Farrell, a former Miss Ireland, shared the story of how she ended up in the emergency room with a twisted ovarian cyst.
Farrell was 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 She had experienced pains during sex, but thought it was normal.
Farrell's story is not unique. Many women face difficulties getting diagnoses, care and treatment for such conditions, with some women waiting up to 12 years for help.
There are many reasons why women with these conditions wait so long for help. It comes down to how women's pain is normalized and dismissed in healthcare settings and society more widely.
In 2020, an Oxford school caused controversy by suggesting that girls should not miss school because of period pain. It was said that learning to deal with a monthly interruption is part of being a woman.
This shows a lack of understanding of how menstrual pain can be and how girls are taught early on to endure pain rather than seek help.
This could mean that girls with possible signs of infertility won't seek help. Many women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome report that they were expected to get on with their lives and accept that it is a woman's lot to suffer.
This attitude means that women are often not involved in their own care and that their complaints are often dismissed as women's problems. The arrogant culture of not taking women's concerns seriously has led to decades of medical scandals, avoidable patient harm, and needless suffering.
In the UK, the average wait for an endometriosis diagnosis is eight years. Patients can have up to ten doctor visits before being diagnosed.
It can take more than two years to get a diagnosis for PCOS. There are complex conditions with symptoms that can vary widely and also resemble other conditions. The diagnostic process is complex, which explains why it takes so long to diagnose.
It is not just about symptoms. The UK government's recent Women's Health Survey captured how women are ignored when they seek care. It can be hard for them to put their pain into words.
Having their pain dismissed leads many women on a quest for credibility, in the hopes that they will be believed that symptoms are not just in their head. It can lead to lower self esteem and even depression if your experiences are not believed by healthcare professionals.
The struggles that many women experience when trying to receive a diagnosis for these types of conditions is part of a larger problem when it comes to women's health. The gender health gap is a result of women having less access to healthcare and treatment than men.
Women are more likely to suffer poorer outcomes when they are treated by male doctors. Women are more likely to die from heart attacks as their symptoms can be different from men.
Women's pain is treated less aggressively than men's even when they rate it more severe.
Black women living in the US and UK are more likely to have a gender health gap. White women are more likely to be diagnosed with the disease. They are more likely to develop uterine fibroids and are more likely to have disabling symptoms.
Black women may be more affected by the disease. Poorer access to healthcare might be one of the reasons for this.
While problems with women's health are being recognized, repeated calls in the past to raise awareness and education for girls, women, and healthcare professionals haven't led to much-needed change. It is essential that better, evidence-based resources are developed for both women and health professionals to ensure that every woman can receive the right care.
It is simplistic to assume that the difficulties women face in accessing equitable healthcare and the right diagnosis will be solved by more information alone.
We must address the larger societal issues of stigmatizing and de-prioritizing women's health, the inadequate funding for women's health research and the implicit gender and racial biases that underpin current health inequalities.
Changes in the way women's healthcare is delivered are unlikely to happen soon. It is important that women continue to advocate for their own health.
Continue to seek help if you suspect you have something. Keep a record of your pain and symptoms so you can discuss them with your doctor. You don't have to put up with pain.
Anne-Marie Boylan, Senior Research Fellow, University of Oxford, Annalise Weckesser, Senior Research Fellow, Medical Anthropology, and Sharon Dixon, Researcher, Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford are all related.
This article is free to use under a Creative Commons license. The original article is worth a read.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
