Blog
Caring for our community’s cowgirls and other equestrians
As a gynecologist at Premier Women’s Care of Southwest Florida, I appreciate the opportunity to work with women from all walks of life.
And as a rodeo mom, I especially enjoy taking care of cowgirls and other equestrians, whose active lifestyle contributes to good health throughout life.
We are lucky in southwest Florida to have a strong rodeo and equestrian community. The women riders I see in my practice range in age from young girls all the way up to senior citizens.
The needs of these women vary greatly throughout their horseback riding careers.
I love that as a physician I can directly impact the health and well-being of these women so that they can focus on their riding and achieve success.
Most important for riders—and for all of our patients—is setting up a schedule for routine care, making sure to stay on top of screenings for common female cancers that can occur at various stages of life, whether it be cervical cancer or breast cancer. And while colon cancer can affect men and women, it’s important to keep up with colon cancer screenings from the age of 45, or even earlier if you are at high risk.
Just as horse owners take care to ensure that their horses’ joints are healthy with routine vet checks, it is important to follow a maintenance schedule for your own health. Women who are busy taking care of family members—and let’s face it, horses are our family members, so they also count—are prone to letting their own health checks sit on the back burner.
That’s why it’s best to set your annual exam appointment a year in advance so that it won’t be forgotten.
We are seeing a huge decline in the incidence of cervical cancer in the U.S. over the past 30 years due to HPV vaccination and screenings, with rates in women aged 20–24 dropping by about 80%. We are also seeing improvements in cervical cancer survival rates, with new treatments such as HPV immunotherapy showing promise.
In addition to HPV vaccination and cervical cancer screening, mammogram screening can be done right in our office along with your annual exam. And if abnormalities are found, we can also do diagnostic mammograms on-site, so that treatment can be started sooner if needed.
One of the most common challenges we see with athletes is problems with their periods. Heavy bleeding and irregular bleeding can really affect how you feel in competition and create potential for anemia and fatigue.
Menstrual problems can have an array of solutions that depend on one’s desire for future fertility, as well as response to hormone therapy. The control of heavy and irregular bleeding, and the correction of anemia, translates into more comfortable riders being able to focus on their sport.
We also take care of women who are starting their families and have horses that they continue to care for. Competitive riding in advanced pregnancy is not recommended, but we do work individually with women based on their goals.
I feel so blessed to work in Southwest Florida with such a strong and thriving equestrian community and women who are dedicated to their sport, and I am honored to be a part of their healthcare and help them perform at their best.
