Social Media and Women's Health

I’ve been active on social media for a while and one thing I have noticed is that people avoid opening up about women’s health issues. I grew up with two older brothers and didn’t have older sisters to go to with my female health issues. Often times, I was too embarrassed to ask my mom these things because I didn’t know if they were normal or not (which now I understand they totally are). Social media is a great tool for women, in particular, younger women, to learn about these important topics, especially if they have a similar situation to me growing up. To be honest, I’m 25 years old and could STILL benefit from women sharing more about their personal health problems via social media.

One thing I could be more honest about on social media would be my multitude of urinary tract infections. I’ve had urinary issues for as long as I can remember and am a constant user of AZO products. My friends and family have always made fun of me because I’m always running to the bathroom every 30 minutes. This might be TMI but I know that if I don’t go to the bathroom, the chances of me getting a urinary tract infection (UTI) are pretty high. And there is NOTHING more uncomfortable than a UTI.

If you’ve ever experienced one, you know how wonderful they can be – pain and a burning sensation while urinating, feeling like you have to pee every second when really you don’t, and many other symptoms. I remember the first time I got my first UTI (I was about 14), I had no idea what was wrong with me and obviously let it go untreated which only made things worse – cramping, abdominal pain, and even a fever. Finally, I decided I probably should talk to my mom about it. I told her my symptoms and she instantly went to the medicine closet and pulled out AZO test strips. Within two minutes, the results came back positive for a UTI and she gave me the max strength relief pills. I started to panic a little bit when I saw my urine was a bright orange color after taking them but she told me that was normal. Within 20-30 minutes, the pain went away and I felt SO much better.

Since then, I’ve made sure to take steps in order to avoid UTIs. One thing I learned from my mother was that cranberry juice helps to protect against urinary tract infections. Since I’m not a huge fan of drinking cranberry juice or any juices really (way too much sugar for me), I love to keep stocked up on AZO cranberry softgels or caplets. Each serving is equal to one full glass of cranberry juice so if you hate the taste of cranberry juice or just don’t like all the sugar in cranberry juice, it’s a great alternative.

Aside from learning a little bit more about UTI’s from this blog post, my main goal is to show you that it’s okay to open up about more sensitive topics. The female body is so interesting and I’m still learning about it to this day. I’m definitely a lot more open with my mother about different health issues since my first UTI but as I said before, there are so many young women who are currently in the stage wondering (like me as a young girl) “is this normal?” or “what is going on with my body?” So don’t be afraid to open up, whether it be your experience with a UTI or maybe a different, more serious issue. You might not know it but there is definitely someone out there who could benefit from your story!

Xx,

Erin