Compelling Reddit Thread Highlights That Women’s Pain Is Frequently Ignored

Oct 28, 2021 by apost team

There sadly seems to be a double standard when it comes to the health care and treatment that men and women receive. When it comes to having their needs met and their bodies respected, men are more likely to be taken care of more than women and in a more respectable way. Sexism and misogyny are unfortunately still very present against women when they visit their doctor’s office.

A Reddit user began a thread on Oct. 8, 2021, asking why it was so common for gynecological procedures to be done without pain medication or anesthetics, and it was clear that she was not alone in her concern. Several Reddit users flooded the comments section to share their own horrifying experiences from visits to their health care providers, both past and present.

Too many women have faced similar situations where they were told that their pain was fake or they were being too dramatic about how much a procedure hurt their body. However, studies have shown that doctors are more willing to cater to men’s needs than women’s needs at the doctor’s office. Women are tired of this and are starting to share more and more of their experiences to team up and really try to make a change for future generations.

The Reddit thread has since gone viral with more women speaking up about how disgustingly often their pain is ignored by health care professionals. Read on to find out more about this double standard in the industry and ways to help make a difference.

According to the Harvard Medical School, women are only half as likely to be prescribed painkillers for coronary bypass surgery compared to men who have undergone the same surgery. Women typically wait 65 minutes before receiving an analgesic for abdominal pain in the ER in the United States, while men only wait 49 minutes. It’s evident that men’s pain is taken more seriously than women’s, which has sparked an important conversion in the form of a Reddit thread.

The thread’s original poster (OP) started off her post by explaining how tired she is of the discrimination that women face when it comes to receiving medical treatment. “From being gaslighted, denied therapy or misdiagnosed, this discrimination often costs women their lives,” OP said.

She went into detail about how gynecological procedures are typically performed without pain medication or anesthetic. OP made it clear that she was talking about medications and anesthetics that doctors are fully capable of administering, but refuse to because they don’t believe their patients need them.

“If someone were to take a biopsy of the scrotum, you sure as hell know they would numb the area,” OP said. However, cervical biopsies and endometrial biopsies are usually taken without anything to dull the pain. Even IUDs are inserted without any kind of medication or numbing.

“It is horrific,” OP stated. “I’ve had an IUD inserted and I went hypotensive and passed out from the pain. I had to be monitored for several hours afterward.” OP also mentioned that most doctors aren’t even taught that there is a nerve to the clitorus that is often ignored during particular surgical procedures, which can lead to permanent damage.

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This kind of horror shouldn’t happen in the healthcare industry, and OP wanted to do something about it by starting a letter writing campaign to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). She asked if anyone else was willing to join.

Other Reddit users flooded the comments section with similar stories, sharing their personal pain and grievances. One user commented, “I had a cervical biopsy when I was 18 and the doc was like, ‘you’ll just feel a pinch.’ And then I felt, well a chunk of my cervix cut out and screamed.” The user continued, explaining how the doctor told her to stop crying and that she wasn’t “actually feeling pain” since there was no nerve ending there.

One user who works as a medical professional explained that even she didn’t think to ask for pain meds or anesthesia because she was so used to not getting anything like that. The user explained, “We’ve been so brainwashed to believe that ‘it’s just a pinch’ and now drive home and go make dinner. I’m a medical professional and had to read a thread on Reddit to realize I need to advocate for myself and I don’t need to be in pain during gyno procedures.”

A third user revealed that her gynecologist forgot to tell her to take pain medication prior to a procedure, but went ahead with it anyway, knowing that the Reddit user was going to feel some pain. Again, she received the “just a pinch” spiel that so many others have heard. The user said, “If doctors really think it doesn’t hurt, perhaps they should just shut up and deal with however we choose to express our clearly fake pain.”

What do you think about this Reddit thread? Have you ever experienced something similar to these women? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your friends and family, too.