The Food Medic - S5 E4: Sexual Wellness & Female Anatomy

Episode Date: January 25, 2021

Welcome back to another episode of The Food Medic Podcast. This week Dr Hazel is joined by Jordan Jones, a physician assistant, women’s sexual health educator and the founder of the Vaginas, Vulvas, and Vibrators podcast. Jordan is passionate about women’s health and sexual education. Her goal is to provide a safe place for women to learn about their bodies. Topics include:* Anatomy of extra female genitalia * Orgasms and anorgasmia * Painful Sex in Women (Dyspareunia)* Low libido: why am I not interested in sex anymore? * WAP: normal and abnormal vaginal discharge * Genital herpes: transmission and treatment * Plastic free period optionsIf you loved this episode make sure to give it a review, rating (hopefully 5 stars) and share it with your friends and family. @thefoodmedic/www.thefoodmedic.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart. Grocer $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Hello and a very big welcome back to the Food Medic podcast. I'm your host as always, Dr. Hazel.

I'm a medical doctor, a registered associate nutritionist, author and founder of The Food Medic. Just to flag, in this episode we will be discussing some things that may not be appropriate for little ears, so you may want to listen at a later time if that's the case. This podcast episode is sponsored by Murad. Murad is the dermatologist developed skincare brand that approaches skin differently. How? Through founder Dr Howard Murad's four main pillars of wellness for approaches skin differently. How? Through founder Dr. Howard Murad's four main pillars of wellness for total skin health. Eat your water, awaken your body, be kind to your mind, and of course, nourish your skin with their high performance formulas. For more than 30 years, Murad has been committed to developing clinically proven, cruelty-free products that meet the

meticulous standards for safety, efficacy, and care you'd expect from a doctor my personal favorite product is their best-selling retinol youth renewal eye serum retinol is a derivative of vitamin a which helps improve skin cell turnover and reduce the breakdown of collagen i find this product is great for reducing the appearance of fine lines and improving skin texture. It's suitable for all skin types, even sensitive skin, and you can use it all over your eye area, including the lids. Thank you to Murad for supporting the Food Medic podcast. This week, I'm joined by Jordan Jones, who is a physician assistant, women's sexual health educator, and founder of the Vaginas, Vulvas and Vibrators podcast. She is passionate about women's health and sexual education

and her goal is to provide a safe place for women to learn about their bodies. According to the survey by the Eve Appeal, 65% of women say that they have a problem using the words vagina or vulva and nearly 40% of 16 to 25 year olds resort to using code names such as lady parts or women's bits when discussing gynecological health. Lack of basic anatomical knowledge is also an issue with women in the younger age groups struggling to correctly identify the five areas that can be affected by gynecological cancer. That is the womb, cervix, ovaries, vagina and vulva on a simple diagram. And just over half of women aged 26 to 35 were able to label the vagina accurately. So guys, the aim of this podcast episode is to first of all, just learn a bit more about our

female anatomy and also to have an open discussion about sex and sexual health. On this episode, we talk about the female anatomy, orgasms and low libido, STIs and discharge, and also plastic-free period options. Jordan, thank you so much for coming on the Food Medic podcast. Yes, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to talk with you today. Yeah, absolutely. So first of all, I would love to hear a bit more about you and who you are and what your area of interest is. So I am Jordan Jones. I am a physician assistant working in the United States. I primarily work as a locums or a traveling physician assistant in primary care, but my true interest is in women's health and sexual wellness. I recently started my own podcast, Vaginas, Vulvas, and Vibrators,

and that focuses on women's health and sexual wellness and that's my little passion project yeah and um like we were just chatting before it's how I came across you just for um some of our listeners can you please explain what a physician assistant is because it's a relatively new term in the UK but I know that that qualification has been around a lot longer in the UK, but I know that that qualification has been around a lot longer in the States. That is a good question. So a physician assistant is somebody who is licensed to prescribe and treat medical conditions. We are not doctors. I function underneath a medical doctor, but I am autonomous and kind of work on my own to care for my patients. Great. Cool. Just so we have that covered off, because I know I'm like preempting the question, but I am autonomous and kind of work on my own to care for my patients. Great. Cool. Just so we have that covered off, because I know I'm like preempting the questions.

But I know one of my friends who I went to uni with actually went on to study to be a physician assistant. So I had a bit of insight into that. So let's just jump right in. One of your first episodes on your podcast is about female anatomy, reproductive anatomy, and just kind of going through all the different parts of the genitalia, but using your hand to describe it. And I found this really like creative and insightful. And I was like, I mean, it's a really great way for listeners who aren't able to physically see you, but to be able to have that step along process. So let's start there.

If you don't mind giving us another run through. Absolutely. So female anatomy is something that I think a lot of people aren't really taught about in school. We learn a lot about male anatomy. I don't know how the education system is in the UK, but female anatomy is kind of forgotten about. So the way I like to describe it to my listeners and to my patients, I have them make a peace sign. So if you want to make

a peace sign, stick your thumb through it and then flip it upside down. And that is kind of the general overview of what a vulva looks like. So if you look at this at the top where the back of your hand is, that's kind of your mons pubis or the fatty tissue where there is pubic hair. Below that is your vulva, and your vulva and your vagina are not the same thing. There's a huge misconception with that. Your vulva is the external anatomy. So that includes your labia, your inner and outer labia. So your fingers, your pointer and your middle finger are going to be your outer labia. Inside of those are you're going to be your inner labia. And then your thumb is your clitoris. And your clitoris, you only see a little bit there, but if you take a look from the side, that clitoris kind of runs deeper into your

body. And it's actually shaped like a wishbone and can be stimulated through the vaginal canal and even the anal canal. Then below your clitoris is your urethra. And then below that is going to be your vaginal entrance. And that is where your vagina is. Amazing. Thank you for that description. I think it's also just, for me, really refreshing to hear you use correct terms. And I like that kind of qualification between vulva and vagina because I think we just often use the word vagina to describe anything that kind of resides down there which is really important

to decipher between and also I do agree like at schools we brush over these things and I think there's still such a taboo about talking about anatomy and the reproductive system and sex and sexual health and periods and anything that's largely due to the female reproductive system so for me this conversation was really important to have also from a health perspective because if we don't feel comfortable talking about our body parts then we're not going to be comfortable seeking help when we need to absolutely okay so I did put out a question box on Instagram before I knew that we were recording this podcast because it's a little bit more left field to the content that I usually put out and I was interested to see what questions people had and oh gosh, there were so many questions. So I'm just going to dive

right in. And one question that kept coming up was, well, a series of questions around the concept of an orgasm. First and foremost, what actually is an orgasm? And why is it so difficult for women to achieve orgasm, especially through penetrative sex alone. And then a couple of other people were saying that they've just never been able to reach orgasm. And I know you did a podcast on this already. So let's just start the conversation there. Okay. So an orgasm by definition is a feeling of intense physical pleasure and release of tension that is accompanied by involuntary rhythmic contractions of the pelvic floor muscles. So that's the generic definition. There are a lot of different theories

about what is an orgasm. The model that I follow is the four different phases. You have your libido, your arousal, your climax, and resolution. And a lot of women have a hard time orgasming because 80% of women need clitoral stimulation to achieve orgasm. So penetrative sex alone is not going to result in orgasm for most women. There are other things that can be going on that affect your ability to orgasm. So medication is one of those. If you're a smoker, that decreases blood flow to your genitalia. So that can affect your ability to orgasm. Birth control pills can also affect that.

And a lot of different chronic diseases can have an effect on your ability to orgasm too. If you have a nerve disorder or like a neuropathy of some sort, there's a lot of things that can be going on that affect your ability to orgasm too. If you have a nerve disorder or like a neuropathy of some sort, there's a lot of things that can be going on that affect your ability to orgasm. Okay. And so for women who are struggling, you did mention that for a majority of people, penetrative sex alone for a woman isn't going to be enough. And so I guess, thinking about ways that we can overcome that, obviously, let's just say we've ruled out any medical issues, we've looked at medications and all of that. And so we know everything is a okay. What are some of the things that people can try and test at home, or like within their sex life that may be able to help them kind of improve

this or even try to get to the bottom of it? Yeah. So foreplay I think is really, really, really important for a lot of women and focusing on clitoral stimulation, other types of stimulation that feel good prior to penetrative sex and maybe having that orgasm prior to penetration, that would be one of the big things that I would probably recommend. Yeah. And I guess for women, figuring out what works for them as well, it's super individual. And prior to even getting into a relationship with another person,

like figuring out what works for you is also really healthy and natural and something we should be encouraging. Absolutely. And in using toys, whether it's alone or with a partner, you know, the toys can be very helpful for getting that clitoral stimulation as well and finding out what you like and don't like. Absolutely. And I mean, you mentioned when it comes to our libido, there's lots of things that can be affected. And it might be because we've got a certain underlying health condition or medication, but also it's hugely psychological and there's lots of other things going down.

One listener sent in a question to say, why am I not interested in sex anymore? And is it normal in a relationship for it to fizzle out? What can I do? Yes. So that is a good question. And I think it varies from every individual why they're not interested in sex. There's a lot of things that go into it, such as like the chronic disease, anxiety, depression, thyroid dysfunction can affect your libido medications, but ultimately stress can affect your libido, your menstrual cycle. So you may notice during different times of your menstrual cycle, you are more interested or less interested in sex as well, or intercourse. And I would say it is pretty normal in a relationship

to ebb and flow. And sometimes things are going to be really great. Other times they're not. And communication is really, really important when it comes to a relationship and talking to them about what you like, what you don't like, what's going on right now. And I would strongly encourage a sex therapist for everybody. I think that is a wonderful resource do you have those in the UK um we do we've got psychologists who specialize in sex therapy but it's not really something that's widely available especially kind of under our so we've got a national health care system I don't think that it would be available via NHS so it would be private health care if someone was willing to pay money but I guess if it was massively compromising your relationship it is

worth the investment absolutely so it's really kind of just looking at your lifestyle whether there's stress involved communicating with your partner and seeing it from there but I guess like you said it's going to be normal that things are going to change throughout a relationship and you won't feel as amped up as you were in the beginning. Well, that and also, you know, through a lifespan, your sexual desires may change. So typically you have like your, we'll just use teenage boys as an example, but teenage boys are going to have your higher sex drive. A lot of times for women, when they hit menopause, some their sex drive decreases, some it increases. So throughout your lifetime, you're going to have a

varying amount of desire based on what's going on in your life and your hormones too. Yeah, that's absolutely true. And then looking at kind of other problems that can go wrong. Some women experience pain during sex and not just during the first time, but ongoing pain. Is this something that comes up in your practice quite a bit? And can we discuss maybe some causes and where women can find support for this? Absolutely. So dyspareunia or pain during intercourse is something that happens a lot, but I don't think we're talking about it as much as it happens. And there are a lot of different causes for dyspareunia.

It could be muscle spasms. So you having like constant muscle spasms and you're unable to relax your pelvic floor muscles that can cause pain during intercourse. Lack of estrogen. So especially when you become menopausal, your estrogen decreases, but that can thin the tissue of your vaginal canal and that can cause pain with intercourse. So those are kind of the two common ones I would say with dyspareunia. Some women who have endometriosis have pain with intercourse, but dyspareunia is something that's happening a lot that we're not talking about. And my recommendation for getting support with that is going to be a pelvic floor physical therapist.

Do you have those? Yes. Oh, awesome. So that's something that I recently learned about in the last couple of years. It's not something we're taught about in school, but I'm finding that they treat a variety of different things, including dyspareunia. They can even help with orgasms too. If you're having difficulty achieving orgasms, that could be tied to your pelvic floor muscles

as well. So they are also a wonderful resource for dealing with that. Yeah, absolutely. And I guess thinking about some other causes, it's also important to make sure that you're not having any other symptoms that could be related to like an STI or an STD, Because I guess that could be a cause of pain as well. That can be a cause of pain and also vaginal lubrication. So vaginal lubrication is extremely important. 80% of women prefer sex with a lubricant. And if you are not lubricated, or if it's a longer session or for whatever reason, everybody should be using a lubricant. But if you're not using a lubricant, sometimes that can cause friction and cause pain as well. And is there any particular kind of, do you recommend like water-based and non-perfumed

lubricants that won't cause irritation? I absolutely recommend a water-based, unscented, unflavored lubricant because if you have something that's flavored or scented that can throw off your natural ph in of your vaginal flora and cause other issues so I definitely would go with unscented generic water-based yeah absolutely it's funny how um they're almost harder to come by these days because there's so many like fancy flavored multi-colored ones on the market these days but that brings me on to our next question um you had a podcast titled WAP or time for the doc um which made me laugh and I think when when it comes to vag discharge, I think a lot of women know

that a little bit is okay, but I still find I'm getting questions like, well, how much is too much? And how do I know if something's wrong? And so when it comes to discharge, what are some of the signs when things aren't quite right? Yes. So vaginal discharge, I think it's important to pay attention to what is normal for you. And it does change throughout your lifetime. But something to look for that would indicate that there's something off would be an odor. So if you have like a fishy odor, a new odor, if you have itching, or if there's changes in like the consistency. So maybe it's cottage cheese, like maybe the color is yellow or green. Those are all indications that something could be off. Yeah. And also having, when you're going to the toilet, if it's painful, when you're having a wee and you're having discharge as well, that's a good sign. That is definitely a good sign to go under the dock real quick um so we already actually

covered a podcast on sti so if people want more information go back and listen to that but one question that came up for this particular podcast with a lot of women was specifically genital herpes and i think it would be really good to cover it off because there seems to be a lot of concern around it, a lot of stigma, a lot of confusion. And I just thought maybe it'd be nice if we covered off what causes it, can it be treated, and how people can continue having a healthy sex life with a diagnosis. Yes. So genital herpes is fairly common in the U S it's about one in six people have genital herpes. And what it is is it's a virus. So think of like chickenpox, similar chickenpox is also a virus. It's kind of the same idea. It's spread via skin to skin contact. So

this is where condoms don't always protect you from everything because you will have some skin that comes in contact with skin that's not covered by a condom. And so it's a virus. It's spread via skin-to-skin contact. There are two different strands. You have HSV-1, which most commonly is the one that you see as oral herpes. A lot of people get that in childhood, but you can also see that genitally as well. HSV-2 is more commonly known as the genital herpes. That can be transferred orally, but there's not really any cases of that, but it is possible. So as far as treatment goes,

there is no permanent treatment, but you can take medication to reduce your viral load. So acyclovir, valcyclovir, I'm not sure if that's what it's called over there, Valtrex. Yeah, same names. Okay. So you can take antivirals to reduce your viral load to prevent spreading it, but that also can help reduce your outbreaks. And typically the first time you have an outbreak, what you can expect is fevers, chills, kind of not feeling very good. And then you'll notice a lesion. And this lesion a lot of times starts as little bumps that then open up and start oozing. And you're most contagious when it is oozing. You're less contagious when you have no active outbreaks, but it is always still possible to pass the virus. And ultimately,

it's a skin disorder. That is the easiest way to explain it. Yeah. So to prevent spreading it to a partner, I would say avoiding sex during outbreaks. So kind of learning what your symptoms are before having an outbreak, because a lot of people will have prodromal symptoms. So they kind of feel maybe a tingly sensation. They know with urination prior to having a outbreak. So you got to learn kind of what your symptoms are to avoid intercourse prior to an outbreak. You also want to use condoms. Condoms is going to help reduce the spread, but at the same time, there's still always a risk. And then using the antiviral medication medication which reduces that viral load can help reduce the risk of spreading it but at the end of the day you know when you go to be intimate with somebody i always recommend disclosure letting them know like hey i've got the skin disorder is that cool yeah and i think that's that's tough for people you know opening up about these things but the

more we talk about it and the more we normalize it like you said one in six people that's super common and I imagine like a lot of people listening to this will have come into contact with it before and and someone's just not you know mentioned it or whatever so definitely learn to have these conversations and not just about herpes, but STIs in general. Right, and when it comes to herpes, a lot of people don't even know they have it. So some people will never have that initial outbreak.

Some people will just carry the virus and never have an outbreak. If you have it, you could be carrying it and not even know it. And I guess if you are carrying it, for people who are aware, it's not like it's going to cause any harm apart from if it does develop into blisters and that can be painful. Exactly. Yeah. There's no long-term consequences. It's just the skin disorder that may pop up every now and then for you, maybe more often for you. It just kind of depends on how your body responds to it.

Yeah. And kind of triggers for an outbreak are different for everyone, right? But it's normally like periods of stress or illness or smoking. Yeah. Stress, illness, inflammatory response. Even for some people, the friction from intercourse can increase their likelihood of having an outbreak too. That's interesting. Okay, and moving on from STIs, let's briefly chat about periods. Again, this is something I love talking about and have talked about it extensively, but I know you've covered this topic before as well. And I'd love to just cover off some plastic free period options which is something I'm personally trying out myself a trial and error definitely lots of errors um but like just chatting about

moon cups and period pants and also biodegradable tampons yes So I also love to talk about this stuff and have recently decided to trial and error and a lot of error on this as well. I didn't know this stuff existed until this year. I had no idea that these options were available and what a game changer it could be for somebody, especially women who have really heavy periods where tampons don't always do enough. Like you got to change them all the time. So moon cups, I'm assuming that is similar to our menstrual cups. Yeah. Same thing. I think moon cup is maybe a brand, but yeah, menstrual cups is the universal term. Okay. So menstrual cups are these plastic devices, ultimately, that you insert into your vaginal canal and they form a suction over your cervix.

Your menstrual flow flows from your uterus through your cervix and they can be in place for about 12 hours. They vary in size and shape. So picking one can be kind of tricky because if you've never had a kid, you're going to want a different sized one than somebody who has had a kid. If you have weaker pelvic muscles, shorter vaginal canal versus a longer vaginal canal, there's a lot of things that go into picking one. But what's nice is you can leave it in for 12 hours and then you can take it out

from what I've heard take it out in the shower because it can be a little bit messy I don't know what you're have you tried the moon cups yet yeah I've tried one and and yeah it's recommended to take out in the shower um but obviously if you're out and about you can just do it in a toilet cubicle and but then you have to wash it out in the sink so there's logistical things that I'm still figuring out but yeah that's generally like people take it out in the shower have you heard of flex disc no what I found is they have this brand I think it's the brand is flex but flex discs and they're just like the menstrual cups except they're disposable and the material is more of a soft it kind of kind of feels like a condom this like soft material it's not hard

like the moon cups or the menstrual cups and you insert it the same way you insert into your vaginal canal it's a little bit bigger probably like a two inch circumference. So what is that? A six centimeter circumference. And you insert it into your vaginal canal and it collects your menstrual flow. And then when you go to take it out, it can be a little bit messy, but you can just throw it out. You don't have to worry about rinsing it or anything like that. So that's really great if you maybe travel or are always busy, you don't have to worry about rinsing it. Yeah. But I guess then I assume that it's made of material that's not biodegradable. Is it? I believe they are. The brand that I

want to say it is biodegradable, but that may not be true. Okay. So you haven't tried them yourself personally I tried the the discs yes yeah okay cool and then the next kind of things period pants which I was kind of like when I initially came across them not really sure how I felt about this and now I'm converted more so towards the end of my period where I've got like, you know, when you're going to bed and maybe you're kind of like on your last few days. I think they're amazing. Yes. I got those when I did my podcast episode, I'm like, okay, I've got to try these for myself because I can't really talk about it and not have tried anything. So I grabbed them

and I definitely find that they're great for bedtime so that you don't have to wear, you know, a tampon or something else to bed. And they're really nice because you put them on. They're super absorbent. Depending on the kind that you get, they can hold up to like four or more super tampon worth of blood flow. So it's a really great backup method, too. too, if you have really heavy periods, you can use your menstrual cup, your tampon, but then also wear your period panties to help give you some more protection and a little bit more comfort. But after you use them, you just kind of rinse them out and then you throw them in your washing machine and you can wear them again, let them air dry and they're good to go.

Yeah, I'm honestly converted. And then I guess the third other period-free option is the biodegradable tampons, which kind of speak for themselves. It's just a tampon, except they're a bit more environmentally friendly. And that's kind of what I'm using at the moment. And they come with these reusable applicators that personally I feel like are more comfortable to use

than the plastic disposable ones that you get normally. I don't know if you've had any experience with these. I haven't tried those yet. I've tried organic tampons, but I haven't tried biodegradable tampons just yet. Yeah, it's, I mean, I haven't noticed any difference in terms of comfort or how much they hold. Like like I'm I'm converted are your biodegradable ones are they organic and like scent free and unbleached cotton yeah um I use a brand called Dame um I'm not paid to say this but yeah they're there I don't know if they're available where you're from but um yeah Dame like D-a-m-e um they're great i know

there's a couple of others on the market over here and actually i feel like they've kind of come out of the wellness industry sort of from a first and foremost organic point of view and now they're biodegradable um and some of them are cbd infused which i haven't gone near because I don't know how I feel about CBD on my tampons yet. I don't know if we've got any evidence to say that intervaginal CBD is going to do very much either. Yeah. One thing I noticed with the organic tampons is that there's a decrease in odor. Same with like the menstrual cups in the disc. You have less odor because it's when the blood touches the air that it creates an odor. So it can help limit that as well. I also noticed with the menstrual cups decreased cramping. Oh, that's really interesting.

Yeah. They're known for doing that. I'm not really exactly sure why that's the case, but they are known for that. Yeah. I guess exactly sure why that's the case, but they are known for that. Yeah. I guess it's worth saying with the cups, you have to be really comfortable with going down there and kind of putting your fingers inside of you. Because I think after speaking to some women, when I explained how you insert it and how you remove it, they kind of got a little bit queasy. So I mean, over time, I'm sure people get really used to it. And I know some women absolutely love it. But you do have to be comfortable putting things up inside you. Yeah, there's definitely a learning curve. And it's a lot your first couple

of times, the birth control option that I used to use was a NuvaRing. So I'm used to that same mechanism. So for me, it wasn't that bad, but I could definitely see if you're not used to inserting things in your vagina, taking things out, it's very different. It's unique. Yeah, absolutely. And also I do know some people or of a person who forgot it was up there and didn't remember until a couple of weeks later, which they were wondering why there was really bad discharge. So remind yourself, they can be comfortable. So remember to take it out. Yes. Okay, well, finally, what's the biggest takeaway from this episode or in general that you you really want all women to know? I think the biggest thing for women to know

is that we are all unique. Our anatomy is all unique, that your inner and outer labia may not be symmetrical. They may be different colors. They are different from everybody else's and embrace that. I encourage everyone to go grab a mirror and take a look at their anatomy. Can you identify all of your genitalia? Do you know what normal is for you? And also on that, what makes you happy? What feels good for you? And I encourage you to spend some time learning what kind of sensations or touch that you really like. Yeah, absolutely. I love that. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. Where can people find more about you? Yes. Thank you for having me. You can find me on

Instagram at Jordan Donnell, J O R D A N E N E L L E. You can also find my podcast on itunes stitcher iheart radio whatever you listen to vaginas vulvas and vibrators with jordan donnell amazing okay guys that's all from me today i hope you enjoyed today's episode i know it was slightly different than our normal content but but I for one found it really informative. Please do let us know on social media. You can find me under the handle The Food Medic. Have a great week and I'll see you again next time.