Gennev informational materials to place in their office as an added extension of the services they offer to their patients.

It takes a village to address menopause, and our village is starting to come together.

Having the best ob/gyn is important, no matter what stage of life you’re in, but with all the changes and weirdness of midlife likeperimenopause rage and menopause hot flashes, a good gynecologist can be the difference between barely surviving and thriving.

And gynecologists of any kind are getting harder to find. “By 2020, there will be a shortage of OB-GYNs of up to 8,800, according to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. And by 2050, the shortage may grow to 22,000.”

That doesn’t mean you should settle for anything less than the right doctorfor you.

To help you decide if the doc you’ve got is the right OG/GYN for you, we asked the doc who’s perfect for us: Gennev Director of Health and ob/gyn Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su.

If you are looking for a great OB/GYN, a Gennev menopause-certified gynecologist can give you a trusted opinion, determine if medication is right for you, and they can provide prescription support. Book an appointment with a doctor here.

How do you know when you’ve found the best OG/GYN for you?

According to Dr. Rebecca, the key to finding a beneficial therapeutic relationship is finding the right balance of some key ingredients:

  1. Comfort and relatability as are you able to communicate well together?
  2. Their knowledge, experience, and credentials as do they have any special training or interest in menopause?
  3. Their ability to treat you appropriately as are they open to all the possibilities?

So, says Dr. Rebecca, since they’ll spend plenty of time assessing you, it’s worth your time to take a moment to assess them.

One: Have a “talking” appointment with the doctor

“Go for an appointment and talk with them about your concerns and issues. If you’re in the US, often they’ll only have 15 as 30 minutes to spend with you (thank you, American medical system), but that may be all you need to decide if you relate to them and them to you. Do their explanations make sense and feel genuine?”

Even if a doctor or specialist for menopause is terrific, he or she may not be right for you. If their style is to be abrupt and you prefer someone a bit more nurturing, then it may not be the best connection. You really want someone you can communicate openly with, about some of the most intimate topics in your life, so keep looking until you find a connection that encourages open and frank discussion.

On a side note, says Dr. Rebecca, “Don’t discount a physician just because they’re telling you something you don’t want to hear. Listen to what they’re saying. Sometimes they’ll have an important warning for you, and you need to hear it.”

Two: Check out their ob/gyn credentials

Are they Board Certified and have they maintained that certification? In the US, you can check that your physician is certified on the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology website. Do they belong to national and local ob/gyn societies? “There are good medical school and residency programs all over the country,” Dr. Rebecca says, “but that not the only thing you should judge them on. You want a doctor who keeps up with current research and does her or his due diligence. You can also look for a practitioner who is a member of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) or who has taken their certified menopause practitioner exam.”

(Here’s a handy list of definitions of credentials, from NAMS.)

Do they have a practice focus on women in midlife and menopause? Ob/gyns tend to “age into” a more menopause-focused practice, Dr. Rebecca says. “As ob/gyns start in practice, they tend to do a lot of obstetrics, as that is how women often come into our care. As we age and our patients age with us, we do more and more midlife and menopause care.” That’s not to say that age (or lack of) is an indicator of ability (or lack of), of course.

Three: ask about menopause treatment options

Menopause has a whole range of symptoms and challenges, and a single therapy may not entirely resolve all the discomforts. You want a doc with both a broad range of information and also an open mind about options for menopause treatment.

“Ask them how they evaluate alternative and complementary therapies and how you should navigate them. Most MD practitioners will not prescribe them, but they should be familiar and able to talk about safe and unsafe options. They should definitely know about possible interactions. If you’re already taking any alternative therapies, never hide them, as they impact your traditional medical care. Even if you’re taking “˜natural’ and “˜harmless’ herbs, they can interact with medications.”

Plus, if you don’t feel you can openly discuss all your treatments with your doctor, that may be a red flag that this isn’t the doctor for you.

Ask the doc about his or her approach to hormone therapy (HRT) and the alternatives. There’s a lot of confusion among women as and some among docs as  about the efficacy and safety of hormones. Understand this doctor’s position and how they use hormone therapies, says Dr. Rebecca. “Do they use hormones in everyone? In no one? Do they customize treatment to each individual patient?”

Four: assess the doctor’s office

“How do they run their group?” Dr. Rebecca asks. “Will you be seen mostly by the same doctor? If you need a quick appointment, how easy is it to get in? What call system do they have for emergencies? Do they have mid-level providers like nurse practitioners, midwives, or Physician Assistants who help get urgent visits in, and if so, how are they supervised?” You want a clinic or office that is sufficiently staffed, organized, and clean, so don’t be afraid to extend a few questions to the nurses or other staff.

Finally, Dr. Rebecca says, “Approach your visit with an open mind. Just as you don’t feel happy if you’re not heard by your doctor or other practitioner, we also get frustrated when a patient comes in not able to hear what we have to say. In the end, if it’s not a good match, we won’t be hurt if you go elsewhere.”

“But,” Dr. Rebecca adds, “be introspective. Think about what these practitioners are telling you, even if they are telling you something you don’t want to hear. You can always find someone who will give you what you want without question, but please listen to those who question or warn you as they may be providing important, even life-saving information.”

Tell us about your awesome ob/gyn! How did you find him, how long have you been seeing her, what makes them so amazing? Please feel free to comment here, or start a thread in our community forums. You can also reach out to us on Gennev’s public Facebook page or in our closed Facebook group.

 

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. You wear pink, self-check, and get your annual mammogram, but none of these actions actually protect your breasts.

We know there are foods to protect against cancer… but what about not eating? Early research suggests that intermittent fasting (sometimes referred to as interval fasting, or IF), a cycle between periods of eating and fasting, might help  and possibly even prevent it from coming back if you’ve already been treated. The jury is still out on the effectiveness of IF, but it’s an interesting subject for further study.

However, we want to start by saying that caution is advised: please talk with your doctor or nutritionist to determine if intermittent fasting is safe for you.

If you have safety concerns, a Gennev menopause-certified gynecologist can give you a trusted opinion, and determine if fasting is right for you. Book an appointment with a doctor here.

The facts on fasting and cancer

Fasting, abstaining from food, is nothing new for many of us.

Maybe you’ve fasted for religious reasons. Whether you’re Muslim, Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, or another faith, most religions embrace fasting as a way to spiritually cleanse and purify.

Or perhaps you’ve fasted for a medical procedure, like that colonoscopy you’ve been putting off.

We’ve written about intermittent fasting during menopause on the Gennev blog before, and it may be easier than you think””without the stress of holidays or gut-clearing laxatives.

Why is breast cancer a big concern for menopausal women?

According to the National Institute of Health, 1 in 8 U.S. women will be diagnosed with a form of breast cancer at some point in their lives. Breast cancer in women represents 15.2% of all new cancer diagnoses, period.

Aging increases cancer risk overall. Your likelihood of breast cancer goes up sharply in your early 40s and into menopause, with peak risk during your 60s and 70s. Black women see even higher breast cancer occurrences than white women once they enter their late 50s.

 

Can intermittent fasting for cancer prevention work?

More research needs to be done to determine if fasting works to reduce risk, but at this point, it appears it may have to do with blood sugar and circadian rhythm.

Researchers followed the eating habits of more than 2400 women with early-stage invasive breast cancer over a 12-year period; the study did not include women with diabetes.

Women who fasted for fewer than 13 hours each night were 36% more likely to have their cancer return than the women who fasted more than 13 hours, though mortality rates remained the same for both groups.

The longer the women fasted overnight, the more benefits they saw.

Regardless of the duration of fast, eating after 8 p.m. was associated with a significant increase in BMI and inflammation, both risk factors for cancer.

For many women, fasting decreases the overall calories consumed, which improves weight and inflammation.

However, even people who do not decrease calorie consumption through fasting see a difference in glucose metabolism: fasting causes an increase in insulin sensitivity.

Insulin is tied to breast health.

The drop in estrogen in our bodies during menopause leads to a decrease in insulin effectiveness.

When you eat, your digestive tract breaks down carbohydrates into sugar (glucose) and releases it into your blood.

Your cells need insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas, to bring in glucose from the bloodstream to use as energy. Whatever glucose isn’t used is stored as fat.

Between meals, insulin levels drop and your body releases sugar stored in fat cells as energy. When fasting, your body is able to sustain low levels of insulin and blood sugar long enough to burn fat.

If your insulin isn’t working the way it should, your cells can’t bring in glucose, so this glucose turns into fat or stays in your bloodstream. For example, people with type 2 diabetes can make insulin, but their bodies can’t utilize it properly.

Women who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes have a 23% higher incidence of breast cancer compared to women without diabetes, and scientists are starting to understand why: there may be a link between breast cancer and hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) and insulin resistance (ineffective use of insulin).

Intermittent fasting may help you get around the increase in insulin resistance (and thus increased blood sugar) that comes with aging to protect your breasts.

Nighttime fasting synchronizes also with our body’s natural circadian rhythm, our 24-hour internal clock.

Night shift workers may have an increased incidence of breast cancer because their activities are out of sync with their circadian rhythm. If you’ve ever worked nights, you know how difficult it can be to eat or go to work when your body is sending signals for sleep.

Nighttime eating has long been associated with obesity and diabetes, and it may be about more than just insulin: eating late at night can give you insomnia or disrupt your sleep, too.

Did you know there’s a link between quality of sleep and breast cancer?

By avoiding food after 8 p.m. you send your body the right signals.

Fasting starves cancer cells.

Finally, fasting ramps up our body into protection mode, which may have benefits for women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. Even better, scientists theorize that fasting does not have the same protective impact on cancer cells, which makes them more vulnerable to treatment.

Again, it hasn’t been definitively proven that intermittent fasting is effective, so especially if you’re undergoing treatment, check with your doctor before changing your diet.

Ways to fast

More research still needs to be done on the long-term benefits of fasting but following a healthy intermittent fasting schedule won’t hurt you.

While there are all sorts of trendy fasts out there for weight loss, doctors at UCSF recommend two methods for cancer prevention.

Eat during a specific window. Known as restricted nighttime feeding, 16:8 fasting, or the Leangains protocol, limiting your food intake to a specific 8- to 12-hour window during the day and fasting overnight is the most approachable type of intermittent fast for most people. Aim for at least 13 hours of fasting.

This can be as easy as eating dinner before 8 p.m. and skipping breakfast. You’re allowed to drink black coffee, tea, water, and other non-caloric beverages during the fasting period.

Alternate day fasting. This is exactly what it sounds like: you eat normally every other day and fast on the alternate. Most sources recommend consuming around 25% of your usual calories on the fasting day. The drawback: eating every other day is unsustainable long-term for most of us.

Tips for intermittent fasting cancer prevention

No matter which fasting plan you explore, the following tips can help keep you satiated””and sane:

Who shouldn’t fast

Intermittent fasting is not for everyone, and if you fall into one of the following groups, you should avoid fasting or approach it with caution and medical oversight.

Other things to do for breast health in midlife

More research still needs to be done on the benefits of intermittent fasting, but these breast best practices (say that ten times fast) will always help.

Have you tried intermittent fasting? We want to hear from you! Share your experience or tips in the comments below or join the conversation in the Gennev community forums.

 

Helen Pitlick

A seasoned communicator with a master’s degree in digital media to back it all up, Helen Pitlick loves to create content that helps women feel more confident at all stages of their lives. When she’s not in front of her laptop, Helen enjoys pottery, pretending to play soccer, and hanging out with her dog.

 

Many women get to midlife and experience a whole lot of change: kids are grown and gone or nearly there, financial situation may be different, work may be different, relationships with parents, partners, friends, colleagues are different, certainly bodies are changing. No wonder women often face midlife and menopause with fear and trepidation.

Like Gennev, Amy Schmidt is on a mission to change the narrative around midlife and the way women feel about it. Midlife is not a crisis, she says; it’s an opportunity! 

Ready to feel better in midlife and menopause so you can embrace all this time has to offer? Make an appointment with a Health Coach today! 

When we talked with Amy Schmidt of Fearlessly Facing Fifty about confidence and creativity in midlife, we knew we had to ask her back. Her enthusiasm is irresistible. And her new book Cannonball is already inspiring women. Even prior to release, it was #1 in its category on Amazon.

Enjoy this energetic, fun, inspiring conversation with Amy and Gennev CEO Jill Angelo as they talk about the many wonderful opportunities that await in midlife and beyond.

 

TRANSCRIPT COMING SOON

If you’re post-menopausal or approaching it, how did/do you feel about midlife, menopause, aging, etc.? Does it feel like a time of endings, middlings, or even beginnings? We’d love to hear your thoughts on how we approach middle age now and how (and if!) that should change. Join our Community Forums to join the conversation!

 

Heart disease, including heart attack, coronary artery disease, and related conditions, is the number one killer of women in the US, especially in the South. More than one in three women have some form of cardiovascular issue.

Women can have a heart attack at any point in our lives, and the risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack goes up in midlife and beyond.

Menopause itself does not cause heart disease, but decreases in estrogen can make blood vessels less flexible and able to adjust to blood flow. (Despite the role estrogen plays in heart health, the American Heart Association does not recommend hormone replacement therapy.)

Stress literally kills

You can’t control your age, race, sex at birth, family history, estrogen levels or other predisposed heart attack risk factors, but there are certain controllable risk factors.

Stress is a biggie when it comes to your ticker.

In theory, the human body’s reaction to stress is a good thing: it’s our fight or flight mechanism. Homo sapiens evolved an elevated heart rate, raised blood pressure, and faster breathing in times of danger to outrun whatever tiger was chasing us at the moment. However, for all our evolutionary advantages, the subconscious human brain isn’t great at distinguishing between immediate danger (tiger!) and the subtleties of daily existence (money, bills, deadlines, and so on).

Compared to our male peers, stress and mental health disorders in midlife have more of an impact on women’s hearts. Women under 50 are twice as likely as men of the same age to have reduced blood flow to the heart after a stressful emotional event.

A little motivating pressure before a deadline isn’t always a bad thing, but watch out for chronic stress or stress triggered by an emotional event. 

In addition, the menopause blues or depression and anxiety that women are more prone to can make it harder to exercise and eat healthy meals, which in turn increases heart disease risk.

 

Working ourselves to death

Whether your boss is making you miserable or your work is truly life or death, anyone who has worked in a stressful professional setting can attest to the impact a job can have on your mental and physical health. 

A landmark 2010 study showed that women with stressful jobs have a 40% increased risk of cardiovascular disease (including heart attack and surgery) than peers in lower stress positions. For the purposes of the study, “job strain” was determined by both pace, workload, and difficulty of the job and amount of control over professional decisions or creative direction.

Women who worry about being fired or laid off also see increased cardiovascular risk.

Another study, among nurses in Denmark, showed that the greater the professional stress, the greater the risk of heart disease in women 51 and younger. 

A third study, of white-collar workers in China, showed that job strain in women (but not men) is associated with thickening of the carotid artery wall, an indicator of heart disease. 

It’s important to note that job-related stress doesn’t just apply to professional settings; many women in midlife juggle parenting, taking care of their own parents, work, and household duties, all of which can accumulate dangerous levels of stress.

PTSD

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an unfortunate reality for many women. 

Women are more than twice as likely as men to develop PTSD after trauma (10% compared to 4%); one theory is that sexual assault is more likely to cause PTSD than other events and women experience sexual assault at a higher rate than men. Another is that women with PTSD are more likely to blame themselves for the experience.

Regardless, there’s a correlation between PTSD and heart disease. A study of more than 1,000 civilian women showed that women with PTSD were three times as likely as women without PTSD to develop coronary heart disease.

Broken-heart syndrome

Do you remember the Wallflowers’ (Bob Dylan’s son Jakob) “˜90s hit “One Headlight”? It turns out, you can actually die of “a broken-heart disease”: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (also called stress-induced cardiomyopathy or broken-heart syndrome). 

The symptoms of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy are identical to a heart attack and are brought on by a sudden stressor, like the death of a loved one, a natural disaster, an accident, or receiving bad news. In fact, up to 5% of heart attacks in women may actually be Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

Death from Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is rare, but around 20% of patients experience heart failure.

Talk to a menopause practitioner. Book your Telemedicine appointment today.

Relax (just do it)

You can’t always just quit, find a new job, or reduce your panic-inducing responsibilities, but there is hope for your heart if your stress levels are off the charts. Harvard Medical School recommends the following methods to reduce stress:

  1. Develop and lean on a support network of friends, family, and trusted colleagues.
  2. Exercise! Not only is physical activity already good for your heart, you’ll feel better and sleep better too.
  3. Maintain a solid work-life balance; reduce professional activities (yes, even email) outside of work. 
  4. Meditate, practice deep breathing, or explore other relaxation techniques.
  5. Get help from a mental health professional.

Other ways to reduce your risk:

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends following a healthy lifestyle to further reduce your risk of heart disease:

Recognizing the symptoms of a heart attack

Call emergency services (9-1-1) and get to the hospital immediately if you or another woman are experiencing any of the following symptoms:

  1. Discomfort, pressure, pain, fullness, or squeezing in the middle of your chest that lasts more than a couple of minutes or disappears and then returns.
  2. Pain or discomfort in either or both arms, back, jaw, neck, or abdomen.
  3. Feeling short of breath, with or without pain in your chest.
  4. Breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea/vomiting or lightheadedness.

The most common heart attack symptom in women is chest pain, but women are more likely than men to experience pain in the back or jaw, nausea and vomiting, and shortness of breath.

Seconds count. Women are all-too-often conditioned to put others before ourselves or don’t want to be a bother. You may wonder if your symptoms are serious enough to warrant concern.  But you only get one heart: don’t take any chances. 

If you are worried about stress and heart disease in your transition, a Gennev menopause-certified gynecologist can give you a trusted opinion, determine if medication is right for you, and they can provide prescription support. Book an appointment with a doctor here.

Have you dealt with heart disease or are you concerned about your heart health? Join the conversation in the Gennev community forums and share your story!

 

If you’re 40+ and starting to experience some mysterious changes in your body, try a menopause test for diagnosis. They could be just some of the symptoms women experience when they go through menopause.

Menopause typically happens to women between the age of 44 and 55 when their menstrual cycle comes to an end. When women go through menopause, their ovaries stop releasing mature eggs, and their natural levels of estrogen drop. When this happens, they’ll experience a lot of unpleasant symptoms like irregular periods, mood swings, hot flashes, and brain fog.

While their intentions are good, many doctors fail to diagnose menopause properly and prescribe remedies to lessen the symptoms of menopause. A lot of doctors just tell women to get more sleep and keep their windows open to cool down when they get hot flashes.

One of the best ways to determine if you are going through menopause and to determine what stage you are in, is to take our free menopause assessment. Quickly discover where you are in the menopause journey.

How Do I Know When I Am In Menopause?

When you haven’t had a menstrual period, ovulation, or menstruation for 12 consecutive months, you can confirm menopause. This means the ovaries have fully stopped releasing mature eggs and you can’t get pregnant any longer.

Before that, there is a transition period called perimenopause, where several signs and symptoms we mentioned above become present. The easy way to accurately diagnose menopause is to examine your symptoms.

Perimenopause Symptoms

Most women start to notice perimenopausal symptoms in their 40s. Perimenopause can usually be self-diagnosed, by carefully examining the signs. It can last anywhere between 6 months to several years and affect women differently. Some women have perimenopause rather symptom-free and tolerate it, while others have to deal with severe symptoms, interfering with their daily life.

If you’re experiencing any of them, you’ll definitely know:

These symptoms can be reduced by proper treatment, diet supplements, lifestyle adjustments, to improve your energy, sleep, hot flashes, mood, and sex. Learn more about the 34 symptoms of menopause here.

Premature Menopause

Around 1% of women experience premature menopause, meaning that menopause starts before the age of 40. Smoking and heavy alcohol consumption can start menopause earlier. 

Early menopause can also be hereditary so if you have family members who went through it at an early age, you could potentially reach menopause prematurely as well. If you suspect to have gone into menopause before the age of 45, consult your close relatives and your doctor. 

Menopause Testing Options

Women’s health experts say menopause is typically diagnosed based on multiple factors like age and symptoms. Doctors will normally order other tests to rule out ovarian failure or a thyroid condition which can have similar symptoms of menopause.

In most cases, menopause can be self-diagnosed. The three most used ways to diagnose menopause are saliva tests, Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH) tests, and symptom assessments.

Other serious illnesses mimic perimenopause with similar symptoms, such as thyroid disease or hypothyroidism. Accurately testing menopause will help you rule out these diseases or catch them before they develop. It should be known that laboratory test results by themselves cannot diagnose menopause.

Saliva Tests

Although saliva hormone tests are heavily advertised, the North American Menopause Society say they are quite expensive and their accuracy is questionable. These tests work by measuring hormones such as estrogen in your saliva. Be careful with the results because the measurements are not always accurate when your hormone levels are still fluctuating. 

FSH Tests

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is a hormone produced by your pituitary gland. 

Each month, FSH levels increase temporarily in your body to stimulate your ovaries to produce eggs. As you get older, you enter menopause and your ovaries stop working. As the level of estrogen (estradiol) and progesterone declines, the body reacts to it by producing follicle-stimulating hormone. This causes your FSH levels to increase.

Doctors and off-the-shelf tests measure FSH levels using urine or blood test to confirm menopause. Although there are over-the-counter home test kits to check urine FSH levels, there’s a catch. 

During perimenopause, when periods happen irregularly, the FSH levels can vary from day to day which may make FSH tests unreliable. Also, levels of FSH in the blood correlate poorly with menopausal symptoms. 

The FDA says that home tests can measure follicle-stimulating hormone 9 times out of 10 very accurately. However, the results from the FSH test cannot confirm whether a person is in perimenopause or menopause.

This is why some doctors don’t even test for FSH at all. Instead, they diagnose menopause by asking questions and assessing the symptoms. FSH tests work in combination with the assessment of symptoms to determine if you have entered menopause.

Symptom assessment

Sometimes, the best way to determine if you’re going into menopause is to evaluate the symptoms and check your medical history. This is what most doctors will do as well as our online assessment. If you plan on consulting a doctor, prepare a list of your medication, medical history, track irregularities in periods, and keep track of any symptoms that relate to menopause. This will help your doctor or OB-GYN accurately diagnose you.

I asked the Gennev Director of Health, Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su, MD, Ob/Gyn as who has worked with women in menopause for the past 20 years as to help us build the Gennev Menopause Assessment.

Our Assessment results in a unique, truly personal Menopause Profile. The profile starts with a summary of where you’re at in the perimenopause and menopause transition. Based on that, it provides personalized resources for what you’re experiencing and gives you exclusive access to monthly, free, live webinars with our team of physicians and health providers.

Dr. Rebecca has seen it all as all the physical and emotional changes women experience. Her response? It’s a phase, and it’s an opportunity. There’s so much we can do now to mitigate the irritating, painful, and emotional changes we’re going through while planning for our health in the long-term.

She’s been my rock, and now you can learn from her too.

So take the 5-minute Gennev Menopause Assessment now, and in 2-3 days, you’ll experience the start to a highly valuable source for personalized care.

When should you see a doctor? 

You should definitely see a doctor, gynecologists, or an OB-GYN if you start to notice menopause symptoms. A doctor can determine if it’s menopause, rule out the possibility of disease by asking questions about your symptoms and taking a few tests.

Proper doctors can help you alleviate the symptoms and discomfort you experience going through menopause. Some women experience mild symptoms and tolerate them. If your symptoms interfere with your life and well-being, get in touch with a menopause clinic to find out how these symptoms can be reduced, so you can thrive with a renewed sense of energy!

Here’s a little snippet of how we help women to a better life after menopause:

If you need some support with the transition, a Gennev menopause-certified gynecologist can give you a trusted opinion, determine if medication is right for you, and they can provide prescription help. Book an appointment with a doctor here.

Why seeing a doctor matters

If you haven’t been doing routine checkups, taking good care of your health and well-being, menopause is an important opportunity to change that.

When entering menopause, women have a higher risk of developing age-related illnesses, as well as diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Regular check-ups, healthier lifestyles prevent the development of these diseases and help you catch them early on.

When you understand what your body is going through, you can start taking measures to reduce symptoms and continue thriving with a renewed sense of well-being.

If you’re well into the perimenopause or menopause change, you probably have a few questions.

As a woman who is maturing into the best years of my life, I too have countless questions about “the change” as whether or not I’m in it, how I should be managing the symptoms, and how it’s impacting my long-term health?

Another question for me has been: who do I talk to? My friends are awesome on a cathartic level, but who’s the right health provider or professional that I can trust through this perimenopause transition?

At Gennev, it’s our mission to help women live a better life with menopause. Our clinic specializes in the healthcare treatment of menopause symptoms, so you can improve your energy, sleep, mood, sex, reduce hot flashes and thrive.

Get useful, helpful, and relevant health wellness information by checking out our solutions.

 

One of the benefits of menopause (yes, there are some!) is less underarm and leg hair. If you remember, hair growth in these areas started in puberty because of hormones. As those hormones decline, hair growth slows, well, sort of. Unfortunately, this is also the time when coarse, dark hairs may start popping up on your upper lip, chin, or jaw line. For some women, this may feel like a final blow to their femininity and create a lot of anxiety and embarrassment, which is completely understandable. If these unwelcome follicles are making you feel self-conscious, there are a variety of ways to deal with them.

Facial hair in menopause: What’s happening?

There are two kinds of facial hair. Vellus hair is that short, soft, nearly not-there hair that children and women have. Terminal hair is longer, darker, thicker, and generally found on men’s faces.

Estrogen keeps hair finer, softer, and lighter. Coarser, darker, thicker hair is the result of testosterone. In perimenopause and menopause, estrogen diminishes, but women’s testosterone levels may not. The higher ratio of testosterone to estrogen can cause these annoying outcroppings of male-like hairs to sprout.

What to do about facial hair

“Nothing” is a totally legitimate choice here. There’s nothing dangerous about a few extra chin hairs. But if they bother you, there are ways to get rid of menopausal facial hair, or at least minimize its appearance so you feel more comfortable and confident with your appearance. 

Ditch the magnifying mirror. Most of the time, the facial hair that seems so obvious to you isn’t to others. If you’re using a magnifying mirror to apply makeup or get our contact lenses in, it may be making the hairs look worse to you. Use a regular mirror and honestly assess the situation. You might even want to ask a trustworthy friend for her opinion. This can help you decide how much time, effort, and money you want to invest in a remedy. 

Pull “˜em out. If you only have a few, grab a tweezer and pull them out. For more hair, waxing or threading may be more practical solutions. Threading uses thin, doubled thread pulled tight and rolled over the face to remove hairs. Both options should be done by an expert to prevent ingrown hairs. And contrary to any tales you may have heard, tweezing via any method will not cause hair to grow back darker or coarser.

Shave it off. You may balk a little at the idea of shaving your face, but it’s a cheap, effective remedy. Plan on shaving in or just after a shower when hair is softer and use a sharp razor to prevent rashes or ingrown hairs. While hair will grow back more quickly than when you tweeze it, it won’t grow back darker or coarser.

Try creams. Depilatory creams have come a long way from the “Who wears short, short?” days. While they are gentler and smell better, some women are sensitive to the chemicals that break down the hair. Always do a small patch test somewhere else on your body to check for any reaction. Prescription topical treatments like Vaniqa may also help.

Laser them away. The beams of light overheat the follicle, damaging it so hair can no longer grow. The results are permanent, but it is expensive (several hundred dollars per session depending on where you live and the amount you want done), and it may require multiple sessions. Also, it doesn’t work on fine or light-colored hair

Zap it. Like using tweezers, electrolysis targets hairs one at a time. A thin probe goes directly into the hair follicle, and a low-level electrical current heats the follicle to the point of destruction. The zap can hurt or even scar a little. Because it’s a one-at-a-time deal, it can take up to 18 months of treatments to get the results you want. It is permanent, though, and it can work on any color hair.

When to see a doctor about facial hair

Facial hair growth by itself isn’t a danger, however in some cases, it can signal a more serious problem like polycystic ovary syndrome or adrenal gland issues. If hair is growing on other areas of the body where it normally only grows on men, or it is excessive, you should check with your doctor.  

We can help you manage facial hair

The information on the Gennev site is never meant to replace the care of a qualified medical professional.  Hormonal shifts throughout menopause can prompt a lot of changes in your body, and simply assuming something is “just menopause” can leave you vulnerable to other possible causes. Always consult with your physician or schedule an appointment with one of Gennev’s telemedicine doctors before beginning any new treatment or therapy. 

 

I’m back after taking a week off for the July 4th holiday here in the U.S. I quietly didn’t post anything and hoped nobody noticed. Instead, I was hanging out on the lake with family and friends and I hope you were doing something awesomely brainless too.

Now for a light topic: menopause at work.

If you need assistance taking care of symptoms during work, a menopause-certified health coach can be helpful. Book 30 minutes for your personal consultation with a health coach.

Managing Menopause At Work

At the risk of boring those of you who do not work outside the home, I want to caveat this post that menopause as at work or at home as can be equally as tough, but in this post, I want to address how we’re doing in the workplace.

How many of you work outside the home?

And how many of you have missed a day of work because of a menopause symptom-related issue, including heavy and painful periods, foggy brain, extreme fatigue or anxiety?

Or, should I ask, how many of you have masked one of those symptoms at work, because a) you were embarrassed and/or b) you don’t want others to think your performance is challenged?

My guess is that there are more than a few of you. In the U.S., 20% of our workforce are women of menopause age. That same percentage holds true in other countries too. We’re a powerful group, and I’d like to see us contributing at the top-notch level we know we’re capable of.

Managing Menopause Symptoms At Work

There has been great progress in workplace benefits for pregnancy, post-partum health, and fertility. But we have yet to see any support for women in perimenopause and post menopause in the workplace”¦let alone health and wellness benefits coverage for services (e.g. acupuncture, pelvic-floor therapy, sex therapy, vaginal pain treatment, menopause telehealth) effective for menopause-induced symptoms.

Beyond the benefits, it starts with managers and supervisors in the workplace. Menopause is a mum topic, so it’s likely that your manager as especially if male or a younger woman as will not understand what you’re dealing with on a regular basis.

And, it’s not up to women in the workplace to be the educators as because that doesn’t set you up for success.

So what does a “menopause optimized” workplace look like? We recorded a podcast with workplace and executive coach Lauren Chiren who has advised companies in the UK, Europe and the U.S. on how to support women in perimenopause and post menopause in the workplace.

Recently, I was listening to a webinar for workplace benefits leaders on women’s health and wellness. The focus of the presentation was on fertility, pregnancy, post-partum care and depression. When a question was asked about supporting women in menopause in the workplace, the response narrowly broached the topic with a simple response, “at that point, it’s all about women’s bone and cardiovascular health.”

That’s not enough.

While Gennev is focused on helping all women wherever they’re at, we are keenly aware of the gap in care in the workplace and in employer-provided benefits.

If you have ideas for how you’d like to be supported in your workplace wellness and benefits, please send me an email. jill@gennev.com.