The Fabulous Pharmacist Laura Dowling: 'I grew up in Catholic Ireland, where vulvas and vaginas weren't talked about, sex and periods weren't talked about'

""At the time I met her, it was 10 years since she had been treated, on and off," Dowling says. "She came to me randomly, and within about a month, she was on her third box of Canesten cream. And I was like, 'that doesn't sound like thrush. You're postmenopausal and unless you're already taking a vaginal oestrogen, it seems very unlikely that it's thrush.'""

""Too embarrassed to confide in anyone, she treated herself again and again until eventually discovering the real issue was low oestrogen - uncovered only thanks to an encounter with Dowling at a Dublin pharmacy.""

""As she launches a book about women's bodies, Instagrammer, podcaster and author Laura Dowling - aka the Fabulous Pharmacist - tells how she wants to talk about women's health and taboo topics in a way that's relatable, funny and stigma-free""

A pharmacist and social-media influencer is focusing on women's bodies and taboo health topics, aiming to make conversations relatable, funny and stigma-free. A woman treated herself repeatedly for presumed thrush for about ten years because of embarrassment, and only after a pharmacy encounter was low oestrogen identified as the real issue. The pharmacist recommended considering vaginal oestrogen for postmenopausal symptoms and questioned repeated use of antifungal cream. The approach emphasises reducing embarrassment, improving symptom recognition, encouraging appropriate care-seeking, and addressing gaps in public awareness about menopausal and gynaecological health.

Read at Independent