Read Online Read My Lips by Debby Herbenick, Vanessa Schick - Free Book Online
Authors: Debby Herbenick, Vanessa Schick
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mirror (a self-standing mirror, or one you can lean against the wall, may save you from inverting into some awkward positions)
Self-love and an open-mind
Here’s how:
Find at least ten minutes of time when you’re unlikely to be interrupted by children, roommates, a partner, the doorbell, or your favorite TV show that’s about to come on.
In a well-lit room, find a comfortable position in front of your mirror. The angle that you sit at will change the way your vulva appears, so make sure it is a position in which you feel comfortable sitting and exploring. For many women, sitting up on the bed or against a wall with a pillow behind one’s back for comfort or support is a helpful position for VSE.
Open your legs enough so that you can clearly see all of your vulva parts.
Starting at the top of your genitals (the mons pubis), look at and touch each of your genital parts: the mons, clitoral hood, glans clitoris, labia majora, inner labia, the area around the vaginal entrance, and the perineum. If you are able to view the perianal area (the area around your anus), look at and touch this area as well. Run your fingers through any hair-covered areas so that you can see the skin beneath the hair.
Notice what looks and feels normal for you. When you examine your genitals each month, look for any areas that appear to have become darker or lighter, red, itchy, or painful. If you notice any genital changes, discomfort, pain, or new lumps or bumps, ask your healthcare provider about these changes. Chronic itching is also a symptom that should always be brought to the attention of one’s healthcare provider.
By performing monthly VSE, you can become familiar with what is normal for your own personal genitals. As every woman is different, this can be an important part of noticing changes that may be related to sexually transmissible infections (such as genital warts), benign skin conditions (such as lichen sclerosus, a skin condition that is often marked by white patches of genital skin), or vulvar cancer that, though rare, has a high survival rate when caught and treated in an early stage. If the size of your genital parts changes, this too is something that you should share with your healthcare provider. Although it’s common, for example, for the clitoris to temporarily increase in size when a woman is feeling sexually aroused or after she has just had sex, it is not normal for an adult woman’s clitoris to grow substantially bigger (unless she is taking testosterone). In some cases, an enlarged clitoris is a sign of cancer, such as ovarian cancer or adrenal cancer, so it should always be brought to the attention of one’s healthcare provider at the earliest opportunity. Or to put it more simply: if your clitoris looks bigger, let your healthcare provider know. Although there are benign reasons for your clitoris to get bigger that have nothing to do with cancer, these are indeed things that should be ruled out. By becoming familiar with your personal “normal” in terms of the shapes, sizes, coloration, and feel of your vulvar parts, you will be better situated to take care of your health and well being.
I really resent that I’m supposed to either fear or love my genitals. They’re annoying and frustrating, and I don’t feel it’s necessary to have strong feelings either way. I am not a bad feminist because I don’t love my genitals.
— J AIME , MtF (no surgery), 24, Massachusetts
VULVA AND VAGINA SELF-CARE
Caring for your genital parts involves learning how to tweak some of our most basic daily activities in vulva- and vagina-friendly ways. Here are some tips related to basic hygiene and self-care that can help your lady parts stay happy and healthy.
Wiping
As a child or teenager, you may have been taught to wipe from front to back (the front being toward your clitoris and the back being the anus). Such directions are meant to keep bacteria from the anal opening away from the vagina, as the vagina can be
Self-love and an open-mind
Here’s how:
Find at least ten minutes of time when you’re unlikely to be interrupted by children, roommates, a partner, the doorbell, or your favorite TV show that’s about to come on.
In a well-lit room, find a comfortable position in front of your mirror. The angle that you sit at will change the way your vulva appears, so make sure it is a position in which you feel comfortable sitting and exploring. For many women, sitting up on the bed or against a wall with a pillow behind one’s back for comfort or support is a helpful position for VSE.
Open your legs enough so that you can clearly see all of your vulva parts.
Starting at the top of your genitals (the mons pubis), look at and touch each of your genital parts: the mons, clitoral hood, glans clitoris, labia majora, inner labia, the area around the vaginal entrance, and the perineum. If you are able to view the perianal area (the area around your anus), look at and touch this area as well. Run your fingers through any hair-covered areas so that you can see the skin beneath the hair.
Notice what looks and feels normal for you. When you examine your genitals each month, look for any areas that appear to have become darker or lighter, red, itchy, or painful. If you notice any genital changes, discomfort, pain, or new lumps or bumps, ask your healthcare provider about these changes. Chronic itching is also a symptom that should always be brought to the attention of one’s healthcare provider.
By performing monthly VSE, you can become familiar with what is normal for your own personal genitals. As every woman is different, this can be an important part of noticing changes that may be related to sexually transmissible infections (such as genital warts), benign skin conditions (such as lichen sclerosus, a skin condition that is often marked by white patches of genital skin), or vulvar cancer that, though rare, has a high survival rate when caught and treated in an early stage. If the size of your genital parts changes, this too is something that you should share with your healthcare provider. Although it’s common, for example, for the clitoris to temporarily increase in size when a woman is feeling sexually aroused or after she has just had sex, it is not normal for an adult woman’s clitoris to grow substantially bigger (unless she is taking testosterone). In some cases, an enlarged clitoris is a sign of cancer, such as ovarian cancer or adrenal cancer, so it should always be brought to the attention of one’s healthcare provider at the earliest opportunity. Or to put it more simply: if your clitoris looks bigger, let your healthcare provider know. Although there are benign reasons for your clitoris to get bigger that have nothing to do with cancer, these are indeed things that should be ruled out. By becoming familiar with your personal “normal” in terms of the shapes, sizes, coloration, and feel of your vulvar parts, you will be better situated to take care of your health and well being.
I really resent that I’m supposed to either fear or love my genitals. They’re annoying and frustrating, and I don’t feel it’s necessary to have strong feelings either way. I am not a bad feminist because I don’t love my genitals.
— J AIME , MtF (no surgery), 24, Massachusetts
VULVA AND VAGINA SELF-CARE
Caring for your genital parts involves learning how to tweak some of our most basic daily activities in vulva- and vagina-friendly ways. Here are some tips related to basic hygiene and self-care that can help your lady parts stay happy and healthy.
Wiping
As a child or teenager, you may have been taught to wipe from front to back (the front being toward your clitoris and the back being the anus). Such directions are meant to keep bacteria from the anal opening away from the vagina, as the vagina can be
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