Bacteria are among the millions of microscopic organisms that live in our bodies. Despite their reputation for making us sick, many help us stay healthy. Probiotics, for example, are a type of bacteria found in numerous foods and supplements that help the stomach, which has a bacterial ecosystem to keep things...
The body is a complex network of bones, muscles, organs, and other tissues that works together to maintain basic functions. Our organs in particular are protected by muscles, connective tissue, and other materials so they can play their roles in keeping us healthy. Your pelvic region, which connects the upper...
Adults often struggle to discuss certain medical problems, and control of the bowels is in that category. Fecal incontinence, or anal incontinence, is when you leak feces from your rectum before you reach the restroom, and sometimes you may not realize you’re doing it. This condition is more common among...
Millions of women struggle with pain during or after sex, a condition known as dyspareunia. Almost 75% of women experience this issue at some point; for some, dyspareunia is chronic. Unfortunately, there are many reasons you might experience pain during or after sex. But unless it's minor soreness that goes away after...
The human body has two strong defenses against infection: The skin, which keeps threats from getting in your body, and the immune system, which fights infection once it’s inside. And they both get a workout because there are many bacteria and viruses that can cause infections. A common threat for...
Any pain in the lower abdominal region, below your belly button, is pelvic pain. It can happen for a number of reasons. These include irritable bowel syndrome, appendicitis, painful ovulation, ectopic pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). If the pain is localized to the outer part of your vagina (the...
Your skin plays a vital role in protecting your body. It keeps out external substances, helps regulate body temperature, and allows you to feel objects by touch. As your body’s first line of defense, it’s also prone to problems like dry skin, moles, acne, and eczema. Some skin conditions are...
Vaginal mesh, or transvaginal mesh, is a treatment designed to support weakened pelvic floor muscles present in conditions like pelvic organ prolapse or stress urinary incontinence. The goal is to relieve pressure on the bladder and other organs. However, there are complications related to this treatment. As a result, the Food and Drug...
The pelvis is the lowest part of the abdomen. Its responsibilities include supporting the digestive tract and housing the bladder and reproductive organs. The pelvic bone (made up of the ilium, sacrum, and coccyx) connects to the pelvic floor muscles that support the entire structure. Pain in any part of your...
Problems that affect your urinary bladder and bowel can lead to awkward moments that are embarrassing and difficult to deal with. Overactive bladder, or OAB, is when a bladder problem causes a sudden urge to urinate. Accidental Bowel Leakage, or ABL, is when a bowel problem causes leakage of stool...
The inability to control the bowels, or fecal incontinence, is a condition that’s more common in older people and women who’ve given birth. It can be temporary or recurring and adversely affect your social and personal life. At their offices in Hudson and Wellesley, Massachusetts, Dr. Neeraj Kohli and the skilled medical...
Sex is more than just how we reproduce — it’s important to our personal happiness and overall health. The intimacy and pleasure derived from sex can help improve heart health, burn calories, lower blood pressure, strengthen muscles, and increase libido. Sex can also boost your immune system, help you sleep better,...
Your body is a self-cleaning system that removes waste from foods and other materials using a few methods, including your urinary tract. This system consists of your kidneys, bladder, ureter, and urethra and processes waste out of your body through your urine. However, your urinary tract can be compromised by...
Few things are more essential to living than eating. Healthy food provides your body with the nutrients and fuel you need to function. When you eat, the food goes on a journey through the digestive tract, which absorbs the nutrients and eliminates the waste. Food starts its journey in your mouth...
Your pelvis, situated below your abdomen and just above your legs, holds the urinary bladder, bowels, reproductive organs, and genitals as well as your urethra and anus. To keep these organs and tissues in place, you have pelvic floor muscles. These stretch from the pelvic bone to your coccyx (at...
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) affect both men and women, but women are more likely to get them — up to 30 times more likely. In fact, 1 in 3 women is likely to have a UTI before age 24. The risk increases for women who are sexually active, are pregnant,...
Fecal incontinence, also known as bowel incontinence, is the loss of bowel control resulting in the leakage of fecal matter. It’s a difficult and embarrassing condition for millions of people. The condition is most common in older adults. So if you’re dealing with this awkward and anxiety-inducing condition, you’re not...
The act of urinating is something many of us take for granted, but it’s not uncommon for something to go wrong with your urinary system that may lead to other problems. Your urinary system works with your lungs, skin, and intestines to maintain your body’s chemical and water balance, but...
Sexual discomfort can be a source of anxiety in personal relationships. For about 20% of US women that may mean dealing with dyspareunia, or recurrent pain related to sexual activity. Many conditions can lead to dyspareunia, including vulvovaginal disease, a group of conditions that affect the external area of your...
Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, are among the most common infections that affect Americans, accounting for nearly 10% of infections reported in acute care hospitals. This infection can strike any portion of your urinary system, including your bladder, kidneys, urethra, and ureter. While UTIs are generally easy to treat, leaving...
Urinary incontinence is a condition where you lose control of your bladder. And it’s a sad fact of life for the quarter to a third of men and women in the United States who are dealing with this condition, which can result in small leaks of urine or even not...
Sexual and digestive health are vital to your overall well-being, and they’re connected in more ways than you might think. Your pelvic region contains your bladder, genitals, urethra, and anus, all held in place by a group of muscles that make up the pelvic floor (or perineum). If something goes...
Up to 20% of American women deal regularly with pain during intercourse, a condition known as dyspareunia. But whether it’s chromic or occasional pain, this type of discomfort during sex can adversly affect your personal life. Painful intercourse can happen for a variety of reasons, and finding treatment means understanding...
Vaginal health is important to your overall health, and if you’re experiencing pain, burning, and itching, your discomfort can be due to a number of issues. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), hormonal changes, infections, inflammation, and many other conditions can complicate your life, but they’re often quite treatable. Some conditions, however,...
Researchers estimate that 14%-32% of women worldwide (and about 15% in the US) report having some form of chronic pelvic pain. Additionally, up to one-third of women say the pain is bad enough to cause them to miss work. Pain during your period isn’t uncommon, but there are many reasons...
Fecal incontinence, also known as bowel or anal incontinence, can be an embarrasing condition. The loss of control over your bowels can impact your life, making it difficult to socialize with others or even admit what you’re dealing with. But you’re not alone. In the United States, more than 5.5...
Women face issues with their pelvic floor muscles for a variety of reasons. These are the muscles at the bottom of your pelvis that support the genitals, bladder, and rectum. Problems in this area lead to conditions like pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress incontinence. Stress incontinence means you have...
A urinary tract infection (UTI) is a type of infection that can affect any part of the urinary system, including the kidneys, ureters, bladder, or urethra. Both men and women can experience a UTI, but women are 30 times more likely to get one. And for women who get a...
How often you should urinate and what it means for your health are more important than you think. If you have the overwhelming urge to go to the bathroom multiple times a day, it can be a source of embarrassment and frustration that affects your everyday life. Frequent urination and...
Urinary incontinence, when you lose control of your bladder, affects 25 million adults in the United States. Up to 80% of them are women, since urinary incontinence can be linked to women’s issues like pregnancy and menopause. Urinary incontinence is often associated with older people but anyone can struggle with...
An ovarian cyst is a fluid-filled sac that forms on the outside or inside of one or both of a woman’s ovaries. Most women experience at least one in their lifetime. In some cases, ovarian cysts can lead to symptoms that include: Abdominal bloating or swelling Painful bowel movements Pain...
Pain in the lowest part of your abdomen is known as pelvic pain, and it’s a problem for many women. The numbers vary, but about 15% of US women of childbearing age experience pelvic pain for more than six months; worldwide, as many as 32% of women deal with such...
There are many urinary conditions that are more likely to start when you’re older, but some affect people young or old. One example is nocturia, or nocturnal polyuria. This condition can make it difficult to get a night’s rest and can be caused by a number of other issues. And...
Urinary incontinence is the term for loss of bladder control and it’s something that 10 million-13 million Americans deal with. It can be mild or severe and can affect anyone. Typically, however, this condition affects more women than men and becomes more common as people get older. It’s especially common...
Vaginal pain can result from a number of conditions in women. If you’re experiencing burning, stinging, and other forms of discomfort not associated with the menstrual cycle, it could indicate vulvovaginal disease. This refers to any condition that affects the external part of the female genitalia (the vulva). The vulva...
Pelvic organ prolapse is a condition where one or more of your pelvic organs drop from their normal position, usually resulting from a weakened pelvic floor (the muscles that support the pelvic organs). And as unpleasant as it sounds, it’s more common than you might think. Research indicates that 35%-50%...
Urinary incontinence, a condition where people accidentally urinate due to a loss of bladder control, affects millions of adults. It happens with 1 in 5 adults over 40, and nearly 30% of people ages 60-70 who merely cough, sneeze, or laugh. Many things can happen in the body to cause...
Chances are if you’ve had a problem with fecal incontinence, you’ve also had trouble admitting it or getting help. But you’re not alone. Fecal or bowel incontinence, the condition where you lose control and leak stool unexpectedly, is a lot more common than you think. It affects 1 in 12...
Pain during intercourse for women is fairly common, with nearly 3 out of 4 women experiencing it at some point. This affects both your relationships and your own personal happiness. It can also indicate a serious underlying health problem. Painful intercourse can affect women of all ages. If you’re experiencing...
You spend your days running here and there, and it’s not often you get a chance to sit on the toilet and have a bowel movement. But even when you have the urge and the time to go, you’re not able to get anything moving. You get plenty of dietary...
One in four women suffer from pelvic floor issues. Transvaginal mesh was designed to help women deal with a number of disorders, such as incontinence, a weakened bladder, and pelvic organ prolapse. But, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered all manufacturers to stop distributing transvaginal mesh in April,...
Though there are many causes of pelvic pain, it can vary greatly from woman to woman. Some of the most universal symptoms include: Cramping or aching Pressure and heaviness Sharp pain Pain during intercourse Pain during a bowel movement At Boston Urogyn, Dr. Neeraj Kohli leads the way with advanced...
When you were pregnant, you probably found yourself using the bathroom frequently, especially as your baby grew larger and put more pressure on your bladder. Maybe you’re noticing that this common issue doesn’t necessarily end just because you deliver. Dr. Neeraj Kohli at Boston Urogyn understands the impact that bladder...
If you have trouble with urinary incontinence — a loss of bladder control — there’s something you may not know: Your diet can contribute to it. Some dietary habits that can affect urination are obvious, such as how much water you drink. But there are other habits that can also...
The female body is incredible: It undergoes amazing changes throughout its lifespan, tolerates a not-so-enjoyable monthly cycle, carries and births children, and does so much more. Unfortunately, the female body is also sometimes troublesome. It runs into unexpected kinks and endures unexplained symptoms, which can be incredibly frustrating. Uterine fibroids...
Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, are a common but uncomfortable condition. You know that you have one if you experience pain or burning when you urinate, needing to use the bathroom frequently, pain in your belly or lower back, and fever or chills. Summertime is a fun time with a...
Pelvic pain is often very difficult to manage. In many cases, it’s a mysterious condition with seemingly unknown causes and results in a lot of discomfort that disrupts your life. In some cases, pelvic pain may indicate a condition called vulvodynia. The vulva is the outside of the female genital...
Many women who are diagnosed with endometriosis — uterine growths that form outside the uterus and can wreak havoc on their reproductive system — have the same question: Does this mean I won’t be able to get pregnant? It’s still possible to get pregnant if you have endometriosis, yes, but...
Often the most embarrassing health conditions are the ones you need relief from to improve the quality of your life, and fecal incontinence is no exception. Fecal incontinence, or bowel incontinence, as it’s also called, can prevent you from participating in leisure activities or simply leaving the house for daily...
If you’ve had transvaginal surgical mesh implanted to correct your pelvic organ prolapse, our hope is that the device is functioning smoothly, allowing you to get on with your life. Unfortunately, this is not the case for some women, who experience serious complications from a mesh gone awry, often leaving...
While Botox® first burst on the scene as a wrinkle-busting cosmetic treatment in 2002, it had already been given the go-ahead by the FDA to treat strabismus (poor eye muscle control) in 1978. Realizing its potential in overriding muscles, Botox’s applications were expanded to include bladder spasms, excessive sweating, and...
The fact that urinary incontinence is common doesn’t spare you the embarrassment when it happens to you. Whether it’s occasional leakage or the strong, sudden urge to go, incontinence can interfere with your everyday life. Although urinary incontinence disproportionately affects older people, it isn’t an inevitable health condition. Many of...
According to the the American Urological Association about 33 million Americans have overactive bladder. Many of those people don’t seek help because they are embarrassed, or they don’t know what to say. They may also believe there are no treatments and overactive bladder is just something they have to manage...
The medical world uses many different and often unfamiliar terms to describe issues associated with vaginal health problems. You may be experiencing vaginitis, vulvovaginitis, vaginosis, or any of several other conditions that can affect the sensitive internal and external skin and other soft tissue structures related to your vaginal health....
Pelvic organ prolapse is an often-frustrating condition that many women experience after childbirth and with changes linked to menopause, obesity, persistent cough or constipation that strains your muscles, and other common issues. It’s caused by weakening of the pelvic floor muscles that normally hold your uterus, urinary bladder, and other...
Although they’re common, when you develop the symptoms of a urinary tract infection (UTI), your first stop should be your doctor’s office. Most often caused by bacterial infections, an untreated UTI can lead to serious complications, including kidney damage.Fortunately, most UTIs are easily treated with a round of antibiotics, and...
Pelvic organ prolapse is a type of a hernia that can be uncomfortable and rather awkward to manage since it often causes urinary issues, such as unexpected leakage of your urine when you laugh or a cough (stress urinary incontinence).In fact, if your doctor has diagnosed you with urinary incontinence,...
For many women, fecal incontinence is embarrassing, but the rare issue that may occur when you have the stomach flu that’s producing diarrhea or as a reaction to last night’s dinner party. Sometimes, however, the unexpected loss of stool becomes an ongoing issue that’s difficult to hide and just as...
No matter how much you enjoy your partner and the pleasure that physical and emotional closeness can create, pain during sex may cause you to avoid intimacy whenever possible. This can create problems in a relationship and may leave you feeling responsible.It doesn’t help, either, when you or your partner...
Urinary tract infections are extremely common and nothing to feel embarrassed about. Up 60% of women experience a UTI at some point during their lives. But, just because UTIs are common, doesn’t mean you can put off seeing a doctor. Delaying medical attention may lead to kidney and bladder damage...
If you’re like most women, you never gave urinary incontinence (UI) a second thought until you had your first baby. That’s usually when the average woman first experiences some amount of bladder leakage, either during a forceful sneeze, a coughing fit, or an exceptionally funny joke. If you wouldn’t dream...
Millions of men and women experience loss of bladder control that ranges from a few drops to significant leakage. Being overweight, smoking, and having type 2 diabetes increases the chances that you’ll develop urinary incontinence (UI) -- and while it affects adults of all ages, it’s more common in women...
What is Bladder Botox?If you find yourself canceling social outings to avoid the stress of finding a restroom, you’re not alone. Over 30 million Americans experience the sudden and uncontrollable urge to urinate known as overactive bladder. The good news is, you can put your days of frequent bathroom trips...
