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Does birth control cause breast cancer?
Wondering if your birth control can increase your risk of breast cancer? This is a common concern, but don’t worry, we have lots of studies showing that birth control does not increase breast cancer risk. Let’s break it down. Why would birth control be related to breast cancer anyway? First things first: although breast cancer […]
All about hormones!
At the most basic level, a hormone is a chemical made in one part of a living thing that travels around and affects other parts of that thing. Hormones are as old as the hills, and probably evolved when life on Earth was nothing but cells bobbing in the primordial seas. The special organs in […]
5 myths about pulling out, busted
The withdrawal method, a.k.a. pulling out, sometimes gets a bad rap—some people don’t even consider it a “real” method of birth control, even though 60% of couples have used it at least once. Because pulling out is often dismissed as “better than nothing” by researchers, we don’t know as much about it as we do […]
Period pain? Birth control can help!
Having a painful period can mess up your day, or week—or weeks! Every woman’s period is different and the same woman’s periods are often different over time. So how do you know if the pain you have with your period is normal? And what can you do to make your periods less painful? My periods […]
Got a health condition? Know your birth control options!
There is an effective birth control option for everyone—including those with health conditions like heavy or irregular periods, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, or breast cancer. Some methods can actually help treat certain conditions. Let’s look at six fairly common medical conditions and the birth control methods that are best for each. 1. Painful or […]
Um, can I get pregnant if…? Part 2!
We got so many questions about pregnancy scares in the comments of the original “Um, can I get pregnant if…?” that we decided it was time for part 2. Last time we talked about specific sex acts that could lead to pregnancy—this time we’re talking the chance of pregnancy in various circumstances. Can I get […]
Are Depo shot users more likely to break a bone?
For women who use the shot (a.k.a. Depo-Provera) , there’s good news and there’s weird news. For years women have been warned that the shot can cause loss of minerals in their bones—which could mean they’re more prone to bone fractures. A new study from England found that women using the shot did have a […]
Birth control for breastfeeding moms
Now that your bundle of joy has come, it’s time to snuggle up with that new-baby smell and settle into being a mom. Between that and dealing with the effects of sleep deprivation— going to the grocery store in pajamas, falling into bed right after dinner, and drooling in public —you’ve got enough to worry […]
Abuse by birth control sabotage
By Dr. Liz Miller, MD, PhD, the Chief of Adolescent Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. About twelve years ago, I was working as a doctor in a clinic in California. A young woman came in and requested a pregnancy test. Her test was negative. I asked her if she wanted to be […]
Birth control bullies: When your partner wants your method to fail
When I was training to become a doctor, one of my patients was a 25-year-old woman. She already had one child and didn’t want to get pregnant again. She’d been using the birth control patch , but came to me because the patch wasn’t working for her. When I asked her “why not?” she said, […]
