Looking at Airway Space from the Eyes of an ENT Specialist

AB: Hello and welcome to Simplifi Health. My name is Aurelia Byrne and today we are here with Dr. Jill Wade and Dr. Wood and we're going to learn about the Mona Lisa touch and vaginal health.

JW: Good morning, Aurelia. How are you?

AB: Awesome. How are you?

JW: I'm good. This is going to be interesting today. A little bit of maybe a taboo subject matter.

AB: I'm excited because I have a lot of questions for Dr. Wood. 

JW: Exactly. I found it interesting that we're going to have her as a guest today because just last week, I think it was on Channel 8, there was a big series, a big story that they ran about women and vaginal health and different options for what I think most people would call rejuvenation. It's just really interesting to see that a lot of women don't talk to anybody about this, they're not asking there doctors, they're not talking to each other about it, certainly nothing they’re sharing with their husbands. I cannot wait to talk to Dr. Wood to really get her input on this.

She is a Board Certified OB/GYN. She has been practicing for, I will have to ask her how many years, but she now has a practice that she is just focusing on GYN and she's also been brilliant and has another business attached with her traditional, if you want to say, business where she deals with aesthetics, body sculpting, and all kinds of things that women are interested in. So without further ado, I would love to have Dr. Kathryn Wood join us on our podcast. Welcome.

KW: Thank you so much, thank you, Dr. Wade, and thank you, Aurelia, for having me here. This is fun.

AB: It is.

KW: I love talking about women's health issues.

JW: Absolutely and this may be one that they don't talk to you too much about or maybe because of the type of practice that you have, maybe they do. How many women come in sharing with you about this?

KW: I would say that of the women that are affected that I can see that there's obviously got to be someone to have a problem going on with vaginal dryness and some concerns there, maybe 20% of them still are able to ask me about it or mention it at the time of the exam. It's always a question that I ask them, “How are things there? How's it going? Are you having any dryness? Are you having anything?” Honestly, I think some of them don't want to talk about it still or maybe things are difficult for them sexually and they're not really prepared or want to talk about it so I always try to leave the door open.

JW: But you open the door and you have an open-ended question for them so that if they want to or need to, they at least feel like, “Oh, maybe there is something going on down there that  I need to share with someone else.” What age group are we talking about? Is this only older women?

KW: I see, but I will just kind of classify to sexual dysfunction issues that can be over a variety of reasons but you can see that in all ages. But specifically what we'll talk about today more has to do with vaginal dryness and discomfort with intercourse that may have to do with changes from lack of estrogen, menopause changes, it could be natural menopause, it could be from surgery, or they had complete hysterectomy, and the ovaries removed, and they’re in a surgical menopause. It could be a patient who’s a breast cancer survivor and she's gone through treatment that she's on medications now that affect her estrogen levels and so she's experiencing lots of vaginal dryness and discomfort as well. That's probably, my heart goes out to that patient probably more than anybody because their resources to do anything are more limited and there are typically younger women too that aren’t prepared for that.

JW: Right, because they're not going to be able to maybe balance their hormones because of their previous history of the cancers and so they've got to look for other options of maybe getting more comfortable.

KW: Exactly.

JW: So you feel like this type of treatment or therapy, do you call it a treatment or do you call it a therapy?

KW: Both really. I mean it’s a treatment that’s very simple really to do. I've seen great results. I mean, where I did my training, the doctor that trained me said, “This is a game changer in medicine and there are very few things that are game changers, this is a very simple procedure that can be done in the office, it’s painless,” I use a little bit of numbing cream on the outside and I’ll explain how I do that.

But it’s three treatments, six weeks apart. It has been a game changer for so many people and I've seen it just improve their lives and their sexual health and the relationships. I've seen great things with it. I think he had two, really in medicine, there are very few things like they’re that simple to do that don’t involve anesthesia and surgery, and cutting, and all that. This so simple to do.

AB: I'm picturing you in the office and somebody getting this procedure and is it a wand, what is it exactly?

KW: Yeah, the laser itself, the one that I use as a fractional CO2 laser. When you say fractional, what it means is that you're not delivering a mass burst of energy to all the tissues, you're actually, I think of it like little tongs of energy coming down with sparing in between and when you actually lay the laser on there, it looks almost like a tic-tac-toe. You're seeing a little dots of where the energy is coming in but the sparing tissues in between so that you don't get a lot of downtime and what you're doing is you’re causing a tiny little injury under the skin or under the vaginal mucosa to stimulate collagen and that's how it works. That’s how any fraction laser would work on the face or on any other part of the body, you’re stimulating the body’s own natural collagen.

JW: Minor injuries to allow your own body to basically heal from that and therefore kind of regenerate or i.e. rejuvenate the area.

KW: Well, yeah, you're just getting more natural tissues from this, in this case, you're getting an improvement in vaginal dryness and the tissues are able to withstand more intercourse or other things that it’s able to take it without tearing. Because the skin gets really thinned out. A lot of people don't know that the vagina needs estrogen to stay plump and to stay healthy. Without that, the tissues really thin out and they bleed more easily and they tear more easily on the outside around the openings. All of this happens and even the lips of the vagina, the labia, they get thinner as well. Estrogen provides all that plumpness and all the natural health of the vagina throughout the years but without it, you see some major changes to most people.

JW: Does it also to some extent restore the dryness, actually making more moist or is it just that in general things are healthier and becomes more moist?

KW: Yeah. It restores the ability to lubricate. If you're describing sexual function in a woman, there's lubrication first and I always kind of equate that in a man, with a man's erection and so without the lubrication, they’re that first sexual razzle is missing and so some couples will use a lubricant and use things like that to help. But the vagina also does stretch and link them as well. All that stuff is able to happen more easily when you have more collagen in those tissues basically.

JW: Right, that makes complete sense.

AB: So, and in a sense, more blood flow can go to those areas because they’re healthier tissues in that respect.

KW: Exactly.

JW: So I would just think that a lot of women and a lot of people listening just think that, “Gosh, this just must be part of getting older. I must suffer through this because this must be what happens when you get older.”

AB: They had to suffer a long time ago, not anymore.

JW: Exactly. I’m excited to have listeners hear this and think, if it does happen to be happening to them that they're like, “Oh, my gosh. I never even knew there was anything out there to correct this so easily.” If you're saying three treatments basically six weeks apart, that's still a very short period of time. Does it last forever?

KW: Not forever so we recommend after the three initial treatments about a year to say fifteen months after the last one, most women are ready to do another maintenance. One is just one time is typically going to be enough to take care of it so that's what we do is just help maintain that.

JW: I’m assuming this is fairly affordable?

KW: It’s fairly affordable like with everything that's come out when it’s brand new, it's a little bit more and then the price goes down with time because it's more popular.

JW: But it’s so worth it.

KW: Oh, it very much is.

JW: I mean, this could be saving people’s relationships. I mean we’re not just talking vaginal health, we're talking, really this could destroy our relationship…

AB: And self-esteem.

JW: And self-esteem, you're right.

AB: I mean, that's why people don’t like to talk about it and that’s why they don’t want to admit that they're not perfect, women, in general, all of the time.

KW: Yeah, we always try to be the best.

AB: And we hold ourselves so high standards.

JW: Okay, so I think that will be a question of listeners if we were talking a six-week in between time, three times, are we talking the ability to have no sex during that period of time while it’s trying to heal or is there anything they have to stay away from?

KW: You asked me before how is it done and what does it look like. There is a, I’ll just explain that and then I'll go into that. The vaginal device is like a long tube that you insert. It has links on it in centimeter so I know how deep I am with it. I always numb everybody on the outside for a good thirty minutes, I use a really strong numbing agent and then I come in and wipe all of that off before I put that in. That's not really uncomfortable for anybody. Once that’s inserted and we just have the laser do its thing and it's really quick, it’s done in five minutes to the inside.

JW: Oh, wow.

KW: Yeah, the other thing it's super fast. So we just do these little pulses around, circumferentially around the vaginal area and then start it top and then come on out and then be done at the end. Most people feel just a vibration and some a puff of air when you get started and they get used to that. Then I was trying to do the outside as well at least what I call the inner labia and around the vaginal opening because a lot of women feel pulling right there. Especially important to have a numbing cream in that area because you are really treating on the skin on the labia.

JW: We’re talking about very sensitive are.

KW: Very sensitive area. But it's very tolerable. Most women are saying they're on their cell phone and just doing something else while I'm doing it and they are fine during the whole thing. That typically takes five minutes as well. Because I do the outside, I tell them to wait just one week before intercourse and they can resume.

AB: Let’s not do that.

KW: Regular relations, it’s not. I encourage them to start doing things, be active and do that because it helps and then the very first procedure, the amount of pulses that I lay down in the vagina are a little bit less than the second and third procedure. Most of the women experience the greatest improvement between procedure two and three and then after the third one, it just continues to get better.

Collagen growing doesn't happen overnight. It's a process that even after I'm done, it’s continuing to work and if they're staying active and doing that and by then they're usually more comfortable with, “Okay, this is working. It’s better. I can be more relaxed about this and they're feeling more confident and comfortable.

JW: Absolutely. Do you have any, I don't know patient stories or any testimonials you would like to share with us?

KW: Actually I do, I had a patient come in about two months ago who came in for her maintenance procedure and she had been seeing a gynecologist, her regular gynecologist and her city is about forty-five minutes from here. He's my same age, male gynecologist and she was having trouble sexually and went in with her husband and they were trying to make things work and he said, “Well, there's nothing wrong with you physically. It’s just in your head. You don't want sex anymore.”

JW: Oh, my God, psychological problem.

KW: She’s like, she was very upset and then she started talking to several girlfriends and they said, “I think you need to check this procedure out.” So luckily she did talk to other women about it and they directed her to come to my office. I will have to say when she came in, she was still very skeptical. I said, “I really have had great success with it. I really think it's going to help you.” 

We did, went ahead and did the three procedures for her and then I saw her back like I said several months ago and she said, “Dr. Wood I'm here for my maintenance but I want to write a testimonial for you because I want other women to know what I was told and do not accept that because this has been a life changer for us.”

JW: Oh, I just got goosebumps.

AB: I know.

KW: I know, it just kind of makes me almost tear up so she and her husband have just their sexual relationship together.

AB: Yeah, I have a question. What if somebody didn't have any issues, menopause or anything like that? You just go in and get a maintenance, could you do that or is that something that's kind of like with microdermabrasion of the face or doing things early on to help further issues?

KW: Yeah, as long as really the estrogen is around and in your body until menopause, I think you're going to be fine without that. I really would probably wait until there is some issue.

JW: What other issues could people be having other than intercourse like is there any bladder control or anything that it might help with?

KW: Yes, in fact, one of my very first patients had that issue. She said, “We're fine sexually, it’s just that I get in the ski slope and I've got to go to the bathroom again, I get all dressed, I get one run in and then I've got to go in and go to the bathroom.” We just did the vaginal one on her. She didn’t really want the outside done, we just did that and that took care of it, even after the first procedure she was better. So when it’s a mild kind of urgency or stress and [inaudible 00:16:12] as I call, when you get a little lost with coughing, sneezing, laughing, then…

JW: Almost all of us who’ve had babies, yes.

KW: Yeah. I've seen improvement there. It’s a major issue with the anatomy and a lot of anatomical changes, it's not going to help in that respect but when it mild, they've been doing studies on that…

AB: Do you assess that before?

KW: I do, yeah, we talk about it, we see what’s going on with them and what is the problem and how long has it been going on and that kind of thing.

AB: That’s amazing.

JW: I just want to take a moment and thank you for your patience because I know their lives are changing because they’re with you and I just wish everybody would practice the way that you practice where you take the patient first, their whole health, their whole well-being which includes their relationships and things like that and be able to practice medicine like that is just amazing. You're a huge example to me, for your peers, and your colleagues to follow.

KW: Oh, thank you so much.

JW: I love sharing your story, I want you to become a very frequent guest on our show because you have so much to share with so many people about just great procedures out there to help enhance their lives.

KW: Oh, thank you very much.

JW: Optimal health is really all we're going for. I mean we know we're going to age, we just want to grow old gracefully hand and feel the best that we can. I really appreciate it. I definitely want for the listeners to have access to you. What would be the best way for them to be able to find you and find out more about how they can have this type of treatment?

KW: Yeah, I would have them call the office at 972-769-7546. They could either call the Dermalase. Dermalase is the name of my aesthetics procedure and office or go to the website dermalase.net. They could look that up and see some videos about the procedure and some more information about it as well. They could also go to Frisco GYN and Wellness website as well and look at that too.

JW: Right, and they can become new patients as well.

KW: Exactly.

JW: You are accepting new patients still.

KW: I sure am.

JW: That’s wonderful.

KW: I’ve been in practice for three years as of... We mentioned that earlier and I was like realized the other day I hit that.

JW: I knew you’d been in Frisco pretty much ever since I have been.

AB: 2002 came to Frisco, was in Plano before that.

JW: Right and I started 1999 so yeah, we were here when 14,000 people. 

KW: A lot of barren land out there.

JW: Thank you again for being here with us today on Simplifi Health.

KW: Thank you so much for inviting me. It's been great, it’s been a lot of fun. Thank you.

AB: Thank you. If you like to learn some more information about these topics, you can go to youniversityhealth.com. For the dental professionals, you can go to relevancehealth.com. My name is Aurelia Byrne and smile with heart.

JW: And I'm Dr. Jill Wade, keep smiling from the inside out.