https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/sdnb6a/somifinal_-_3_7_23_241_PM655g9.mp3

 

Episode Summary:

Board-certified as an OBGYN physician/surgeon and founder of HerMD, Dr. Somi Javaid is treating and helping midlife women become their most empowered selves. In today’s episode, we sat down with Dr. Javaid to discuss HerMD, what a typical HerMd appointment looks like, menopausal sexual health, and why gynecology often focuses so heavily on a woman’s reproductive years.

First, we asked Dr. Javaid about her experience founding and creating HerMD, a national brand of centers offering an array of women’s health services. She told us that her passion for women’s healthcare first started when she was a premed student at Northwestern. While in school, she received a distressing call that her mother needed emergency heart surgery after seeing numerous doctors for her symptoms and being repeatedly dismissed. Luckily, her mother is doing well, but the blatant disregard for her mother’s health issues inspired Dr. Javaid to pursue women’s healthcare. When she started working full-time in the field, she was made all too aware of the faults in the healthcare system and decided to create a safe space for women on her own. HerMD was built on the premise of ensuring both women and healthcare providers felt seen and heard. While HerMD offers hormone treatments and annual checkups, it is primarily gynecological and focuses heavily on menopause. 100% of the providers at HerMD are trained and equipped to treat menopausal symptoms. HerMD also offers a full medical spa, PCOS treatment, hair loss or hair growth treatment, food planning, and more. Unlike other facilities, where patients are only given 15 minutes maximum with their healthcare provider, HerMD’s appointments are a minimum of 20 minutes long with most new patients receiving 40–60-minute appointments. Dr. Javaid recommended designating separate visits for separate issues to ensure you’re getting the most out of your time.

When studying and practicing medicine, Dr. Javaid noticed that many doctors aren’t trained in women’s sexual health. With so many stigmas and gender bias surrounding healthcare, women’s pain and suffering is often dismissed, especially when it comes to sexual health. At HerMD, Dr. Javaid is striving to change the narrative. For treating sexual health, The HerMD providers use FSFI, a method that measures domains of sexuality and offers data driven approaches to treatment plans. Before offering treatment for menopausal sexual health issues, Dr. Javaid ensures that the patient is experiencing issues that are bothersome to them and are not directly attributed to an aspect of their life separate from menopause. There are several medications, hormones, and other treatment options for helping increase libido or improve vaginal health. Research has even shown that using testosterone is safe for women as long as it’s given properly. Other sexual health treatments HerMd offers are Intrarosa, a prescription hormonal vaginal insert, moisturizers, lubricants, and microneedling, though microneedling is not covered by insurance.

HerMd has locations currently open in Ohio, Kentucky, and Franklin, Tennessee. They also have a telehealth option covered by insurance and plan on opening facilities in New Jersey and Atlanta later this year in the hopes of continuing to spread women’s health coverage nationwide and helping as many midlife women as possible. Finally, we spoke to Dr. Javaid about the lack of focus on menopause in healthcare. She spoke on how even though women will spend 40% of their life in menopause, healthcare primarily focuses on a woman’s reproductive years. This is due to a plethora of issues, including women historically being seen as vessels for pregnancy or male pleasure, gynecology having started as a male dominated field, and the dismissal of women’s suffering. Dr. Javaid told us that n an attempt to counter this, HerMD uses a biopsychosocial approach when treating patients. Rather than looking solely at medical history and symptoms, HerMd providers also look at a woman’s environment and life circumstances to ensure she is receiving the best care possible.

Dr. Somi Javaid

Dr. Somi Javaid is a board-certified OBGYN physician/surgeon. She specializes in menopause, minimally invasive surgery, sexual medicine, general gynecology, laser surgery, and ultrasound.

Honored by her peers, in 2014 she was named a Cincinnati Top Doc and is now considered an expert in sexual medicine and menopause. Dr. Javaid earned her education at Northwestern University, (Bachelor of Arts, Neurobiology 1993-1997), University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (1997-2001), and the University of Cincinnati Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency (2001-2005; Chief Resident 2004-2005). Professional memberships include: American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology–Board-Certified, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ohio State Medical Association, Warren County Medical Association, North American Menopause Society, and International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH).

In this episode, we discuss…

• [0:01] Introduction
• [1:21] Guest Introduction
• [5:12] Start of Interview
• [6:09] HerMD
• [11:48] A HerMD Appointment
• [14:31] Menopausal Sexual Health and Treatments
• [31:09] HerMD Locations and The Focus on Reproductive Years
• [39:04] Closing Thoughts
• [39:48] Outro

Useful Resources:

HerMD I [https://hermd.com/]

HerMD’s LinkedIn I [https://www.linkedin.com/company/hermd/]

HerMD’s Facebook I [https://www.facebook.com/hermdhealth/]

HerMD’s Instagram I  [https://www.instagram.com/hermdhealth/]

HerMD’s YouTube Channel I [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn1XR0w0PCqCFS24UppjESQ]

HerMD’s TikTok I [https://www.tiktok.com/@hermdhealth]

Dr. Javaid’s LinkedIn I [https://www.linkedin.com/in/somi-javaid-md-6834461a1/]

Dr. Javaid’s Instagram I [https://www.instagram.com/somijavaidmd/?hl=en]

Can’t Get Enough? Find Us Here!

Website I [http://hotflashescooltopics.com/]

Mail I [[email protected]]

Instagram I [https://www.instagram.com/hotflashesandcooltopics/]

Facebook I [https://www.facebook.com/hotflashescooltopics]

Twitter I [https://twitter.com/CoolFlashes]

YouTube I [https://www.youtube.com/@HotFlashesCoolTopics]

Pinterest I [https://www.pinterest.com/hcooltopics/]

Want to Leave a Review for Hot Flashes and Cool Topics? Here’s How:

For Apple Podcasts on an iPhone or iOS device:

• Open the Apple Podcast App on your device.
• Click on the “search” icon
• Type into the search bar “Hot Flashes and Cool Topics” and click on the show
• Towards the bottom, look for “Ratings and Reviews”
• Click on “Write a Review” and leave us your thoughts and comments!

For Apple Podcasts on a computer:

• On the Apple Podcasts website, go to the search bar and type “Hot Flashes and Cool Topics”
• After clicking on the show, find the “Listen on Apple Podcasts” button and click on it
• The “Hot Flashes and Cool Topics” podcast should open on the Apple Podcasts application
• Keep scrolling on the page until you see “Ratings and Reviews”
• Click on “See All”
• If you want to give us a five-star rating, hover over the empty stars!
• If you want to leave your thoughts and comments, click on “Write a Review”!