Blog Archive

Every year, about half a million American women undergo surgery for hysterectomy. Though the procedure is common, traditional methods meant major stress on the woman’s body, including long recovery times.  Minimally invasive approaches reduce tissue damage and recovery time, and robotic  techniques using the da Vinci® surgical system represent the...

As many as 60% of American women will be affected by urinary tract infections (UTIs) over the course of their lives, the most common infection doctors see. Women have a greater risk of UTIs than men due to their anatomy, and generally, the risk increases as they get older.  While...

Your ovaries sometimes form fluid-filled sacs called cysts, often around the time of menstruation, but postmenopausal women can develop them, too. Usually, ovarian cysts produce no symptoms and disappear in a month or two. Because of this, experts can only estimate how many women are affected by cysts. The prevalence...

Incredibly, today’s minimally invasive surgical techniques trace back to a veterinarian in 1805 who used a system of candles and mirrors to examine canine bladders. Over the next century, lenses, light sources, and specialty tools evolved to the point where endoscopic examinations became common.  It wasn’t until the 1990s, however,...

Next to C-sections, hysterectomy is the most common surgical procedure performed on women, with about 600,000 surgeries done each year. Though common, it can be a major event, with long recovery times for some types of the procedure.  You may have options, depending on the reason for your hysterectomy. At...

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a common issue that affects about twice as many women as men. Pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause are often contributors, and generally getting older increases your risk of developing UI, but it’s not an inevitable part of the aging process.  Many women find the condition embarrassing, so...

The most common symptom of a hernia is a bulge, bump, or swelling under the skin of your abdomen or groin, one that possibly disappears when you recline or lie down. Sometimes these bulges may not be noticeable to you, but virtually all hernias through the abdominal wall display some...

Pregnancy is an amazing and magical time of life, but it’s not without its challenges and apprehensions. If you’re in the final trimester and stuck in the hot summer months, the usual discomforts may seem magnified by the heat. It’s not your imagination. The demands that pregnancy places on your...

Though urinary incontinence in women is common, it can be an embarrassing topic of discussion. A common cause is bladder prolapse, one of five pelvic organ prolapses that could affect over half of all adult women. Also called cystocele or anterior vaginal prolapse, problems with the bladder could result from...

Pelvic pain occurs as a symptom of many gynecological conditions,  affecting an estimated 15% of American women chronically — lasting longer than six months. Because diagnosis is often difficult, the true number could be much higher, perhaps as much as double. Pelvic pain may be minor or severe, and it...

Tubal ligation – having your tubes tied – is a permanent sterilization technique used when you’ve decided that your childbearing days are over. The process blocks or cuts the fallopian tubes, the path through which eggs released by the ovaries pass on their way to fertilization and implantation in the...

At the start of this century, a typical hysterectomy required surgery lasting several hours, a hospital stay of up to four days, and as much as two months of downtime recovering at home. Since there are about 600,000 hysterectomies performed each year, the impact in care costs and lost time could potentially...

The decision to have surgery is never easy. There are risks to even simple procedures and it’s often necessary to damage healthy tissue to gain access to the target of surgery. There are limits to the dexterity of your surgeon and the tools needed for the task. Some gynecological conditions...

As the second most common surgical procedure in the United States, about 20 million American women have had hysterectomies, including about one-third of women over 60. But medical science is re-evaluating the frequency with which hysterectomies are performed. Women, too, are more proactive about their health, seeking second opinions or...

If you experience severe pelvic pain or heavy periods and haven’t had any luck getting pregnant, you may be experiencing the effects of endometriosis. An estimated one in 10 people with a uterus develop this inflammatory condition during their fertile years, yet it often goes undiagnosed for some time. Addressing...

Women often experience an extreme urge to urinate or they may leak a little urine when they laugh, sneeze, or exercise. Urinary incontinence can often seem embarrassing or frustrating, but it’s a normal condition. Research says that up to 25 percent of young women, 44-57 percent of middle-aged women (including...

Do you have a gynecological condition that needs surgery? That can be scary, but surgery doesn’t have to be an intense and stressful event. If you’re looking for the safest, smoothest surgery possible, surgery with less pain and the shortest recovery time, learn more about da Vinci® robot-assisted surgery.  Drs....