What's Up Down There? Blog

What’s Up Down There? The TWEEN Years

Lissa Rankin — Thu, 12 May 2011 07:30:00 +0000

I’ve been fielding questions from tweens and their mothers as part of a corporate spokesperson role with UbyKotex, and for those of you with tween girls, I thought I’d share what has come up!

I am getting pimples, crying for no reason A LOT, have hair under my arms and started discharging last summer, my body is ready but my period hasn't come, is there a timetable?

Going To The Spa? Steam Your Vagina: An OB/GYN’s Thoughts on Vaginal Steam Baths

Lissa Rankin — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 07:30:00 +0000

You gotta love us Californians. We’re always so ahead of the curve when it comes to things like fashion. And environmentalism. And vaginal steam baths.

Yeah. You heard me. I said Vaginal Steam Baths.

How Long Are Normal Labia? Part 1 of Dr. Lissa Rankin’s Love Your Labia Series

Lissa Rankin — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 07:30:00 +0000

When I was writing my book What’s Up Down There? and while I’ve been on the road with my Ask The Girlfriend Gyno book tour, one question comes up over-- and over--and over, in various forms.

Why do my inner lips hang lower than my outer lips?

Why are my labia so long?

How come my labia don’t look like the ones in Playboy?

Why do my lips look like Dumbo’s ears?

Why are some women’s inner lips tucked up neatly inside and mine aren’t?

Let me just say once and for all that if you’re one of those women (or men) who are wondering why some women have short lips tucked up inside and some women have long lips that hang out, EITHER WAY, YOU’RE NORMAL AND YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL!

VBAC at Home: Courageous or Crazy?

Lissa Rankin — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 07:45:00 +0000

What's Up Down There? Awakening Sexuality

Lissa Rankin — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 07:30:00 +0000

Happy Friday, Pinkies! This video is from a recent speaking engagement I did on my fall book tour to promote What's Up Down There? Questions You'd Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend. My favorite part of these events is taking questions from the audience -- check out the clip below where I answer some awesome questions about embracing femininity and sexuality in healthy and empowering ways.

We Have Lift-Off! Book Tour Week 7

Lissa Rankin — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:20:00 +0000

Nobody told me that when you write a book, you have basically no idea how it’s doing and how many people are reading it unless it winds up on the New York Times Bestseller’s List (mine hasn’t). So when people ask you how the book is doing, you shrug your shoulders and hope for the best.

How To Talk To Your Tween About Periods: A Parent's Guide

Lissa Rankin — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 07:30:00 +0000

You don’t want to leave it to the gossip she hears at school. Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret doesn’t quite spin it the way you’d want it presented. And you certainly can’t count on school sex ed to do it justice. So how do we parents talk to our daughters about when Aunt Flow comes to town?

What's happening to me?

Book Tour Weeks 4 and 5 - California!

Lissa Rankin — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 07:20:00 +0000

Thanks for following me on my journey, Pinkies! If you're curious about the beginning of my book tour, check out my posts on weeks one, two, and three. So what have the last two weeks been like, back on my home turf? I wrote this post heading back up the coast from San Diego on Wednesday, reflecting...

After three weeks on the east coast of my book tour for What’s Up Down There?, I had two blissful days of sleeping on my own Tempur-Pedic mattress, waking up to the whispers of my daughter Siena, curling on the sofa in front of the fireplace with Grendel the Mojo Pup, and getting it on with my hubby. We attended a family day program at the Green Gulch Zen Center, where we meditated, sang songs, made malas for our wrists, painted prayer flags, and picked apples in the organic garden.

For Victims Of Molestation

Lissa Rankin — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 07:30:00 +0000

Art by Tricia Walman :www.seeyourvisionart.com

I did my Ask The Girlfriend Gyno chat in front of 400 students at Sonoma State University this week, and during my talk, I spoke about how I believe talking about your vagina can be very healing. After all, not only is the vagina where we create life and experience pleasure; it’s also where many traumas happen -- sexual molestation, rape, abortion, childbirth traumas, painful experiences at the gynecologist’s office, and traumatic sex. When we don’t release these traumas, they fester and manifest in ways we might not even associate with the original trauma. They might express as depression, eating disorders, or chronic pelvic pain. But when we talk about our vaginas, when we seek solace in the company of others, we set ourselves free.

HPV on Pap Smear

Lissa Rankin — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 07:30:00 +0000

On the road, answering anonymous questions during my Ask The Girlfriend Gyno chats on my book tour for What’s Up Down There?, questions about HPV -- human papillomavirus -- keep arising. With up to 80% of women destined to contract HPV at some point in their lives (if they haven’t been vaccinated), it’s no wonder this is such a big issue.

Many of the questions about HPV revolve around HPV diagnosed only on a Pap smear, without any symptoms, warts, precancerous changes of the Pap smear, or cervical cancer.

Because the HPV test is relatively new, these issues are too. For many years, we didn’t have an easy way to screen for HPV. And even when we did, it was often only used for women who had atypical squamous cells (ASCUS) on a Pap smear. But now, more and more docs are testing routinely for HPV, leading to a whole lot of confusion, panic, and issues of negative self image. So it’s no wonder these questions keep coming up.