It is very common to have some discomfort or pain with your periods, but ongoing pain can eventually cause a whole raft of problems and you may have a gynae condition that needs treatment. If you're struggling or worried it's not your imagination, you just need some help and advice.

If you have period pain, the time to see a specialist is if

• you still have pain causing interference to your life despite trying hormones or simple pain medications like panadol and NSAIDs (for example ponstan or nurofen)
• you can't take hormones because of medical reasons or because you're trying to get pregnant
• you've been unable to fall pregnant
• the pain interferes with intimacy in your relationship
• you're worried you have endometriosis because lots of family members have ityou've been reading about endometriosis and it all seems to fit what you're going through

It's pretty hard to measure this in real life, so the medical definition we go by is bleeding so heavy that it interferes with your physical, emotional, social and material quality of life.

It gives an indication that your bleeding is heavy if

• your bleeding lasts more than a week
• you need to change protection overnight
• you need to use double protection
• you have clots or flooding (where the bleeding can gush and go through to your clothes)

If your bleeding is making life difficult, we can usually give you some options that will help

If your cervical smear result has come back abnormal, you might be worried. But it is important to know that a positive result doesn’t meant that you have cancer. Most commonly, this result is due to the presence of human papillovirus (HPV virus) that can either be watched carefully or treated easily.

It is time to see a specialist if

• your smear keeps coming back abnormal
• your smear came back with high grade changes (as this might require treatment)
• your GP has commented that the cervix looked unusual when a smear was taken
• you have noticed bleeding after sex
• you are worried about your smear result and you want to talk to an expert

We can perform a detailed examination of the cervix with a colposcope (special magnifying instrument) to check for any cell changes and advice you how to best manage this.

Bladder leaking can often happen as we age or after childbirth but this doesn't mean you have to live with it forever. There are lots of really successful options, and while some women may be happy to manage with incontinence products, we can talk you through pelvic floor physiotherapy, medications or a number of different surgeries.

If you decide surgery is right for you, we have several options: a sling made of your own tissue (fascia), a mesh sling, a bulking agent (water-based gel) injection or a colpopsuspension. There is lots of negative information about mesh right now, but we can help you make sense of it and guide you through your decision making.