Well Woman Exams
Annual exams are an important step in taking a proactive approach to your health and well-being. It gives you and your doctor an opportunity to get to know your body and catch any changes as early as possible. Dr. Cavalier offers a more holistic approach to your annual visit, with a more comprehensive physical exam and an opportunity for you to discuss any questions or concerns you may have.
What is Cervical Dysplasia?
Cervical dysplasia is a term that refers to abnormal changes of the cells of the cervix that are detected on a pap smear. These changes are often benign, particularly when caught early, but can progress to cervical cancer if left untreated. Most often, cervical dysplasia is caused by a virus called HPV. There are hundreds of strains of HPV, but a few strains are considered “high-risk” because they are associated with causing more significant cell changes and can progress to cancer much faster. Often, when a pap comes back showing abnormal changes, the lab can check to see if HPV is present, and if so, whether it is a high risk strain. Having this information can be helpful in deciding on a treatment plan, how aggressive we want to be and how quickly we want to follow up or retest.
What are the risk factors?
• Because HPV is transmitted sexually, having unprotected sex can increase the likelihood of being exposed to the virus.
• Nutrient deficiencies can make you more susceptible to the cell changes associated with the virus.
• Cigarette smoking increases both your susceptibility to the virus and can also speed the progression from dysplasia to cancer.
• There is some evidence that the use of oral contraceptives is associated with a higher risk. Though it hasn’t been determined whether it is hormone-related, or simply that many women who use birth control do not use condoms.
The most important thing a woman can do to protect herself is to get a pap smear every year. Cervical dysplasia is very treatable, especially when changes are caught early.
Treatments for cervical dysplasia
If your pap smear comes back abnormal, there are several nutrients that have been proven to be effective in treating dysplasia.
Folic acid is the most studied nutrient, and has been shown to not only reverse cell changes, but also lowers the risk for becoming positive for high-risk HPV strains (and thus can be preventative for cervical dysplasia).
Vitamin A supports immune function, is antiviral, anticarcinogenic, and is needed for tissues to heal and regenerate properly.
Both of these nutrients tend to be even more effective when combined with other antioxidants, such as vitamins C, E and Selenium.
Typically, nutrients alone are helpful in promoting a certain amount of healing, however, adding a homeopathic remedy that matches your unique symptoms will stimulate your body to cure the dysplasia and change the underlying susceptibility that caused it to occur. This combined approach is gentle, effective, and reduces the likelihood of recurrence.
