Treatment Spotlight

I once received an anonymous letter at my office which changed my practice.  As a urologist for 30 years, I have spent much of my career devoted to helping men with erectile dysfunction.  It was after helping a man that I received the “anonymous” letter.  Like a frightening ransom note, the letters were cut and pasted from magazines.  The author was pleading with me to stop helping because, as a wife with her own difficulties, she was unable to participate in sex. She went on to question: what could I possibly offer to help her?

Well, what could I do?  I immediately started to educate myself about the often ignored subject of female sexual dysfunction.  Because half of my patients are women, I began to include an open-ended question about sexual health as part of a routine medical history.  Suddenly, I was listening to multiple stories from women about their desires and concerns that had gone unmentioned for years or decades.  More importantly, they were relieved and excited that a doctor should actually ask and be interested in their sexual health. The origins of the problems were varied, but the common goal was to restore a wonderful but missing part of their life.

FAQs for Votiva by InMode

Q: Why is my vagina dry and painful during intercourse?

A: The main reason for vaginal dryness lies in a lack or reduction in estrogen. Estrogen is the hormone which stimulates vaginal tissues to thicken, and to secrete fluids to moisten the lining of the vagina. In menopause, estrogen levels drop dramatically, and the vagina loses elasticity, thickness, sensation, and moisture.

I routinely see patients who regret having been treated for their prostate cancer with either surgery or radiation.  Almost none of these patients had known or been told about HIFU, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, as an effective and non-invasive option for treating their prostate cancer.  While some studies have suggested that surgery is no better than Active Surveillance (watchful waiting), newer data from large, randomized controlled studies clearly shows that treatment is better than observation.  Nearly two thirds of men on Active Surveillance will require intervention in their lifetime due to the progression of their prostate cancer.