SELF BREAST EXAMINATION Step 1: Begin by looking at your breasts in the mirror with your shoulders straight and your arms on your hips. Here's what you should look for: Breasts that are their usual size, shape, and color Breasts that are evenly shaped without visible distortion or swelling If you see any of the following changes, bring them to your doctor's attention: Dimpling, puckering, or bu ...

Treatment A fertilized egg can't develop normally outside the uterus. To prevent life-threatening complications, the ectopic tissue needs to be removed. Depending on your symptoms and when the ectopic pregnancy is discovered, this may be done using medication, laparoscopic surgery or abdominal surgery. Medication An early ectopic pregnancy without unstable bleeding is most often treated with a me ...

AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS: Autoimmune disorders cause the body's immune system to attack normal body tissues it would normally ignore. Autoimmune disorders, such as lupus, Hashimoto's and other types of thyroiditis, or rheumatoid arthritis, may affect fertility. The reasons for this are not fully understood and differ between diseases, but they are thought to involve inflammation in the uterus and plac ...

Trouble with Ovulation This is where it begins, because if you are not ovulating (either at all, or regularly), you simply will not get pregnant. Your healthcare provider will be able to carry out the necessary tests to find out the source of the problem and will evaluate whether or not you are suffering from any conditions that commonly cause ovulation interruption, such as Polycystic Ovary Synd ...

HOW DO FROZEN EMBRYOS LIVE: As we have learned from our patients’ comments, they know very little about how frozen embryos live. Some imagine walls full of shelves with little mini-bunks, others imagine rooms like huge fridges, others little capsules placed in beehive-like structures… truth is, they’re microscopic so they virtually take up no space. In one of the containers there’s space for 10, 0 ...

Three different terms that are used in overlapping fashion are cyst, egg and follicle. The EGG is that all-important biological specimen that contains half a woman’s genetic information. In my simplified view of human reproduction, a woman randomly shuffles all her DNA (the stuff that influences her body to develop blue eyes, a cute little nose and a fondness for puppies) and packages exactly half ...

Many women are turning to egg freezing to promote fertility, but what happens when it isn't an option because of special medical or other conditions? And, what option is there for women who want to preserve hormonal function, not just fertility? Ovarian tissue freezing, an outpatient procedure which removes and freezes ovarian tissue for later use, can deliver these outcomes but has been considere ...

Fallopian Tube Recanalization Procedure Fallopian tube recanalization Photo Credit: Arizona State University The procedure is done under sterile conditions to avoid the possibility of introducing infection. The overall time to do the procedure is about a half an hour, most of which is spent in getting you comfortable, readying the equipment, and cleaning the skin. The actual time spent in evaluat ...