September is Interstitial Cystitis (IC) Bladder Pain Syndrome (BPS) Awareness Month. What is IC/BPS? IC/BPS is a chronic pain condition related to the bladder, with symptoms lasting more than 6 weeks. It can feel like pressure in the bladder that, for some, is so strong that they are not able to sit for too long. It can also feel like a urinary tract infection, with frequent, urgent and burning urination, but when the urine is tested, there is no infection. The pain often bec

I have always been sensitive to social labels, probably because I have often found myself on the margins in many areas, such as choosing to practice Chinese medicine, a profession that, in many places, despite dozens of studies proving otherwise, is still considered spiritual. I still associate the word spiritual with something pejorative, as if it belongs only to naïve, stoned hippies. But this is only a social label. To me, spirit is synonymous with intellectuality, thought

This post brings together the vaginitis series I shared on Instagram - here it is together in one place. Get a swab first You cannot treat what you have not diagnosed. Doctors cannot see an infection with their eyes, and neither can you, only a microscope can identify an infection. Sometimes inflammation looks exactly like infection and a swab is the only way to know for certain. Bacterial infection, yeast, trichomoniasis, they can all cause itching, burning, and discharge. E