Sexual Health, Painful Sex, and Wellness Tech with HerMD Founder Dr. Somi Javaid
Show Snapshot:
Temperature check! A healthy sex life is a crucial barometer for your overall health. If you are experiencing painful sex, pelvic floor issues, lack of lubrication and arousal, and biggies like vaginismus, lichen sclerosis, and bladder leaks, stop what you’re doing and listen to today’s show. Women’s sexual health pioneer and founder of HerMD, Dr. Somi Javaid, downloads on the latest in sexual wellness high-tech. Think vaginal Botox, lasers, and microneedling, and more. Yup! New solutions for age-old problems exist; this show gets you up to speed! Bonus! Does menopause’s hormonal roller coaster have you sprouting unwanted hair? Learn about advances in laser hair growth.
Show Links:
Follow Dr. Javaid
Quotable:
Women and patients who are having sex have lower resting heart rate. They have lower blood pressure. They tend to be happier; they're more confident. So your sex life doesn't just affect what's going on in the bedroom. It affects almost every aspect of your life.
Transcript:
Katie Fogarty 0:03
Welcome to a certain age a show for women who are unafraid to age out loud. I'm your host Katie Fogarty beauties. Sometimes I've joked that I learned more about caring for my body and women's health from becoming a podcaster than I ever did from visiting the doctor's office. But in truth, I'm only half joking. We have an incredible need here in the US for better health and sexual health care for women, particularly for women in midlife. If you've struggled to find a doctor who gets it who makes you feel seen and supported, who was an expert in menopause and the challenges and changes that happen to women's sexual health. You are going to be thrilled to meet today's guest, Dr. Swamy. Javaid, Dr. Javaid wears a lot of hats. She is a board certified OBGYN. Leading women's sexual health thought leader, menopause advocate and the Founder and Chief Medical Officer of her MD per MD is exactly what it sounds like a provider of health care by and for Women and Gender expansive people that focuses on sexual health, menopause, Gynecology, medical esthetics, and so much more. Today we're going to explore how tech advances in medicine are transforming women's sexual health care. Buckle up beauties. We are getting into it all. Welcome Dr. Javaid.
Dr. Somi Javaid 1:19
So happy to be here.
Katie Fogarty 1:21
I'm really excited because I've had the pleasure of hearing you speak at some of the menopause events that took place in New York in October around world menopause month. I know that we both believe in a woman's right to wellness, I would love to start by having you share what made you decide to launch her MD
Dr. Somi Javaid 1:38
I got a phone call that nobody wants to get. And it was my father who said one sentence he was like so me you need to come home. And I had just been home because my 45 year old mother had been in and out of the hospital, struggling with left arm pain, shortness of breath, chest pain, and her doctors kept dismissing it as anxiety or stress. Or maybe you need a break from your children or a break from caffeine. Those of us who are non doctors can Google that now and be like, Oh my gosh, it was her heart. And it was her heart, she ended up getting rushed into a merchant quadruple bypass surgery. And luckily, she's alive to this day. But that was my truly aha moment that women needed an advocate and they needed data. I mean, she was a thin, nonsmoking woman was very active in science and data at the time could not explain why she would ever present with for vessel disease. And so I you know, was pre med at Northwestern at the time, went on to medical school and residency, and then witnessed our very broken healthcare system firsthand, just trying to see 50 patients a day. And not only was I not providing good medicine, I felt like an utter failure. I was nowhere near the promise that I had made to my mother or to myself to be an advocate for women. And so when the timing was right, I opened the first term MD in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was a place for sexual health care, gynecology and menopause for women. And I wrote three words on a piece of paper, empower, educate, advocate. And that was the mission of the company.
Katie Fogarty 3:36
So that is such an incredible mission. And I know you're very busy giving incredible health care to women now across this country. But when you when you have a moment, you need to make sure that those three words are part of edge medical education in this country, because I have learned from recording the show that that those three words aren't always front and center in the in the care that we're giving to women in the care that women are receiving. I've been surprised also to learn about the sort of the lack of access to to great health care and medical providers who get it and I know that there her MD model really addresses that you shared an interesting story when I heard you speak about the number of patients that flooded into your first location. And I would love it if you can share that with our listeners.
Dr. Somi Javaid 4:25
Yeah, so of course you meet those people that are dreamers and believers in your mission even more than you are at times and my sister who happens to me my co founder, was helping me with marketing. And we noticed that that women were coming from 35 states and three countries to Ohio and Kentucky our first two locations this is before we raised any money. And you know, we are not known for travel tourism other than the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. And so that was the impetus to really scale and as We've gone into these tier two markets or care deserts. You know, we're in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and now New Jersey. We have waitlists of 500 to over 1000 women who want sexual health care, menopause and gynecology in a insurance based system that is both brick and mortar and virtual. And that is the real difference. And you're right, the lack of access to care. There's not enough providers who are trained in menopause and sexual health care. In fact, less than 20% of OBGYN and because of these barriers, lack of education, lack of time with our providers, lack of funding lack of data, there's up to a 10 year delay in diagnosis for women, we wait longer for pain medications in ers than our male counterparts. And we're more likely to die of cardiovascular disease like my mother, at the hands of our providers unless they're female. So this gender disparity, this delay in care, this delay in access is so real and so palpable, even in 2023. It breaks my heart there are 50 million women in the United States who are menopausal and 70 million that are struggling with sexual dysfunction. It's crazy. The numbers are X. Yeah,
Katie Fogarty 6:19
the numbers are absolutely astonishing and really enraging. And I feel so grateful to healthcare providers like you that are looking to sort of shift this equation and and sort of just step into the breach of these health care deserts, which is shocking that exists in such a wealthy country like the US. I know that you have brick and mortar locations, you also offer virtual services can you share for our listeners, if they're listening from one of these care deserts? How does virtual treatment work at her MD?
Dr. Somi Javaid 6:50
So obviously, we haven't figured out yet how to do pap smears. But you know, I'm sure one day we will figure that one out as well. What's really nice is we are able to help with sexual health consults, menopause consults, wait, weight management, that's a huge issue and perimenopause and menopause. I know you have a lot of experts to talk about that. And so there are so many things, abnormal uterine bleeding, endometriosis that we can help facilitate, do the consult, and then we can send order. So if they live in Colorado, and they want imaging, you know, in that area, you know, we can send those orders we're not treating in Colorado now we were during COVID, because it was very easy. The government and restrictions had made it very accessible. But for our patients who live really far away from a her MD, they're able to come in once to the brick and mortar and then we are able to treat them for an additional 364 days through our telehealth option. And there are so many things that we can address. And people ask, well, what are women's sexual health issues? You know, because for men we know it's usually a physical problem, erectile dysfunction. But women can have problems with libido, arousal, orgasm, pain, satisfaction, lubrication. I mean, there are so many facets, we call them the domains of sexuality. And we offer longer appointment times. That's what makes us really, really different. There are no five minute appointment times their 20 to 60 minute appointment times that we offer so we can really get into what is going on with your health care. Yeah, I
Katie Fogarty 8:26
absolutely love the fact that you're able to offer those longer times to people because it is hard to sort of break down and unpack very intimate healthcare challenges like sexual wellness, like describing pain, pain and sex. I know that your website says the healthy sex life is a barometer for your overall health and wellness. I definitely want to explore that we're heading into a break, but we're going to come back and pick this up. Dr. Dre, we're back from our break. When we went into it. We talked about how a healthy sex life is a great barometer for your overall health and wellness. So you outline some of the issues that women come to you with painful sex use or lack of lubrication. Let's start with sort of a biggie, which I know that it's come up on numerous shows, I hear this message in the DMS from from listeners. Painful sex is something that a lot of women grapple with in Peri and post menopause. There's a number of causes lack of lubrication, muscle tone, and more. You have a number of ways of addressing this, but I want to ask you particularly about Empower RF technology. I've seen it on your website, what is this and how does it work?
Dr. Somi Javaid 9:31
Okay, so that's a lot to unpack.
Katie Fogarty 9:37
We could talk about this all day. By the way painful sex is something we could talk about all day long. I know.
Dr. Somi Javaid 9:43
Because you you know painful sex is three basic areas, right? It's either on the outside or the vulva in the canal, the vagina or deep in the pelvis, which can be caused by fibroids or endometriosis. So, an para RF can deal with vulvar or external pain. People will call it insert personal pain or vaginal pain. And so it is a combination of radiofrequency, or energy, right and micro needling and what you're doing, a lot of women have heard this for the face, but it causes a controlled injury. So the body goes, oh my gosh, I need to repair this. And so women are numb, and you perform this, radiofrequency microneedling. And what we saw was market improvement and sexual pain and incontinence. And we saw such great results that we were asked to present our research at the menopause society, because we saw 90 to 95% success rates with genital urinary syndrome of menopause, and incontinence. And so this is really, really forward thinking data. And optionality, think about it for women who either don't want to take hormones who aren't candidates for hormones, and the lubrication, it's great, like lubricants are amazing moisturizers are great, but they don't change the anatomy. And so if you look at a biopsy pre and post of a vagina, after you've done the micro needling, it's amazing, you actually see new vessels increased collagen, increased thickness of the tissue, because what's happening, a healthy vagina looks like an accordion and has these deep bolts, so it can stretch and accommodate your partner as we go into menopause, or we take medications that lower hormones, whatever it may be, that tissue thins. And so instead of becoming like an accordion, we're like a tube sock. And so it doesn't stretch, and it can rip. And that's what can cause a lot of the burning and pain. And so when you apply this technology, you restore the anatomy, back to I hate the word normal, but normal function and so then women can have sex pain free. And so it's truly groundbreaking. Obviously more studies need to be done. It's not covered by insurance. And it probably because of lack of data. And so that is why we love doing these groundbreaking studies at her MD
Katie Fogarty 12:12
Yeah, it's it's absolutely so fascinating to to take this technology that I agree and many women associate with your face, you get microneedling to stimulate collagen in the face. Obviously, we would love to have this accordion versus the tube sock. These are very, these are wonderful, wonderful visual images. So if we are if we are looking for accordions, you know how often does one use and power RF? Is it something that you need to do annually? Is it something that you do monthly? What kind of commitment does it take for a patient?
Dr. Somi Javaid 12:40
So it really depends on why someone's doing it? Are they just having you know, pain, are they also having the incontinence piece and the laxity in the pelvic floor and you asked me about that, you know, the muscles that surround the vaginal opening, but also the urethra, surround the urethra and surround the rectum and really help us not urinate or defecate when we don't want to have those powerful orgasms. And so there's also a handpiece called V tone, which is I know, everyone's seen emsculpt That you know, sculpts your abdomen, but you place the V tone in the vagina. And this causes 1000s of key goals in one sitting and can really help with the pelvic floor health as well. And so usually, it's anywhere from three to six treatments on a weekly to bi weekly cadence. And then usually people will need maintenance every six to 12 months just depending on the severity. You know how thin or friable is the tissue? How bad is the incontinence? Is it the right type of incontinence? You know, usually the one with cough laughs knees is the type that we can treat, not where there's, you know, true nerve damage. And so very exciting technology and can avoid surgery. And for some women can avoid hormones, particularly if they are not candidates. That's so
Katie Fogarty 14:04
great to know. And also that laugh. Sneeze pee issue is you know, it's real. You know, like I used to joke like, you know, the only thing I ran for is a bus, you know, like Yeah, and I am dragging because I am on tennis courts and paddle courts and I'm running but you know, these do become issues. I've had three kids that you know, definitely have had some pelvic floor issues, and I've done some pelvic floor therapy with a pelvic floor therapist, which I can highly recommend to to people who have not considered that as an option. Is that something that you offer in her MD? Or is it more of these, you know, sort of technology interventions?
Dr. Somi Javaid 14:38
Oh no. So we take what is widely accepted with sexual health experts and nerds is the bio psychosocial approach. So yes, we offer FDA approved medications. Yes, we offer hormones. Yes, we perform procedures. But absolutely we refer right now to pelvic floor, physical therapists and also sexual health counselors. So It is that dynamic bio psychosocial approach, which actually gives us our unbelievable outcomes and really gets people to the sexual health life that they want. I mean, think about it for a second, why do I say sexual health care is health care when you are ill or sick, the last thing you want to do is have sex and that is normal. So that's why we say it's a barometer of your overall health, it is not another vital sign for me and women and patients who are having sex, they have lower resting heart rate, they have lower blood pressure, they tend to be happier, they're more confident. So your sex life doesn't just affect what's going on in the bedroom or wherever you're choosing to have sex. It affects almost every aspect of your life and so that is why it is so imperative to talk about sexual health care as part of the whole health picture.
Katie Fogarty 15:53
Yeah, the whole healthy Integrative Health is where it's there's there's so many different components to it too and you know, I've actually had friends sort of joke to me that you know, if they're if their partner went away, they would never have sex again. And you know, I think that caring for your sexual like organs and tissues I've learned this from this show goes way beyond sex you know, you need to keep the your vaginal your vagina healthy because you can have you know, your all your lower Oregon's healthy because you can have infections take root, you know, UTIs all sorts of things that happen if you're not caring for your tissues. So it's not it's not even your sexual wellness seems to be beyond even just sex. You know, it's just it's health and care for all your all your tissues.
Dr. Somi Javaid 16:33
So you're not paying on yourself while you're playing pickleball. Exactly,
Katie Fogarty 16:37
exactly. Yeah, it's a quality of life issue. Right. So, you know, sexual wellness is not just about sex, it's about quality of life. I guess you said it much better than I than I did. But it's important to take care of these things. So I wanted to ask you about something that I saw on your website that I I love that you said micro needling is you know beyond just your face, we can use it to improve the health of your of your vaginal walls. I know that you also offer vaginal Botox at her MD everyone is listening to the show is heard of Botox, but this notion of vaginal Botox may be new to our listeners. This is not used for treating vaginal wrinkles. Can you share with this treatment does and why it's used?
Dr. Somi Javaid 17:18
Yes. So we are not promoting vaginal. Kazmi cysts are telling you you're gonna walk out with a prettier vagina or telling you that your vagina needs to look prettier. It is truly to treat something called vaginal dryness, which is a very distressing condition for women. It's an involuntary contraction of the muscles surrounding the vaginal opening which can render intercourse tampon use use of sexual tools and toys impossible. And so it's very distressing. I have had couples who've been married for eight years, not be able to have penetrative intercourse. I've had women that cannot use tampons and their swimmers. And so it's very distressing and almost disabling. And there are very few doctors that are trained in injecting the muscles around the vaginal opening, right? So Botox paralyzes muscles, that's why you don't get wrinkles in your face. And so with our multi step algorithm, our approach, women after this one treatment, are able to have intercourse, and that's the other data we presented. We had a 95% success rate with the Botox and an 88% Return to sexual function with the Botox injections. And that's where I started to see people traveling from all over the country and the world to come see her MD providers, because we are trained in this. And so it is so gratifying when you have couples who then write to you or send you flowers and say thank you, we are now having sex because that was the goal for them. Yeah, absolutely.
Katie Fogarty 18:55
I imagine that condition makes it even hard to have internal exams with a speculum, you know, things that are so important.
Dr. Somi Javaid 19:03
Ya know, those women will usually have to go to sleep, or they'll just avoid preventative care altogether. Right. And so it Yes, it is a very, very disabling condition. And you can imagine the mental health component to it as well, because a lot of these patients will stop dating and become completely isolated. And this doesn't just affect you in your 40s and 50s. It can affect you at a much earlier age. And so everyone around them as dating, and they're not and so it really really affects their mental well being as as well. Yeah,
Katie Fogarty 19:36
that's it sounds so, so challenging. And it's so important to bring sunshine to these topics because I'd never heard of this condition until I spend time on your website. Thank you for for sharing it. And, you know, the more we talk about these things, the more we let people know that these these situations exist that help is out there. I think of when I had my first urologist on this podcast, my DMs blew up with people reaching out To me to share what they have been going through and the struggles that they've had that that urologists noted that most women show up in her office after they've been suffering for 10 years. And I think that that is that's such a, you know, painful statistic to hear. We, you know, we need to be recognizing that if we're suffering that help us out there. So you are doing such great work. You also address another condition that I learned about on your website as well that I've actually bumped up against in different podcasts that sexual wellness podcasts that I follow. I'm probably going to mangle this condition. I hope you'll help me with it. It's a dermatological condition called is a Lycan sclerosis. You nailed it. Yay. Okay. Sometimes when you see things printed, and you say them, it just doesn't work. So I'm glad that I'm glad I I'm glad I nailed it. But I know that this causes itches, you know, itching, burning painful sex. While I think it affects, you know, under 20% of women, but that's still a pretty sizable population of people suffering. I learned from your website that this is more common in postmenopausal women, which is our like a large chunk of our audience, can you share what this condition is and how lasers that you use your office can help address it?
Dr. Somi Javaid 21:19
Yeah, so Lycan sclerosis, we do see a peak in perimenopausal menopausal women, we think it's the drop in estrogen, right, because we know estrogen supports healthy tissue. And you nailed it, it causes itching, irritation, but the biggest thing that it causes is pain, and very thin skin and actually changes the anatomy, women will come to me and say they no longer recognize themselves anymore. And sometimes sex becomes impossible, because as the body notes that just like a cut or a tear, the body will repair itself, right. And so things will start to stick together. And so women will get scarring and be able to unable to horseback ride or I had a cyclist who was unable to sit on her cycle anymore. I had, you know, people that were unable to have intercourse. And so what we have found is co2 laser can actually help these women that have been resistant to traditional therapies, you know, and traditional therapies have been estrogen and immune modulators and steroids, but sometimes patients fail those treatments. And after that, there's nothing else. And so how horrible is that, like, sorry, you can't write anymore. Like that is your favorite thing to do, whether it's a horse or a bike, or sorry, you can't have intercourse anymore. And so we produce data, with a co2 laser showing significant improvement in these patients. Like my question was back on our horse, my cyclist was back on our bike, or patients were all back to having intercourse. And there was significant improvement in their pain, their symptoms, and what the tissue looked like, because that was part of the thing that was so distressing to these patients. And now we're working with radiofrequency and micro needling for these patients haven't published anything yet. But stay tuned because we're always doing you know, very forward thinking things that her MD but I just remember for these patients, it like so many happy tears at the end of their treatment, because they were like, Thank you, thank you for giving us another option. And thank you for not giving up on us because you mentioned you know, the delay and how many years? I can't tell you how many times at her MDB here, oh my God, you're our eighth or ninth, you know, provider that we've been to. And so I love offering exciting innovation, innovative treatments for patients. Yeah, that's
Katie Fogarty 23:51
that eighth or ninth doctor you know, I hear that on virtually every doctor that comes on the show and it's not just with sexual wellness and you know, your your illogical issues I had a doctor on who is a specialist in female related hair loss and she to share that like most of her patients have seen six to eight people before they walk in her door. So I think it's just so important for listeners to be reminded that whatever it is that you're suffering from, there are truly doctors out there that can help you. And if you're not being served by your current providers, you know, it's time to get an action to find somebody new because whatever it is you're suffering from there is somebody who can help. So a question for you about the lasers and and this sort of delicate skin you mentioned micro needling, you know if a patient is undergoing this, you know, this is on very, very delicate skin. So how does that work? Are they you know, are they are they under like anesthesia? Is it a topical anesthesia, how does it work before you have these procedures?
Dr. Somi Javaid 24:51
So there are three different modalities of anesthesia at her MD So typically it's topical is what we prefer are. And then we also offer Pronax, which is like laughing gas. In addition to, which has been a game changer, we've been trialing it piloting that at a few of our locations. And then every her MD Center also has a Jayco accredited surgical center, we typically will not take patients back for these lasers haven't had to in the last nine years. But we do that for surgical interventions like we do ablations and remove fibroids and remove polyps. And so we're able to do that at all of our r&d centers, which is really nice, because patients are able to have surgery at our centers at well as well. And so the last thing you want to do is traumatized someone who already has very delicate skin, or who has tried this treatment somewhere else where they don't offer those pain relief modalities. And so no, our patients are either numb, and or have laughing gas. And for some patients who are truly unable to tolerate, if that comes up, we can put them to sleep with conscious sedation. Gotcha.
Katie Fogarty 26:02
Okay, terrific. So in terms of prevention, you know what, we've just covered a variety of modalities that you use to help people with conditions that they have. But for things like prevention, if we want to make sure we're not getting like in sclerosis, is this simply a matter of of HRT and making sure that we're using estrogen? Are there other preventative measures? Where do you land on keeping all of our, you know, tissues healthy, so we don't have to walk into your door.
Dr. Somi Javaid 26:32
I think you do have to walk in my door, so it doesn't happen or someone else's door. So preventative medicine, right, or we moved from early detection, first from treatment, early detection to now prevention. And so if no one is looking at your anatomy, you're never going to know that something is abnormal, because so few of us are even taught our own anatomy and what it should look like or how many patients say to me, I never looked down there. And I always joke like, What do you mean, you don't look down there. We don't understand exactly what all of the risk factors are. For lichen sclerosis, we definitely know when it peaks, or when we see it. But I would say make sure you're seeing your GP makes sure you're seeing your gynecologist, make sure you're looking at your anatomy from head to toe, it's how you're going to find abnormal moles, it's how you're gonna know that your anatomy is different. I tell women, nobody knows your body better than you do. So if you feel like something is off, either with symptoms or you physically feel something, you're gonna find it before I do, because I may only examine you once a year. And so self exams and also keeping up with your preventative health care. And I completely agree with you with the provider who wants to partner in your care. People always ask me well, how am I going to get my provider to listen, if your providers not listening? Please spend your time trying to find a provider who does listen and who wants to be a partner in your care?
Katie Fogarty 28:05
Yeah, absolutely. And and I will share that I joked at the top of the show that you know I've learned more from this podcast about my health and I you know have with my doctor but I have a very wonderful gynecologist, and she's actually a good friend. And she's such a good friend that when I was looking for a new gynecologist when I felt unheard, and I kept saying Who should I see? Everyone on the North Shore of Long Island said you need to see any of this adoptee and I'm like I do we play tennis. He was one of my best friends. And you know, I finally just said, okay, you know, I'm a grown up, I can, you know, I can see a need and a need to come see me and it's wonderful. So to be in the care of a doctor that really gets it and gets you is something that's so valuable. I also love your tip about doing your own self exams, you know, grab a mirror, figure it out and keep an eye on yourself because you know your body best. We're nearing the end of our time. But before we move into our speed round, Dr. Javaid, I wanted to ask you a last question which is not about sexual wellness, but it's another topic that I do know that women care about. And that is, you know, facial hair. We have this this can be a result of PCOS. It's also one of these baffling, you know, menopause symptoms that that can crop up. Why does this happen in midlife? What are the what are the treatments that you recommend it in your in in conduct in your office? And what should women know about how they can tackle this, this upsetting? side effect of of, you know, hormone imbalance?
Dr. Somi Javaid 29:36
I know people are always like, Why does hair grow where I don't want it to? Not where I want it to right. And so the first thing we do as board certified gynecologist and providers in that area is to find do a thorough history and physical exam and find out is it a problem? Is it polycystic ovary syndrome? Is it you know perimenopause, menopause. So, is there abnormally high levels of testosterone due to another endocrine issue. And so once we have figured it out, there are medications you can put people on to lower testosterone levels, although that can negatively impact sex drive. So it's a delicate balance. You know, there are topical creams that people can use if they want. But then the other beautiful thing is because we do have this medical spa and this integrative care at her MD, we do offer laser hair reduction, is what the FDA wants us to call it. You can't say removal anymore, because it can come Oh, okay. Yeah, particularly with truth in marketing, we like it. Yes, laser hair reduction, because it can come back. And it's not considered permanent, no matter how good your laser is, and may disappear for seven to 10 years. But you may need that, you know, redo again, and I just want women and patients to know that with eyes wide open. And then you know, sometimes it's a matter of putting you on, you know, birth control, if you want to lower the testosterone levels, the thing is, is the hairs that have become those thick, coarse hairs due to too much testosterone, we cannot, you know, eliminate those by medications that will either take a cream or laser hair removal. But that's what I love about the her MD model is that we offer that care continue in that spectrum. And do you want medication? Do you want to procedure Do you want to curate it, you know, direct to consumer products that we know works, because we've looked at the data. That's what I love about our approach. And the other thing I love about our approach that I want to mention is that we're facing a huge doctor shortage soon and provider shortage, because providers are burned out, it's estimated by 2025, we'll lose 47% of our workforce, because they don't have mission driven work, because they're burned out because they're trying to see 50 patients a day. And you can imagine if you have 40 to 60 minute appointment times and this care continuum, we don't do that to our providers. And so because of that our providers don't leave, which is amazing for our patients, and we offer them this holistic head to toe, you know, treatment modality, where providers are happy, and patients are happy. And
Katie Fogarty 32:23
you also offer it with insurance, which is amazing as well, you know that right? This is this is something that that that not every you know, we're moving into sort of concierge medicine where people have access to things, because they can afford it. But I know that that insurance is part of your model, and that makes this truly accessible to a wider range of people. My last question before the Speed Round is, you know, you mentioned that part of the genesis for your your interest in, in really addressing sort of the the gender gap in healthcare was your mom's, you know, heart surgery when you were young. Do you think you could have launched her MD when you were younger? Or did it take it into midlife to be able to, you know, to do all that it takes to do the fundraising to to you know, envision this to even recognize what it is women truly need?
Dr. Somi Javaid 33:16
I love that question. Because the question I got, as a founder is what took you so long? You know, because I am usually a decade older than other founders. But no, I don't think I could have done it earlier. Because if you add pre med medical school residency, and basically the two decades of field research I did listening to women and then experiencing myself what I needed as a provider for longevity and to stay and to really give good health care. I needed to build my career and to do that research, and then to frankly, be at a point in my career, where I could fundraise where I could take a salary cut, you know, as you're an entrepreneur, you're not always paying yourself and so I could not do it when I was paying back my loans or, you know, working 100 hours a week. And so for me, it was both personally and professionally the right time my children were older. And so you will see a lot of entrepreneurs in the medical field who are older than the other entrepreneurs because we had to do other things before we were ready to get there.
Katie Fogarty 34:27
And that is we for so many of us who we've had you know, we've had to do other things to get us to exactly the right point to launch whatever it is that we want a business a creative project, you know a reinvention. I love it. I'm always so curious to hear the answer to this question. Thank you for sharing yours. All right, we're moving into our speed round. This is just quick one to two word answers. Maybe a fragment of thought let's do this. Launching her MD was amazing. You are in I believe five locations dream location. out to open next. Atlanta, Georgia. Nice you do in person and virtual care patients might be surprised to know this is a common problem that we can easily treat online. low sex drive. Ooh, that is surprising. All right. You offer medical advice on menopause. What's a lifestyle hack that can make a difference? This can be for any symptom. Sleep. Yes. Okay. You have five locations. You're doing fundraising, which you talked about. I know you've given a TED talk. You have three kids. You have a lot on your plate. What is it personal lifestyle choice that keeps you sane?
Dr. Somi Javaid 35:35
hiking, playing being outside? All
Katie Fogarty 35:39
good stuff. All right. Finally, your one word answer to complete this sentence as I age I feel a sense of wonder. Oh my gosh, I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. Thank you so much. What a beautiful note to end on. Thank you, Dr. Javaid before we say goodbye. How can our listeners find you and learn more about her MD?
Dr. Somi Javaid 35:58
Her md.com and we are on Instagram. We are on Facebook. And then also personally, you can check out so much bade MD I have all the handles that you will provide to your listeners.
Katie Fogarty 36:11
Nice, perfect, those are all gonna go in the show notes. Thank you Dr. Jabez. This wraps a certain age a show for women who are aging without apology. And before I say goodbye a quick favor. I would love it. If you could take five minutes to write an apple podcast review. Did you learn something on today's show you plan to incorporate into your own life? Do you feel more connected to a tribe of amazing midlife women? If so, please take five minutes to rate or review the show over on Apple podcasts. Special thanks to Michael Mann seamie Who composed and produced our theme music See you next time and until then, age boldly duties.