Real Talk: Spring 2020

Body image is how you view yourself when you see your reflection, or what you see when you picture yourself in your mind. The key thing to remember is that it is personal. Each person looks and is built differently. Every physical characteristic is unique to you. A healthy body image is wanting to work out and tone parts of your body while still appreciating and speaking positively about yourself. It is about wearing clothes that make you feel good and being able to recognize aspects about yourself that you love. An unhealthy body image is constantly criticizing or speaking negatively about yourself or your body type, becoming overly focused on things like crash dieting, or attempting to drastically change a physical aspect of yourself because you believe it will make you feel better about yourself. These types of thoughts and behaviors can put you at risk for other mental health conditions like eating disorders or depression. If you do in fact start to feel that way, it is important to tell someone you trust, particularly an adult who can help you or guide you to the help that you need. Remember, being YOU is beYOUtiful!

Vibha Rao, M.D

Intersex is a general term used to describe a naturally occurring variation in physical sex characteristics. A “difference of sex development” is another socially acceptable term that covers a spectrum of intersex presentations. In other words, intersex means that someone can’t be put neatly into the “female” or “male” box based on their sexual anatomy. For example, a person may look female on the outside but have male internal reproductive organs—or vice versa. Intersex can also mean that a person’s chromosomes are, for example, XXY rather than XY (male) or XX (female) or that genitalia look “in between” a vagina and a penis. Sometimes a person can live their whole life without knowing that they are intersex; other times people are identified as intersex at birth or during puberty. What’s important to know is that being defined as intersex does not determine one’s gender identity or sexual preference. Everyone should be treated equally and respectfully—no matter where they fall on the spectrum of biological sex, gender, or sexuality.

Remi Omotayo, M.D.

Short answer, no. Longer answer? Here we go. Sex can be a difficult and scary thing to talk about, but it’s also a natural part of life, so I’m glad you asked. When, where, and with whom you have sex is going to be different for every single person. Some people find themselves uninterested in having sex altogether. The only person that can make this decision is YOU. The most important part is that if you choose to take this step, you feel safe and you feel ready—not because you’re a certain age, not because everyone else is doing it, not to impress someone, and absolutely never because someone is pressuring you into it or threatening to break up with you if you don’t. If you find yourself in that situation, walk away. If you feel unsafe, find a trusted friend or adult to talk to. Now, if you find yourself feeling ready and considering this choice, take a pause. Talk openly to the person you’re taking this step with and make sure you’re on the same page. Remember that sex is natural, but it is a big deal and comes with big responsibilities. Make sure that you are using condoms to prevent both sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy. And honestly, talk to a trusted adult in this case too. You’ll be surprised at the response you get when having an adult conversation about a big adult step. If you’re not ready to talk about sex, then it’s unlikely you’re ready to engage in it.

Ralitza Peneva, M.D.

An infection of the vagina, or sometimes the skin of the groin or skin folds, by yeast (a type of microorganism) can cause itching, burning, irritation, a bad smell or white vaginal discharge. People don’t always have all of these symptoms. Your doctor can diagnose this condition easily. This is a common infection, but sometimes we don’t have any explanation for why it occurs. Yeast infections are NOT a sexually transmitted infection (STI aka STD). They can be, treated fairly easily the majority of the time; you can get a home treatment (like Monistat) from any pharmacy or a doctor can prescribe a medication. If you think you have a yeast infection, see your OB-GYN!

Jahan Jadauji, M.D.

Yes! Tampons are safe, if used the right way. There are two main factors to consider when it comes to using tampons: the length of time you leave a tampon in place and the tampon absorbency (which is the amount of liquid a tampon can soak up). Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is an infection caused by bacteria that can be found on several different parts of the body (not the tampon itself!), so it can actually affect women AND men. TSS has been linked to use of higher absorbency tampons, but it is very rare. About half of the time, TSS isn’t even associated with menstruation. That being said, it is recommended that you use the lowest absorbency tampon that works for you. A tampon should not be left in place for more than 8 hours, but it’s safe to remove a tampon and insert a new one right after. Usually, a tampon will last anywhere from 4-8 hours. Tampons are categorized based on absorbency, with different levels such as light, regular, and super. If your tampons are getting saturated (soaked) quickly or you are leaking into your underwear, you can get a heavier absorbency tampon. If your tampons are not saturated after 8 hours (you still see a lot of white on the tampon), try getting lighter absorbency tampons next time.

Seiamawjt Whitfield, M.D.