On the Mones PODCAST with Kate Thomas — Breast Awareness, Vaginal Dryness & GSM
On the Mones with pharmacist Kate Thomas, our founder Dr Sarah Farrell takes on two midlife topics that get far less honest airtime than they deserve: breast awareness, and genitourinary syndrome of menopause, better known as GSM.
On breast awareness, Sarah explains what it actually means day to day, how it differs from formal breast cancer screening, and how to tell the difference between the normal hormonal changes of midlife and the kind of change that warrants a visit to your GP. They cover breast density and mammograms, and why breast changes in midlife can feel alarming even when they turn out to be nothing.
On GSM, they say the quiet part out loud. Vaginal dryness, pain with sex, bladder symptoms and the recurrent UTIs that can arrive after menopause are extremely common, closely tied to the drop in oestrogen, and very treatable. It is that last part so many women are never told. Sarah walks through the full range of options, from moisturisers and lubricants and where each one fits, to vaginal oestrogen and how it works, to newer options like prasterone and non-hormonal hyaluronic acid preparations, so you can see a clear path rather than a dead end.
The throughline is the one we care about most: knowing the difference between what is normal and what needs review, so you can make decisions from information rather than fear. These are not symptoms to quietly put up with. They are symptoms to understand, and in most cases, to treat.