Body: Health Conditions & Female Bodies - Refinery29 UK

Skip navigation!

So That's Why You Get So Horny During Your Period

Kasandra Brabaw

A Jargon-Free Guide To Understanding Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

The Cosy Cardio Club: The TikTok Trend That’s Making Working Out Fun Again

Reproductive Health

‘My Uterus Is A Curse’: The Hidden Weight Of Heavy Menstrual Blee...

For a group of people that have been constantly reprimanded for being weak and overly sensitive, the pain — physical and otherwise — that women and all

I Posed Naked For 30 Strangers & It Changed How I Viewed My Body

I’m in a room full of strangers. Nobody is speaking. Candles dot the cement floor, flicking orange light onto the walls. The air is cool and heavy; someo

by Madeleine De la Jara

Women’s World Cup 2023: Why Is It Important For FIFA To Pay...

It was July 2019 in Lyon, France. The USA had just beaten the Netherlands to win the eighth FIFA Women’s World Cup, with two goals scored by Megan Rapino

by Anna Fielding

AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT

Periods Are Finally Mainstream In Sport. What Took Everyone So Long?

When triathlete Emma Pallant-Browne crossed the finish line in fourth place at the PTO European Open in May — after passing 12 women on the run — she w

by Sadhbh O'Sullivan

Chronic UTIs Plague Women Across The UK — Why Does No One Care?

A few summers ago, 20-year-old Beth was a student, working part-time at her local garden centre. She had had urinary tract infections (UTIs) on and off sin

by Agnes Arnold-Forster

Be Honest, Do I Smell?

There’s a scene from Mad Men that I think about a lot. Peggy Olson, the young copywriter, is confidently delivering a pitch to an important client. The c

by Sadhbh O'Sullivan

Queer Women Can Get HPV Too — & It’s More Common Than You T...

Many rumours swirl around the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which is tested for during a cervical screening. Sometimes rumours are just rumours, but in the

by Sadhbh O'Sullivan

Beauty In A Tik

Why People Are Using Glycolic Acid As Deodorant

Welcome to Beauty In A Tik, where each week we put TikTok’s viral beauty hacks and innovative trends to the test. When it comes to beauty hacks, TikT

by Jacqueline Kilikita

Healthy Lifestyle Tips

How To Sleep When It’s Unbearably Hot Outside

Every summer I wonder if it’s hot enough to get an air conditioning unit and every summer I remember it’s bad for the environment and this is t

Hourglass Syndrome Sounds Innocuous, But It Left Me With Permanen...

Content warning: This article discusses body image in a way that some readers may find distressing. For me, growing up fat was equivalent to being cursed.

by Aastha Agrawal

I Got My Chest Lasered To Improve My Skin & I Learned A Lot

Outdated phrases such as ‘anti-ageing’ and ‘anti-wrinkle’ are slowly but surely being replaced by healthier, more inclusive ideas.

by Jacqueline Kilikita

What It’s Like To Get A Smear Test When You’ve Never ...

I was not expecting to receive my smear test letter before I turned 25, so when mine fell through the letterbox in mid-March — exactly six months befor

by Mollie Quirk

BMI Can’t Tell The Full Story Of A Person’s Health, S...

I don’t remember as much about being 18 as I probably should, given it was relatively recent. I have far more distinct memories of my early teenage years

by Sadhbh O'Sullivan

PCOS Cannot Be ‘Cured’ – But TikTok Disagrees

Like many people after receiving a diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), Mia*, age 25, was left with more questions than answers. She recalls bein

by Daisy Schofield

I Had A 10cm Ovarian Cyst But Doctors Didn’t Believe Me

When Selling Sunset’s Chrishell Stause and model Hailey Bieber recently revealed they were suffering with ovarian cysts, I knew full well how they felt.

by Lauren Potts

AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT

Self-Harm Is Not ‘Attention-Seeking’, It’s R...

Warning: This article discusses sexual assault, abuse and self-harm in a way that may be distressing to some readers. “It got to the point where I co

by Ellie Broughton

Period Positivity Defined The 2010s. Did It Deliver?

In January, the period underwear brand Thinx settled a class-action lawsuit which alleged that Thinx products contain harmful chemicals, specifically PFAS

by Sadhbh O'Sullivan

No One Needs Kourtney Kardashian’s Vagina Detox Gummies

We are in celebrity wellness hell. The other week, Gwyneth Paltrow, actress and founder of wellness brand Goop, made headlines after sharing her worryingly

by Chanté Joseph

The Key To Feeling Confident As A Short Woman, According To A Psy...

My height is not something I tend to sit around and think about all that often. As someone who’s just shy of 5’2″ and not a huge fan of h

by Nina Miyashita

Period Flu: The Endometriosis Symptom Your Doctor’s Probabl...

Around 2014 I found myself regularly coming down with classic flu symptoms. A raised temperature, sore throat, aching limbs, heavy fatigue and sore lymph n

by Lisa Sinclair

Everything I Wish I’d Known About Breast Reduction

The unspooled roll of hospital paper dulls the coldness on my back as I lie on the bed, waiting for expert hands to weigh up the scale of my disproportiona

by Aimée Walsh

My Rare Chronic Illness Is Now Viral On TikTok

Mollie, 25, lives with a condition that causes a racing heart, palpitations, intense fatigue, fainting and brain fog. It reduces her ability to stand or wa

by Agnes Arnold-Forster

As A Size 20, I’m Troubled By The Term ‘Midsize’

If you’ve been on TikTok recently, you’ve probably been met with countless women referring to themselves as ‘midsize’. The #midsize hashtag has ama

by Sienna Barton

I Changed My Contraception To Save My Relationship

“I have turned into someone I don’t recognise, someone who falls into fits of rage over the slightest things, who is so irritable and self-centred,

Everything That Happened When I Came Off The Pill After 6 Years

I went on the contraceptive pill when I was 17 without knowing much about what it would do to my body. I’d see my friends pull out the plastic packets du

by Alice Porter

Being Fat & Pregnant Is Not A Crime

“I had a sonographer pat my stomach and say, ‘It’s difficult to get a clear picture because of this,’ meaning the extra weight I have.&

by Sadhbh O'Sullivan

Baby Trapping: Do Women Really ‘Steal’ Sperm?

“I think she saw it as taking matters into her own hands,” says Charlotte*, 33. She is talking about a woman who, two years into her relationsh

AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT