A new study from period and sexual wellness brand ohne shines a light on the glaring gender health gap

Those of us with uteruses will likely know that things can get complicated when it comes to gynaecological health, but due to a lack of education and an abundance of taboo and shame, problems are often left unresolved.

According to new research from period and sexual wellness brand ohne, 80% of those with uteruses live with period, gynaecological and sexual wellbeing problems, with 49% saying they’ve been living with symptoms for more than 10 years. A similar pattern was noticed with sexual wellbeing, with 42% admitting to unresolved symptoms.

A number of survey respondents said they hadn’t sought help for their symptoms; 33% of those experiencing sexual wellness issues and 44% of those aged 16-34 with menstrual symptoms. The reasons for this included feeling that GPs don’t understand female health properly, being offered medication rather than dealing with the root problem, feeling ashamed or embarrassed and not knowing where to turn for help.

The research also found a lack of education in this area, with over a quarter of Brits over 16 saying they weren’t taught about reproductive health at school (rising to 50% in over 55s). On top of this, an incredible 97% said they weren’t taught about conditions like endometriosis, adenomyosis and polycystic ovary syndrome, despite these conditions affecting 1.5 million people in the UK.

Over half of those who menstruate also say they don’t properly understand their cycle, with a quarter noting that they weren’t taught about periods at school.

Our hormones are responsible for a whole range of body functions – from your heart rate to the quality of your sleep. But did you know they can also impact your skin? Jenna Farmer chats to the experts to uncover the connection…

While the hormones whizzing around our bodies can have some pretty powerful effects (whether that’s progesterone keeping your menstrual cycle in check, or adrenaline giving you a surge of energy in a ‘fight-or-flight’ situation), they don’t just impact what’s happening on the inside. Our skin, the body’s largest organ, can be affected too. Whether that’s due to stress making your skin look dull, or being more prone to blemishes at certain points in your cycle. Let’s take a look at some of the most common hormones that could impact your skin health.

Stress hormones

These can be particularly detrimental to our skin health, with studies showing more than 10 different kinds of conditions (such as acne or psoriasis) are closely linked to psychological problems. But why is this? Well, part of it is down to how we manage our stress.

Consultant dermatologist and founder of klira.skin, Dr Emma Craythorne explains: “Poor stress management can have a poor impact on the skin, because sometimes patients might scratch or pick at their skin or pull their hair out. They might over-focus on acne lesions and picking them can lead to scars or worsening of acne.”

Other conditions are more directly linked to stress hormones – when we release large amounts of cortisol (due to being super stressed for a long time), our skin can sometimes become much more oily than usual, which can trigger an eczema outbreak.

“Stress has multiple and wide-ranging physiological and clinical impacts on skin disease. There are skin conditions that are known to flare due to stress, such as eczema and psoriasis, and in these situations increased stress levels can make the disease much more severe,” adds Emma.

Menstrual cycle hormones

As well as stress hormones, the hormones responsible for your menstrual cycle – such as oestrogen and progesterone – can also impact your skin. However, it’s not all bad news. Nutritional therapist Aneequa Godart, explains: “Oestrogen, which is more prominent in the first half of your cycle, helps to stimulate collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid production in the skin, so you may notice that it is looking plump, hydrated, and clearer during the first 10–16 days.”

However, once we’ve ovulated, we may start to notice more skin issues. “Our levels of progesterone start to increase in the second half of our cycle, which can become more problematic for the skin as sebum production is stimulated so it becomes oilier, which can lead to blocked pores and breakouts,” adds Aneequa.

What’s more, when our female hormones are a bit off kilter (which may be a temporary blip or due to conditions such as PCOS; a common gynaecological condition that causes irregular periods) it can result in more long-term skin problems. For example, just under half of women wi

When a loved one is diagnosed with cancer, the emotional impact is monumental. Here, counsellor Nadia Wyatt shares her story, and the things she learned along the way

We were on holiday in Spain, during Easter in 2014, and were returning back to the UK on Wednesday. My daughter had been complaining she was not well toward the end of our holiday, but we thought nothing of it other than maybe the late nights were too many for our five-year-old. On Thursday, we took her to school as normal. I went to work, to my clients, as normal. But by midday, the school called to ask us to pick our daughter up as she looked grey. I thought, grey? We just got back from Spain, she’d be tanned not grey! Anyway, I went to collect her and took her to our GP to check her over as the school had worried me. Our GP asked me to bring her in first thing the next morning. When we did, he organised an ambulance to take us to our local hospital, where they would do some tests.

After the tests, the next morning, Saturday, they called us into a big room. They told us that they believed our daughter had leukaemia – cancer. They organised an ambulance, and took us to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

It was so quick and so shocking that I don’t think any of us had time to digest or process what was happening. Our five-year-old daughter was eventually diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), the treatment of which is two and a half years of chemotherapy, steroids, alongside hospital stays and visits.

None of us could grasp what was happening, and we were told that we had to stay in hospital for two to three weeks until they had done all the tests. There was so much information given to us, and we met so many different doctors, consultants, and nurses. We saw so many terrible cases and poorly, desperately poorly, kids and babies. It was too much to process and absorb.

Over time, I could see that I was spiralling out of control. This ‘didn’t happen to people like me’, I thought. ‘I am the counsellor, I am not the client.’ But cancer does not discriminate. It was just desperately awful. To watch your fragile child struggle, be in continuous pain, and look so dreadfully sick, and be given a cocktail of chemotherapy and other drugs, is just horrendous.

The lessons I learned

What did I learn from this whole horrendous episode in my life? It is so important to seek professional help from the very beginning. I was a counsellor with years of experience, so surely, I could help myself? Over time, I realised I could not. But it was too late by this point. I was really in a bad way, mentally. I scheduled an appointment with my GP, who prescribed anti-depressants, anti-anxiety meds, and sleeping tablets. I was also referred to a psychiatrist. In the end, I was having intensive counselling and EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) therapy to help with processing of the trauma that I was living through.

I learned that my husband is an incredible carer for both our daughter and me. He stood by me when anyone else would have walked away. In the hospital, we were allocated a social worker to help us, as they said most couples separate when faced with situations like ours. I am forever indebted to my husband of 30 years for supporting me when I was struggling with my mental health. It’s not easy for coupl