Alyssa Dweck - The Complete A to Z for Your V: A Womens Guide to Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Your Vagina--Health, Pleasure, Hormones, and More

The Complete

for your

A Womens Guide to Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About

YOUR VAGINA: HEALTH, PLEASURE, HORMONES, AND MORE

ALYSSA DWECK, M.D.andROBIN WESTEN

What is it about the word VAGINA? In some circles, specifically prime time TV and news outlets, the word vagina is either banned completely or its use is significantly limited. For reasons unbeknown to me, saying vagina is at times considered offensive, inappropriate, vulgar, dirty, or profane. I am a gynecologist. I speak vagina all day every day. I speak vagina at work, in public, and even at the dinner table. To me, a vagina is just a body part similar to an arm, leg, mouth, or nose.

I have seen thousands of vaginas, and what I have come to realize over the years is this: Women really want to know, am I normal down there? They are curious, interested, excited, elated, petrified, mortified, tearful, or panic-stricken in their need to know whats normal and whats not. Women seek reassurance, guidance, and comraderie when it comes to the vagina. Chances are, thats why youre reading this right now.

Truth be told, I get Facebooked regularly, stopped in the grocery store weekly, and sidelined in the gym daily by friends, acquaintances, and even strangers who know my profession; they all have questions and concerns about their vaginas. Some issues are straightforward. Others? Not so much. But one thing is certain. When I speak vagina, women listen attentively. They eavesdrop or gather around to hear the latest vag news. That is why I had to write this book. I want to speak vagina to the masses, demystify it, and remove the taboo surrounding the subject.

Rather than talking yeast infections in the produce aisle or labiaplasty on the treadmill, I want to get the word out far and wide, to educate women in an easy-to-read, nonthreatening, and direct way. I want to share medically sound and up-to-date information, and I want to have a little fun while I do it.

So, here it is: a humorous but informative guide to the sometimes mysterious and always amazing VAGINA! Some of the chapters ahead are more medical than others, but they all involve the V. There are chapters that may embarrass some and might even offend others, but rest assured, all information stems from the experiences I have been fortunate enough to share with my patients over the yearsexperiences I think most women can benefit from.

Please read, laugh, and learn. Lets speak vagina!

Alyssa Dweck, MS, MD, FACOG

Lets have a partythe vajayjays coming out!

Our Vs: Theyre the subject of girl talk over coffee, blabbed about on Veep, discussed by Chelsea Handler, described on Broad City, joked over on Real Time with Bill Maher, rapped on by Lil Wayne, mocked in Date Night, enjoyed on Girls, painted on canvases, represented in caves, sculpted into walls, monologued on Broadway, banned, beautified, deified, pierced, waxed, creamed, oiled, stretched, tightened, tattooed, glorified, despised, and mythologized. There are over a thousand slang words for them: who-ha, vajayjay, cha cha, lady flower, foo foo, cooch, noonie, love clam, twinkle, love canal, the great gorge, pink, pussy, salmon canyon, and oasis, to name just a few. You can order mugs, t-shirts, songs, poems, pens, pencils, posters, and magnets with the word vagina in, over, or on them. After generations of the whole subject being taboo, lady parts are experiencing a fabulous renaissance in which people are beginning to talk openly and freely about their bits, their experiences, their health, and their rights.

Culture isnt the only thing thats changing in the world of vaginas. Suddenly there seems to be a market for putting the va-va-voom back in the vajayjay. Procedures that tighten the V, sculpt the labia, or restore the hymen comprise the fastest-growing area of cosmetic surgery in the United States, up by 70 percent from 2015 to 2016. Spas in New York, LA, DC, and elsewhere offer vagina rejuvenation, which can mean irrigating the vaginal passage, slipping in a breath mint, massaging the clit in order to boost its sensitivity, or applying a tightening cream promising to reduce the vaginas appearance to a youthful state for a full 24 hours. (Think: Cinderella having a ball!) Theres also Gwyneth Paltrows suggestion to steam-clean your vagina, and then there are lasers and radiofrequency devices promising cures for loose vaginas, discoloration, and more. We could go on and on

Yet, despite all the attention, most of us know squat about our salmon canyon. For example, Summers Eve, a womens hygiene company, surveyed women from all backgrounds across America and found that nearly 70 percent of respondents could not identify five major parts of their female genitalia, and nearly 60 percent struggled with unresolved feelings just about the word vagina.

Need more evidence that when it comes to our lovely Vs were in the dark but want and need to be brought to light? Consider these stats from the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals:

While women perform breast self-exams regularly, only half (49 percent) of the survey respondents have ever performed a self-exam of their vagina. Twenty-four percent have not looked at their vagina in a year or longer. How sad.

Two-thirds of the women (65 percent) surveyed agree that vaginal health and research have not received the proper attention they deserve. Agreed.

More than half of the women surveyed (59 percent) concur that society has too many misconceptions about vaginas. Totally.

Ninety percent of the survey respondents agree that its important for women to be sufficiently educated about the vagina. Hello Thats why Im here.

Nearly three in four women surveyed (73 percent) believe that the vagina is still a shocking topic. Gulp.

Some women consider their vaginas as ugly, gross, dirty, and embarrassing. Let me say this right nowthis has got to stop!

Only half of the women surveyed (51 percent) consider themselves to be extremely/very knowledgeable about their vaginas. Lets change that!

Just as womens bodies are softer than mens, so their understanding is sharper.

Christine de Pisan

The good news is this: Times are changing fast and furiously. First, Ive found in my practice that more women are willing to talk to me about issues that are affecting them during and after menopause. And thats a plus. Also, in the past few years, women have had to deal with plenty of new and different issues, including infections from the oh-so-popular, bare-it-all Brazilian wax, piercings gone awry, tattoos run amok, and irritation from speed-breaking spinning classes. Theres been new thinking on estrogen replacement, and a controversial vaccine (though less so these days as studies show it doesnt promote promiscuityugh, that word!) to protect young girls from HPV (human papillomavirus, or cervical warts). In fact, the newest version, Gardasil 9, covers the most common strains of HPV, and its even been mandated for all middle schoolaged girls in Virginia. Plus, theres the redesign of tampons (some infused with herbs) and pads, the new and rage-worthy DivaCup, a host of new and ultra-titillating sex toys, go-commando panty liners, the vajazzling craze, reconsideration on vitamins and soy, new treatments for vulvodynia (the vaginal pain syndrome thousands of women suffer from), and so much more. Theres even a rumor that sex researchers have discovered the A-spot, which some claim one-ups the G-spot for guaranteeing over-the-top O pleasure. This may be more myth than fact, as research on it is as scanty as a thong. Moving higher up on our pleasure radar is the latest fascination with squirting, (aka female ejaculation) even though a recent study in the