Episode Transcript
Speaker 1: 0:00
Yes, okay, so we'll start with the moisturizer. I always say the moisturizer is exactly what it sounds like a moisturizer. So a moisturizer is used daily to increase your own hydration. If we see a decrease in the hormones, we see vaginal dryness and you will increase your own lubrication. For some people that's not enough, and so in any time of increased penetration so, whether that be sex, it might be pelvic floor physiotherapy, it might be when you're inserting a tampon, anytime there's something going up there we have people who use a lube to reduce the friction of anything going inside of the vagina. So that's the difference between the two the moisturizer is used daily to increase your own hydration, whereas the lubricant sits more on the skin, so that when there's increased friction, you just have less chance of tearing and discomfort.
Speaker 2: 0:53
Welcome to. This is Perimenopause, the podcast where we delve into the transformative journey of perimenopause and beyond. I'm one of your hosts, Michelle.
Speaker 3: 1:01
And I'm your other host, Michelle, and we know firsthand how confusing overwhelming and downright lonely this phase of life can be.
Speaker 2: 1:12
Join us as we share real-life stories and expert advice to help you navigate this journey and advocate for your best health.
Speaker 3: 1:16
We used to think menopause signaled an end, but really it's just the beginning.
Speaker 2: 1:23
Experiencing painful sex, have burning or itching down there. That's driving you crazy, feeling confused about changes in your vulva and vagina. Well then, you're listening to the Perfect Podcast. Today we're joined by Dr Dolores Fernandez for what might be our most candid conversation yet. We're breaking down the stigma around vulva and vaginal health and getting into all the details your doctor might be too uncomfortable to discuss. From understanding your anatomy to choosing the right products for your body, we're covering it all. Dr Dolores Fernandez is a naturopathic doctor and a menopause society certified practitioner who specializes in vulva vaginal health. After seeing a significant gap in intimate health care in her clinical practice, she founded Iris to create science-backed products that make vulva and vaginal care as normal as any other part of our skincare routine. And yes, we'll save vulva and vagina as many times as needed, because it's time to normalize these conversations. Dolores, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3: 2:22
Dolores, welcome to the show. We're so excited to have you here today. Can you tell us a little bit about Iris?
Speaker 1: 2:28
Absolutely. I am excited to be here. Iris is my, my, my company. That started off as a little bit of a side hustle, um, passion project actually, and it is a product based business that has two products that are for vulvovaginal health. I always like to share that the products, when they were made, they were made with the menopausal person in mind. When I was formulating, picking ingredients, I really was thinking about the menopausal person, and then, once we went to market and started talking to people and meeting people, we learned that these products are good for more than just menopause. Vaginal changes happen in a lot of people. We talk about it a little bit more with hormonal changes, whether it be menopause, postpartum, breastfeeding, all of those times. But yeah, through talking to people, we learned that there is people all over the world experiencing vaginal changes and needing support, and so Iris is. There's two products. We have a vaginal moisturizer as well as a personal lubricant, and they're just clean products made with science-backed ingredients.
Speaker 3: 3:32
I love it. So can I ask you because for our listeners that can't see you, you're way too young to be thinking about menopause, perimenopause, maybe, ish, maybe you could scoop in there, but so why? Why were you thinking about menopause ladies? Thank, maybe you could scoop in there, but so why? Why were you thinking about menopause ladies? Thank you, but why?
Speaker 1: 3:47
It's a good question, um, so I'm actually a naturopathic doctor as well here in Ontario and my clinical focus is menopause. And it's funny because if you would have asked me 10 years ago where I was going to be focusing my clinic, I would have probably never said menopause. And then I started working and menopause kind of found me and with time and experience and talking to people, the vulvovaginal concerns were something that nobody wanted to talk about or maybe nobody wanted to bring up. If I brought it up, all the concerns, you know, it was like word vomit and we would go on and on about vulvovaginal changes and sex and libido and all of that, but the conversation wasn't really brought up by the patients, which I thought was so interesting that, like, how come we're comfortable talking about hot flashes but we're not comfortable talking about vaginal dryness and maybe the vaginal dryness is actually more common in menopause? So, and this normalizing the conversation became interesting and I was very intrigued.
Speaker 1: 4:47
And then, um, the pandemic hit and I was doing a lot of virtual care with my patients and my patients were having a hard time getting good quality products.
Speaker 1: 4:56
I was looking for a good quality lube that wasn't going to cause irritation, burning, stinging in my menopausal patients and they didn't want to order online because they were like I share my Amazon account with my kids and this is not something I want coming at my door. And so I was really struggling to give my patients good quality products, and so I teamed up with a pharmacist and I got her to start compounding stuff for me and making products for me, and, and after a while, uh, it was just like you know what can we make this? Could we make this more accessible to everybody, like, not just somebody who I have an appointment with, because the wait times in Ontario to see specialists are quite long, and so if we could give people something to use in the meantime, um, that would be great. And that's kind of where Iris came from. So it came from a clinical focus in menopause, my interest in why people were so hesitant to talk about these changes and then really just treating people with good quality products.
Speaker 2: 5:58
Dolores, when we first met you and Davina, who is part of your company, we clicked right away for a variety of reasons, but one of the big things was our shared goal of bringing vulvas out of the closet and out of the dark. So maybe we can just delve into that a little bit right, and maybe for some of our listeners who haven't quite started this journey or don't really understand right, what is the difference between a vagina and a vulva and what do we all need to do to make the word vulva less of a scary, whispered, you know thing that you know we're afraid to order for on Amazon because our kids might realize we have a vulva Like what?
Speaker 1: 6:50
Yeah, I love it. It's such a good question because I guess, like culturally and just I feel like, because you know sex and historical beliefs, it's just such a stigmatized conversation and it's that's a huge problem because then people don't know how to ask for help, because they don't know what's normal, they don't know if something's wrong. I can't tell you, guys, the amount of times I've had somebody come in and say, let's say they say, um, yeah, I'm like really itchy down there, and I'll say, okay, do you see anything Like is there any lesions? Is change of color? And they're like I don't know. And I'm like did you look? No, so then we look together and I'm kind of like was this always here? And they're like I don't know, because I've never looked. And I always tell people if your arm hurts or your elbow hurts, the first thing you do is you look at your elbow and you're like is something there? Why don't we treat our vulva and vagina the same? And so normalizing these conversations is so important, so that people do start to look and people do learn the anatomy and the difference between vulva and vagina, because they are different. And if you don't know the difference, how can you advocate for yourself. How could you ask for help if you don't even know where the pain or burning or itching is right? So, yes, we should totally start off with an anatomy lesson.
Speaker 1: 8:10
And so the vulva is the outside, and so I like to say that's the part that you can see, just if you just look down there. That's the vulva. So it includes the mons pubis, which is the hair bearing at the top. It includes the labia majora, menorah, the clitoris, everything on the outside. The vagina is the tube that connects the outside, the vulva, to the uterus, so it's like the birth canal, and so, unless we're doing an internal exam, you can't see the vagina.
Speaker 1: 8:37
And so that's a big. That's a big one, right? Cause everybody just refers to the whole thing as vagina. So when people say like I have, they come in and they're like my vagina is really itchy, I am like is it really the vagina or is it the vulva, right? And so and I try to normalize those conversations I think that platforms like this are doing a really good job to normalize those conversations and just helping people yeah, like advocate for themselves, so that they can go and have a conversation with whoever their healthcare provider, even their friends, you know, because sometimes your friends are going through these things and you don't even know.
Speaker 3: 9:08
Well, and I loved at the National Menopause Show, which was the first time we met in person. You had the the whole vulva vulva there and that was interesting. I don't know, did a lot of women engage with that?
Speaker 1: 9:20
Totally so I, we put that out, that's Veronica, our vulva, and um, she, she is a showstopper. Like we put her out and people are like what's that vagina doing there? And then we're like actually she's a vulva and it does start the conversation and um it. It's funny. Sometimes we quiz people and we're like, hey, let's play a game, let's see if you can get these right. And you wouldn't believe how many people don't know their own anatomy.
Speaker 2: 9:46
Oh, majority of us don't know.
Speaker 1: 9:48
Yeah, majority, majority of people don't. And so when I I use the example of our face, our face being, uh, well, it would be like the vulva. And so somebody comes in there like my face hurts, but really their eye hurts, it's not their face, it's their eye. And so that's the difference between saying like my vulva hurts and saying I have clitoral pain. And so differentiating between the anatomy really, um, it helps everybody, and it also the thing about vulvar conditions is that people are like, what do we do for vulvar pain? And I'm like, well, it depends where the pain's coming from, and so if you don't give me more details about the location and more information, I don't know how to help you.
Speaker 3: 10:30
I think part of the problem and we talked. You touched a little bit on the fact that, like people aren't talking about it and why, not.
Speaker 3: 10:35
I think that there's still so much shame and there's a lot of brands in this maybe not direct competitors, but in this space that still make women feel like embarrassed and shameful about, oh, your vagina smells. That's still messaging, that's going out into the public and you need to use this product to make your vagina smell better, like, seriously. So how are you marketing differently to the to the people and making them not feel so shameful, making them understand that this is something they might need?
Speaker 1: 11:06
I totally believe that education is power. I, we are fully transparent about everything we do, the ingredients we use with everything, and I have reasons why there is every single ingredient in there. There's reasons why everything, everything came with intention. And so I think that our biggest, our biggest thing is just educating, and I don't I always say like our, our salespeople are not salespeople, they're educators. Because as long as you teach about the product and you teach people and teach them about their own anatomy and their own physiology and what's going to change, the product sells itself Right. And so, because there is no quick fix, and I tell people that, um, you got to learn a little bit about what's changing, why it's changing and what are your options on the market, and then you get to make the decision, and maybe it's not us, maybe it's not, but maybe it is.
Speaker 2: 11:54
So you've created a personal lubricant and a vulva moisturizer. So tell us about those two products, how they're different, why they're different and what they're for.
Speaker 1: 12:06
Yes, okay, so we'll start with the moisturizer. I always say the moisturizer is exactly what it sounds like a moisturizer. So a moisturizer is used daily to increase your own hydration. We know that whenever there's a decline in hormones, whether it be peri or post-menopause it might be postpartum, it might be during lactation, it might be with certain medications If we see a decrease in the hormones, we see vaginal dryness. Up to 85% of women in post-menopause will experience vaginal dryness.
Speaker 1: 12:35
That is massive and you will increase your own lubrication. For some people that's not enough, and so in any time of increased penetration so whether that be sex, it might be pelvic floor physiotherapy, it might be when you're inserting a tampon, anytime there's something going up there, even suppository we have people who use a lube to reduce the friction of anything going inside of the vagina. So that's the difference between the two. The moisturizer is used daily to increase your own hydration and when you use it it feels different. It absorbs into the skin to kind of like imagine moisturizing your face, whereas the lubricant sits more on the skin so that when there's increased friction, you just have less chance of tearing and discomfort.
Speaker 2: 13:21
And is the daily the moisturizer? Is that a daily? Do you recommend people just incorporate that into their skincare?
Speaker 1: 13:29
routine. So the research on hyaluronic acid is very similar to the way we use vaginal estrogen, where you use it every day for two weeks and then after that you can probably get away with three times a week. The thing with vaginal dryness is that it's a spectrum. Everyone's experience is a little bit different, and so there are people who might want to use it daily, there's people who twice a week is enough, and then we have people who are using it alongside hormone therapy. Right, if the hyaluronic acid alone isn't enough, they might be using estrogen three times a week, and the other four days a week they may be using a hyaluronic acid moisturizer.
Speaker 3: 14:02
I need to ask. Sorry, hyaluronic acid is all the buzzword these days. It's in my face cream to make my face dewy, soft, dewy glow. What's it doing for me down there?
Speaker 1: 14:13
It's not. It's not different. So hyaluronic acid has this unique ability to bind water. It binds so much water per molecule and then it just hydrates. And that's the exact reason why it's used in a lot of face serums, because it just has this really unique ability to hydrate.
Speaker 3: 14:29
Interesting. Can I ask one more question about the ingredients? So many people they just go into the store and they buy whatever's on the shelf maybe what's on sale when it comes to lube and moisturizers and you've been really, really intentional about the ingredients that are in your product. So I know all our listeners are going to buy Iris after this episode, but if someone is just going in and buying off the shelf, what should they be looking for, as this is a must-have, and what should they be like hard? No, I need to avoid this product because it's got this ingredient in it.
Speaker 1: 15:07
So one of the big big goals for me starting this company was that I really wanted to get health Canada approval. That was a big value to me, and so with the moisturizers, I like people to look for that, just because we want to be using science backed products. Um, I did a talk a couple I guess last year, and we were looking at like why hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, and then what else are people using? And when I got a bunch of the competitors on the market and I was looking at their active ingredients and I was, you know, searching for the research that backed it up, there was none. And so, and hey listen, they might work. The problem for me is how do we know? And so we want to use a product that has a good amount of evidence to say it's going to work for most of the people, and so that and health Canada is looking at that, they are making sure there is evidence to back up what we're saying and what our claims are. And so that's a pretty, that's an easy one to look like. Do they have an NPN number and has health Canada approved that what they're saying is true? So that's an easy one.
Speaker 1: 16:03
Um, and then with lubes. The big ones are the pH. We want to make sure they're paid pH balanced. We want to try to avoid things like glycerin, polyethylene glycols, sugar I can't even tell you guys how many loops have sugar inside of them which I feel like that one feels like a no brainer, right, like you shouldn't put sugar in your vagina. So sugars, fragrance like these things are irritating. Parabens and so and I always remind people that a 20 year old vagina and a 50 year old vagina might not be the same in what they can tolerate, and so we just see people without the estrogen tend to be a little bit more sensitive. They might they're more at risk of getting an infection and irritation with certain products. So we're looking for those things.
Speaker 1: 16:48
I would say pH and irritating ingredients are a big one. We could get into osmolarity. That's a really big fancy, scientific part of lube. I'm going to try to explain it to you guys and you guys tell me if you understand. Okay, yeah, yeah, please.
Speaker 1: 17:04
So osmolarity is the movement of water and so when we, our body loves to create homeostasis with products and our body, meaning that we like to have the same amount of water between our body and the products that are sitting on top of it. And so if we put a product on our body that has high osmolarity almost imagine it as high salt your body will try to create homeostasis between the two and it'll put water into the product to try to create the same amount of water, or osmolarity, between your body and the water. And so, with time, if you're using a lube that has high osmolarity, you were actually drying the skin out more, doing more harm, and you might not feel it while you're using it, but with time it's actually going to make you more and more dry. And so, um, what was very interesting when I was formulating was that I learned that health Canada has no rules on what can go in your lube and your osmolarity and your PhD. They make recommendations but there's no rules.
Speaker 1: 18:03
So, as I was doing the research for my patients before I even made the product and I was learning about osmolarity, I learned that most of those drugstore brands that we know those names, um, they are like their osmolarity is like 6,000. World health organization recommends nothing over 1200. Wow. And so they're not just kind of exceeding it, they're like really exceeding it. And hey, maybe that's a marketing thing, maybe they want you to use it, to be more dry, to use more Um didn't really sit well for me, as I'm trying to recommend a good quality product for my patients and they're really suffering with vaginal dryness, and so those were really big values for me when we were creating the product.
Speaker 1: 18:47
And so that's another one I guess you could look for it. I I'm not sure people really share it, but there's been some other one I guess you could look for. I I'm not sure people really share it, but there's been some research done on lubes. There's like a whole science behind lubes and tables that are accessible to everybody and they can see the pH and osmolarity of all of these brands.
Speaker 3: 19:03
It's crazy, mikkel's, like back in high school remember those that you probably are too young, but that lip gloss, that that in that gooey tin and my girlfriend would put it on and on, and the more she put it on, the drier her lips were like eventually just falling off her face. So so this is why yeah this is why, yeah, so same principle okay, osmolarity who knew?
Speaker 2: 19:25
thank you. And who knew, knowing about lube matters exactly, it totally matters. So you are a naturopath and you practice in Ontario. You have prescribing rights. Yes, so you do also prescribe, presumably vaginal estrogen. Are there other things that you have your patients do? So maybe we should talk about like GSM and genitourinary syndrome and menopause do so maybe we should talk about like GSM and genitourinary syndrome and menopause.
Speaker 1: 19:58
Let's yeah, let's talk about genitourinary syndrome and menopause near and dear to my heart. So genitourinary syndrome and menopause is basically the genito and urinary changes that happen with the loss of hormones, and so these this looks like things like dryness, irritation, burning, atrophy. It also affects the urinary tract. We see more UTIs, we see more incontinence, we see pain with penetration, we see bleeding. There's a lot of symptoms, right. And so the North American Menopause Society recommends that treatment. First line treatment is a vaginal non-hormonal moisturizer, especially in people with mild vaginal dryness, and then second line would be vaginal estrogen. And the thing about GSM is that it is progressive, meaning that it is going to just keep getting worse with time. You know how in menopause you'll get hot flashes, but eventually they're going to stop and the sleep will eventually get better and the mood will eventually it doesn't. I can't tell you how long it's going to take, but it will eventually get better.
Speaker 3: 20:55
Forever Years.
Speaker 1: 21:01
But the vaginal changes will just keep getting worse. It's chronic and it's progressive, and so maybe somebody is okay with a vaginal moisturizer right now and maybe in a year from now they're going to need an estrogen, and so I have access to hormones. I also do work with a nurse practitioner who has access to more stuff than I have access to. If I think it's needed, I might do a referral and have her look. My practice has changed to become very pelvic health now, not so much menopause, and so I do see chronic vulva vaginal conditions too, kind of like like in sclerosis and chronic UTIs, chronic yeast, bv, all that. So kind of depending on what I see.
Speaker 1: 21:42
Probably my biggest prescription going out is vaginal estrogen. It works for most people. I have maybe had a handful of people that we needed to have conversations about DHEA and testosterone vaginally, but usually even in. Sometimes I combo it with the moisturizer, like I'll get, like I was saying, I'll get them to use the estrogen X amount of days and then the moisturizer, and there's different forms of that estrogen. We can either be doing creams, we can be doing rings, we can be doing suppository tablets, and it's really the beauty of my job and one of the greatest honors I have with my job is the time that I get to spend with people to really get to know their preferences and if something's working, if it's not, and and why it's not working. If it's not working, because you'd be surprised how much application makes someone's decision if they're going to use a product or not.
Speaker 2: 22:32
Oh no, I wouldn't be at all Right. I can't tell you in my lifetime how many times I've purchased something, whether it's a prescription or a beauty product, and it just sits there because I just can't seem to work it into my routine.
Speaker 1: 22:49
So yeah, and these things are so important, right, and so even the amount of people that change up their lifestyle because of their vulva vaginal changes. So someone might come in and I'll be like, are you experiencing vaginal dryness? And they'll say no, but then later in the conversation they'll tell me that they're not sexually active anymore because it's too painful, or that they don't use their Peloton anymore because it's too painful, and I'm like those sound like we have vaginal changes. And then, you know, we, we talk a little more, and so people are changing their lifestyle and maybe giving up things that they once loved doing or maybe want to continue to do, but don't know that there is support. Yeah.
Speaker 2: 23:29
Sad to say, I suspect that that's probably the majority right. Most of us don't realize what impact changes in our vulva and vagina are having on our everyday lives.
Speaker 3: 23:45
Well, and I might even go further to say, many of us don't even know what's normal and what's not normal, like we might notice these changes, but we, I don't know, like is this as it was with perimenopause?
Speaker 3: 23:56
like is this really happening? Am I really noticing this? Because it is an awkward conversation for so many women because we're not talking about it. Do you have any advice for our listeners to help them start the conversation if they think that there might be something going on? Sorry, I have like so many questions. If they think something's going on, how do they talk to their practitioners and then also we'll come back to this but how do they know what's normal and what's not?
Speaker 1: 24:20
So before I answer your question, I'm going to share a stat which I, which is always like, blows my mind. So I was reading a study and they had sent questionnaires out to people in menopause and they were just like have you talked to your doctor about this? Have you talked about that? And so I was reading through it and I love obviously, I was obsessed with the vulvovaginal piece. I'm like what was happening? And so out of everybody and there was like 200,000 people that got the questionnaire, and out of everybody, only 50% of people talk to their doctor about vulvovaginal changes and of that 50%, only 11% said that their doctor initiated the conversation.
Speaker 1: 24:55
So we know that healthcare practitioners are not asking, and maybe some are, but most of them are not asking, and so it's an awkward conversation for the doctor. It's an awkward conversation for the patient. There's not that much time, right? So if we have all these other concerns that you want to talk about, we might not get to your vulvovaginal health. And so you I tell, when I'm talking to practitioners and I'm teaching practitioners, that's my advice for the practitioners you guys have to ask. And when I'm talking to the patients, I'm like you have to bring it up, because, or else these conversations are not happening, and so how do you bring it up? You just bring it up and you and some people feel awkward and they just say it anyways, like, hey, do you?
Speaker 1: 25:35
I know that vaginal gynus is a part of the menopause transition. Uh, do you think we can talk about some options like that? It might just be as easy as that without having to get into too much detail about where it's affecting them in their life, and so I think I would say that the most common complaints or symptoms that a person is going to feel is that dryness. With dryness comes itching, and so like, if you ever imagine you only go vacation, you like get burnt and you get that dry skin after how itchy it is, itching comes with the territory of dryness.
Speaker 1: 26:08
Um, what will happen is the like vaginal canal will actually start to get smaller, and so we might experience pain with penetration. We might see tearing, even with the use of lube. We see thinning of the skin. Sometimes we see labial retraction, which basically means like the labia are actually getting smaller and changing. We might see the tissue getting lighter, like hypopigmentation of the skin, and so a lot of those things you're not going to know unless you look, and so for a while at Iris, we were actually handing out mirrors to people, because we just were trying to get people to look, know your anatomy, because you also are not going to know when things change. If you're not looking before, you're not going to be able to tell me if it looks different than it did a year ago. So that's a great place to start is knowing your starting anatomy and then looking for some of those changes amazing, such a great service um you're doing for all of us, uh teaching us on this podcast.
Speaker 2: 27:12
Maybe, in that vein, you could also talk a little bit about vaginal estrogen and safety, because there's some um issues around that, if you will, in terms of the black box warning that vaginal estrogen comes with, and you know the the perception that it might not be safe. So could you tell us a little bit about that and what you tell your patients?
Speaker 1: 27:33
I am assuming you guys have talked about the, the WHI 2002 and all the stuff that came out of that, and so basically, they took the same estrogen warnings that were on all the other estrogen products and they put that on the vaginal estrogen. Even though the doses we're using are so, so, so minimal, and even though the research is pretty clear that there is no systemic absorption, we still have the same black box warning which scares people so much. Because I will talk about safety we will go through informed consent. Then they get it and they read the box and they're terrified.
Speaker 1: 28:11
And so there's this misconception that maybe it increases your risk for breast cancer and that maybe it increased your risk for clotting and cardiovascular disease, and most of it is, according to the newest data, not true. It's gone as far to say that this is safe in people who have gone through breast cancer. They're using this with breast cancer survivors. Yes, we want your oncologist on board and we want your whole team to know and be okay with it, but yeah, we're using this in people with breast cancer survivors, Like. So all of that has been debunked and I know that there is some really strong societies who are pushing to get that taken off because, um, we don't see, I don't, we don't see very much risk with vaginal estrogen, whether it be cream suppository or ring. Even with the higher doses it seems to be pretty safe and, like clinically, we're using quite low doses. So quite safe, quite effective. You know other places in the world vaginal estrogen is over the counter, Wow.
Speaker 3: 29:15
Yeah.
Speaker 1: 29:15
It's crazy that's how safe we think it is is that we're letting people just get it and treat themselves so. And then here I'm writing letters begging oncologists to get up to date with the most current research.
Speaker 3: 29:29
Well, I'm about four weeks into vaginal estrogen and my journey and, um, I asked my guy about it, cause I I suffer from incontinence, severe incontinence. And he's like, well, it's not guaranteed to help. It does help some people. You can try it for sure. And let me tell you, Dr Frank, it is helping. Thank you, I love it Anyway. And he was like okay, yeah, you know it can help, and da, da, da, but it's totally safe, Like don't be worried about it.
Speaker 1: 30:07
And I was like, obviously that's he's getting. He's getting that friction from a lot of patients that this is what, this is what's out there. Well, I love that he did encourage that for you, because I have patients who their family doctors won't prescribe it because they're still scared, and then they say, you know, I'm not, I'm not comfortable prescribing for you. I'm going to refer you to a gynecologist to get that prescription, which might be a three month wait. And that's where, like the moisturizer, I always say sometimes that could just be used while you're waiting, or while you're waiting to see somebody. I work with patients that are like in rural towns and they don't have family doctors, and so, yes, I'm providing them with estrogen. But for other people in the area like, and they're waiting, what, what to do, and so we've got to have some over-the-counter products available for people who don't always have access right away.
Speaker 2: 30:48
Dolores, what's the one thing you want every woman to know about their vaginas and their vulvas?
Speaker 1: 30:56
I would say that um can I do two please Just let me do two.
Speaker 3: 31:00
It's a vagina and a vulva.
Speaker 1: 31:02
So they each get one. I want everybody to look at it. I want everybody to, whether it's a mirror or it's your phone camera maybe be careful not to take a picture, but send it to your dad, sorry.
Speaker 1: 31:20
You need to know your anatomy because you're not going to know if it changes.
Speaker 1: 31:24
And I can't scream that loud enough because, as the clinician, as the person doing the pelvic exams, it's even challenging for me to make a diagnosis if I don't know what's changed, because I didn't get to see it before either. So that would be like my one thing, that I would yell. And the other thing I would like people to know is that these changes can happen in any point in your life, and so you don't have to be 60 and post-menopausal for a long time. We are seeing vulvovaginal changes in people that are still cycling, and actually that is one of the biggest challenges with perimenopause is that we don't have the greatest diagnostic criteria to say somebody's in perimenopause, and so sometimes we're not really knowing someone was in perimenopause until we're looking back. And so if you're feeling changes and you can feel in your heart something is off, go make a visit to your healthcare practitioner and advocate, because it can very well be part of your story, and even if it feels early, I can attest to that.
Speaker 2: 32:23
I had a genitourinary experience that I've had. I've delivered two babies vaginally and this experience rocked my world. I the symptoms were I couldn't sleep the itching, the pain, the burning I was. I started becoming scared to pee to urinate because it hurt so much. And I didn't actually have a UTI. And I saw I saw a variety of medical practitioners and no one could really figure out what was going on and in desperation, I diagnosed myself and convinced one of those providers to give me some vaginal estrogen. Thank God it was awful and I would say this there were. You know, in hindsight is 2020, there were subtle signs and I just was ignoring them and, dear God, do not let this happen to you. It was. It was about 10 days of sheer misery and I was driven to distraction. I couldn't do anything because my vulva was on fire.
Speaker 1: 33:32
It was awful, and that's the story for so many people and and this is why this is why we're so obsessed with what you guys are doing because sometimes it's not easy for people to go have these conversations on their own, but they they can listen with their AirPods or whatever, and they're walking and they're alone and they can reflect and then maybe they're going to build up the courage to go and have these conversations with their doctors and get the help that is there To that point and not to make this all about me, me, me.
Speaker 2: 33:59
But I would also say I'm a fairly confident vocal individual. I don't get embarrassed all that easily. I mean I do, but I'm pretty and when I first started saying the word vulva to a doctor, it caught in my throat right. It's like this learned. Shame that you're not conscious of Right and and I I really had to work at now I can say vulva to anyone anywhere, anytime, but it took practice.
Speaker 3: 34:29
Well, and to that point I was before this, I was in the shower going vulva, vulva, vulva, vulva. Like I'm like, I'm going to, I'm going to mess it up. For sure, I'm going to mess it up. Anyway, vulva we're going to keep saying it.
Speaker 1: 34:42
We're going to practice. The more you say it, the better it is. Um, I I imagine my father's face when I told them about Iris. Um, and at first it was like, excuse me, and now like I've normalized the conversation in the whole house. Um, everywhere, everybody we talk about vaginas, vulvas, like it's, and it's great right, like that's. I'm like we can see it changing and this is where it needs to be for everybody, so that the next generation that goes through this.
Speaker 3: 35:09
It's not so hard to say yeah, and to this note only because we have to keep putting it out into the universe if it's going to happen. But we do want to have a campaign featuring Ryan Reynolds. Hello, ryan, again, I'm putting it out again. I'm not afraid to say vulva. So it's happening. I'm putting my energy out there with you guys.
Speaker 2: 35:28
Thanks, babe. All right, Someday we'll have Ryan Reynolds on saying I'm not afraid to say the word vulva. There it is In the interim. Where can our listeners find your products?
Speaker 1: 35:38
So we are available on Amazon. We are also on lovemyiriscom. We are excited to share a code with your listeners. Yay, t-i-p 20 is your code. So if they go into our website and put T-I-P 20, they will receive 20% off their orders. Yeah, and we're on Instagram and we're trying to just get in people's faces where we can and spread the message. Teach as we go and encourage people to just learn about their vaginal health.
Speaker 2: 36:11
Amazing. Thank you for all that you're doing so important.
Speaker 3: 36:14
Amazing, thank you, and we'll put that code in the show notes as well. So, listeners, please take a look down there and down there. Yes, I love that. That was good, dolores, thank you, thank you, thank you. This was such a fun conversation and such an important conversation, and we love your products and we love what you're doing and putting out there, the education and the conversations we're having. So, thank you.
Speaker 1: 36:36
Thank you guys for having me.
Speaker 3: 36:42
It has been an honor to chat with you guys. Thanks so much for listening to the show. If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate and subscribe to our podcast. When you do this, it helps to raise our podcast profile so more women can find us and get a little better understanding of what to expect in perimenopause.
Speaker 2: 36:58
We also read all the reviews the good, the bad and the ugly, to help us continuously improve our show. We would love to hear from you. You can connect with us through the podcast, on social media or through our website. Our information, as well as links and details from our conversation today, can be found in the show notes. This podcast is for general information only. It's designed to educate, inspire and support you on your personal journey through perimenopause. The information and opinions on this podcast are not intended to be a substitution for primary care diagnosis or treatment. The information on this podcast does not replace professional healthcare advice. The use of the information discussed is at the sole discretion of the listener. If you are suffering from symptoms or have questions, please consult a qualified healthcare practitioner.
