Conditions & Treatments

What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture works to help maintain your body's equilibrium. It involves the insertion of very fine needles into specific points on the body to regulate the flow of 'qi', your body's vital energy. For a number of lifestyle and environmental reasons, qi can become disturbed, depleted or blocked, which can result in some symptoms of pain and illness. In certain instances, traditional acupuncture can be an effective therapy to help restore balance and promote physical and emo...

The tissue reaction to any injury is known as inflammation. Depending on the type of tissue involved and the amount of damage, the tissue may be restored to normal or scar tissue may form. Tissue injury is generally the result of surgery, infection, haemorrhage (heavy internal bleeding) or trauma.

An adhesion is a thin or thick band of scar tissue that joins two or more internal body surfaces together, hence covering adjacent organs and cavities. Most adhesions are only diagnosed at the time ...

IVF (In-Vitro Fertilisation) This is the most used assisted conception technique worldwide. IVF literally means fertilisation "in-glass", hence the origin of the name "test tube baby". For IVF, eggs are collected from the ovaries and then put together with sperm to fertilise in a laboratory dish before being transferred into the uterus (womb). Ovarian stimulation protocol IVF involves taking daily fertility drugs (hMG or recombinant FSH or recombinant FSH/LH with or without GnRH agonist or antag...

Women's wellbeing and the care given to ensure this goal may not be free of stress and anxiety. Counselling affords the opportunity to talk through difficult feelings and emotions that may arise from the results of investigations or treatment of a specific problem.
Counselling can provide dedicated time and a safe environment to explore emotions and to discuss feelings with a fully qualified professional who can listen with empathy, be non-judgemental and give enough support to overcome the dif...

What is Endometriosis?

The lining of the womb, known as endometrium, breaks down on a monthly cycle (menstrual period). Endometriosis is a condition whereby patches of the endometrium grow outside the uterus in other areas. These patches behave like the normal womb lining (shed on a monthly basis), but cause pain, subfertility and inflammation. One in ten women suffers from endometriosis during their reproductive age (16-45 years). Endometriosis is a condition that usually worsens with time a...

What is fertility?

About one in seven couples living in the western world have problems conceiving. It has been estimated that around 80 million of couples worldwide have some fertility problems. Fertility is the ability to conceive. The crucial step of this process is known as fertilisation -- an egg bursts from the follicle and is released from the ovary. The egg then travels along the Fallopian tube where, at some point, it fuses with the sperm to form a single cell. The fertilised egg ta...

About fibroids

Fibroids affect up to 40% of women over the age of 35. They are non-cancerous tumours that grow in the uterus and range in diameter from the size of a pea to the size of a grapefruit. The most common fibroids are intramural (growing within the muscular wall of the uterus). Subserosal fibroids grow just under the outer layer of the uterus and submucosal fibroids grow under the inner layer of the uterus known as endometrium. Fibroids, even large ones, may cause no symptoms in som...

What is Menopause?

The menopause is the brief time when a woman's reproductive life comes to an end. The ovaries stop producing eggs, the hormone "oestrogen" is no longer secreted and the menstrual periods end.

The average age of menopause in developed countries is around 51, with many women beginning to have symptoms from their mid- to late 40s. Some women may face the menopause earlier either physiologically or as a consequence of medical treatment or surgery. Women who smoke seem to rea...

About Minimal Access Surgery

Minimal access surgery has revolutionised the field of gynaecology becoming established in everyday practice. The use of minimally invasive approaches allows for a much more cosmetic surgery, resulting in less discomfort after the operation, short hospitalisation, quick recovery and prompt return to daily activities.

The majority of the gynaecological procedures can be performed using minimal access surgery, in the form of laparoscopy (keyhole surgery) or hyste...

Recurrent miscarriage is a devastating medical problem with far-reaching effects on the couple and the clinician. Few problems strike the heart of a relationship as forcefully as recurrent pregnancy losses and long standing infertility. It appears to be a close relationship between recurrent miscarriage and repeated implantation failure after in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), and some clinicians believe these are two faces of the same coin.

Recurrent miscarriage is defined as three or more consec...

The rising trend towards delayed parenthood is resulting in a greater number of women seeking conception at an older age. It has become very important to assess accurately the ovarian performance, as determined by the number of primordial follicles left in the ovary. Normal healthy eggs are essential to successful fertilisation and reproduction. The better the quality of a woman's eggs, the better her chances that a resulting embryo will be successfully implanted. Social habits, non-clinical an...

What is PCOS?

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the commonest endocrine condition (15-20%) affecting women of reproductive age. The presence on ultrasound scan of multiple, small, fluid filled cysts in the ovaries is known as polycystic ovaries, which may exist per se independent of the complex syndrome. To make the diagnosis of PCOS, according to published recommendations there must be two out of three of the following criteria:

• Multiple small cysts on one or more ovary. One or more...

What is the menstrual cycle?

The menstrual cycle is a physiological process that occurs in fertile women. It is under the control of a series of hormones and is necessary for reproduction. It may be divided into three phases: menstruation, follicular phase and luteal phase. Ovulation defines the transition from the follicular phase to the luteal phase. The the average menstrual cycle is 28 days but this may vary from woman to woman. Menstruation is the part of a woman's monthly menstrual cycl...

Salpingectomy - Salpingostomy

Salpingectomy refers to the surgical removal of a diseased fallopian tube. The procedure was first performed in women with a bleeding tubal pregnancy (ectopic pregnancy). Other indications for a salpingectomy include fluid-filled blocked tubes (known as hydrosalpinges). Salpingectomy is done in patients undergoing a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) plus oophorectomy (removal of the ovary).

Salpingectomy is different from salpingostomy, a procedure where an...

An ultrasound scan (USS) examination allows investigation of the inside part of the body using high frequency sound waves that are reflected as echoes and form a picture on the TV monitor. Ultrasound is a safe, non invasive and painless diagnostic technique. Many parts of the human body, including the pelvic organs (uterus, tubes and ovaries) can be investigated by ultrasound. Abnormalities which may be shown by ultrasound include abnormal thickness of the endometrium (lining of the uterus) fibr...