‘ Women ’ s pain ’ – not just ‘ women ’ s pain ’

Women really do get a rough deal when it comes to pain. We live with the myth that because women experience pain in childbirth and (often) with periods of course women can ‘deal with it.’ Until recently women and female animals haven’t been included in pain research, and guess what? Women and female animals don’t have the same biological system for processing nociception. Men are told ‘don’t be a girl’ about their pain. Women are told they ‘look too good’ to be experiencing pain. Women don’t get taken seriously when they ask for help with their pain – and get given more psychological labels and help instead of appropriate investigations and effective analgesia. I’ve just reviewed a whole heap of research papers looking at the differences between men and women, boys and girls and pain. It doesn’t make for happy reading, and even though I was fully aware of the disparity I have been thunderstruck at how pervasive pain in women is dismissed. Let’s look at some facts for women in New Zealand. https://minhealthnz.shinyapps.io/nz-health-survey-2021-22-annual-data-explorer/_w_37711963/#!/explore-indicators This survey asks the question: Do you have chronic pain that is present almost every day, but the intensity of the pain may vary, and has lasted, or is expected to last, more than six months. This includes chronic pain that is reduced by treatment? By comparison, As...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Tags: Pain Pain conditions Chronic pain gender gender disparity Health healthcare Research sex women Source Type: blogs