Women's Health Services in Ottawa

Yearly well-woman visits usually start sometime between the ages of 13 and 15. This is the time to begin building a great relationship with your care team. Regardless of your age or stage of life, certain things will always be discussed during these annual exams, such as:

• Health changes or concerns
• Medical and family history
• Medications
• Preventive health measures
• Recommended vaccinations and screenings, including Pap tests

Your physician will also conduct a few routine checks during your well-woman exam, including your weight and blood pressure. You’ll also likely be asked to give a blood sample to help detect a number of health concerns including diabetes, high cholesterol and much more.

Talking to your trusted team about aspects of your reproductive and sexual health is important. The women’s health care specialists at AdventHealth Ottawa are here to answer your questions and put your mind at ease.

Screening for breast conditions is key to catching any issues early, when they’re most treatable. We’ll talk with you about your family history of breast disease and offer you the resources you need to make the healthy lifestyle choices that can reduce your breast cancer risk.

If breast imaging or other specialty services are needed, AdventHealth Ottawa’s got you covered. We collaborate with other breast health experts — such as surgeons and medical oncologists — to provide you with the appropriate care.

Maintaining your good health and treating disease is our priority. The women’s health care experts at AdventHealth Ottawa specialize in services related to gynecology such as pap smears, painful periods, premenstrual syndrome, urinary tract infections, and pelvic floor conditions, such as pelvic pain and incontinence.

What is Incontinence?

Urinary incontinence is a term used to describe poor bladder control.

There are different types of incontinence:

• Stress
• Urge
• Mixed
• Overflow

There are Several Steps You Can Take to Help Prevent Symptoms

• Bracing the pelvic floor muscles when you cough, laugh or sneeze
• Keep a bladder and bowel diary recording voiding frequency, fluid intake, urgency and incontinence episodes to assist your healthcare provider in spotting any potential problems or trends
• Avoid common irritants
• Exercise correctly
• Perform exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor, abdominal and hip muscles

Physical Therapists Can Help You By

• Educating you about your bladder, bowel, pelvic floor muscles and normal emptying techniques
• Giving you exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor, hip and core muscles
• Diet modifications and behavior retraining
• Relaxation manual therapy techniques
• Referral to nutrition counseling
• Electrical stimulation for pain management and strengthening

If your muscles are very weak, your physical therapist may also use EMG/Biofeedback or electrical stimulation of the pelvic floor muscles.

Biofeedback is a painless method of monitoring the electrical activity of your pelvic floor muscles using a computerized system which allows you to view the quality and quantity of your pelvic floor contraction. This provides instant feedback on how to effectively strengthen this muscle group.

Additional treatment may be recommended by your physician such as medication to treat infection, stop abnormal bladder muscle contractions, replace hormones, dietary modifications, or surgery to correct the bladder position.

During the peri- and post-menopausal years, a woman’s health needs change. Hormones start to fluctuate and many women experience changes in weight, sleep, bone and reproductive system health. You can count on us to provide individualized care to manage your menopause symptoms with safe, evidenced-based options.

Did you know that women are more likely to have a heart attack without chest pain? Or that women’s smaller, thinner bones make them more likely to be diagnosed with osteoporosis? At AdventHealth Ottawa, we understand gender-specific conditions and provide specialized women’s health services to ensure you get the preventive care, diagnosis and treatment you deserve — or, when needed, work with other specialists to bring you advanced care.