Girls Health—How do you treat it?

A pelvic exam can help determine if you have fibroids. Other tests include an ultrasonography (similar to the ultrasound) and a laparoscopy. Fibroids don’t necessarily need to be removed. Your doctor might just continue monitoring them until they become a problem—which might never happen.

 If the fibroids grow or cause pain, they can be removed by surgery. Even after treatment, though, fibroids may reappear.

 Drugs called gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonists may also shrink the fibroids. But if a woman stops taking the medication, the fibroids might grow back. Since these drugs increase the risk for osteoporosis, they are mainly used for just a few months before surgery.

Girls Health—How can you avoid them?

No one knows for sure what causes fibroids, but high levels of estrogen affect them. Fibroids may get larger during pregnancy, and in women who take high-dose estrogen oral contraceptives. Lower dose estrogen oral contraceptives don’t increase the size of fibroids, and may make them smaller and help reduce bleeding.

Girls Health—Yeast Infection

What is that?

If you’re having vaginal discharge that’s white and clumpy or thick and milky, plus a really annoying itch, you probably have something known as a yeast infection or candidiasis—a common vaginal disorder caused by a yeast called Candida albicans.