Busting the Gynaecological Myths

"Why don't you use a menstrual cup?" my Mom, with her blatantly blunt way of hitting the nail in the head once asked me. That was the day when I actually introspected- yes, why don't I? I had known all about the cup since a long time- I'd first come across it when I was researching endometrial stem cells a few years ago... I knew its benefits, and I did, in theory, support the fact that it was an ecologically viable alternative to minimise the biomedical waste sanitary napkins generate... I had encouraged a few patients who'd asked me my opinion on it to go ahead and use it too.. Yet I didn't use it myself! Why was that? There was only one answer to this question- a question I had conveniently disregarded till now! Just like most Indian women, I was uncomfortable handling my own genitals when I was on my period! Yes, that's right! I, a gynaecologist, whose life literally revolves around the female genitalia, felt squeamish in putting in a m...

Cancer is a much- dreaded disease, since very few afflicted by it can escape its claws. Just like the deadly crab that the name literally stands for, it has the capacity to sting each and every organ and lead to a life that is brief but filled with misery and pain. Unfortunately, the knowledge of most people about the disease is limited to ghastly images of patients with oral cancer, and the fact that chewing tobacco or smoking can lead to cancer, thanks to what has been portrayed to us over the years. There are many types of cancers much beyond the realm of those shown in the educational advertisements in the movie theatres, or the images one sees on the cigarette packs. Every woman, and for that matter every man too should be aware of a very common but preventable type of cancer, viz. cervical cancer. The same agent responsible for this cancer can also cause other cancers such as cancers of the penis in men, or a few types of cancers of the throat or anus in both men and wo...

We always invest a great deal of thought, preparations and elaborate planning- be it physical, emotional or financial, into each decision we take. Then why should pregnancy, which is one of the most important journeys in a couple’s life, be an exception?  Women nowadays are at par with men in terms of education and career, and taking a break for pregnancy and childbirth can be a setback. The decision to have a child, and what follows, changes your life completely. Hence, it is the need of the hour to know what goes into planning a pregnancy. It is also equally important to know for how long one can afford to procrastinate before the biological clock ticks away irrevocably. What is the right age to plan a pregnancy? What is ‘too early’ or ‘too late’? Girls become reproductively able once they start getting their periods. However, it might be ‘too early’ to get pregnant before the body completes its growth. Teenage years are when there is a growth spurt, and that...

I remember the times from when I was a child and the extended family used to gather at the ancestral home for festivals like Diwali or Ganpati. Sometimes, an older cousin, an aunt, would be made to sit separately from the rest. She wouldn't be allowed remotely near the Gods, or places of worship. She would have food in a separate plate, wash her clothes separately. As an inquisitive child, I hadn't understood why, and kept asking the adults for answers. They had just brushed me off by saying 'She's touched a crow!' Now that, was even harder for me to fathom! Who was this pesky crow who managed to touch some woman time and again, and why didn't it ever touch me or my brother? Finally, my mother sat me down and explained about periods. I took a while to digest the information, but once I did, the irrationality of the whole ‘touch-me-not’ game infuriated me! Having been brought up by my mom, an extremely level- headed, open- minded iron lady, it defini...