⬻It’s all in your head⤖

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“My Physician dismissed my debilitating period of pain for years. She would not prescribe a stronger painkiller as, ‘It works for most women,’ but it wasn’t working for me! I was throwing up for 3 days out of every 28, from this horrendous period pain equivalent to labor contractions.  ” [5]

Dear Reader,

Imagine this: You’re at a party. There are loads of people there. Disco lights going on- lights somehow missing you. You try talking to some people, but it seems that no one can hear you.

Suddenly, there’s a wound in your lower stomach (stab?) with blood spurting out. It’s an excruciating pain that’s continuous and doesn’t stop.

Yet no one sees you or hears you. The party keeps going on- disco lights all over the room, still missing you.

Two words- All Alone. That’s what your feeling.

That’s how many, many women feel- alone. When they realize that bleeding buckets, excruciating pain following them isn’t healthy. They try to seek help and to diagnose this abnormality, only to be dismissed as normality or misdiagnosed.[6]

It’s not a funny business when a person tells you what you’re experiencing is normal when it’s not. It feels like the party situation- it’s like you are invisible.

What is the normality in this abnormality? It is the fact that it is conditioned in everyone’s brains that periods are supposed to be painful. But what if that ‘pain’ makes you want to cut your uterus out and kill yourself? [6-7]

Endometriosis.

A condition that {brace yourself} affects 1 in 10 women in reproductive years, that says approximately 176 million women in the world. Phew! [1-3]

What is Endometriosis, you say?

Good question.

Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus (the endometrial stroma and glands, which should only be located inside the uterus) is found elsewhere in the body. [1,4]

The very condition that is complex in nature to treat and to understand. Intellectuals and sufferers all over the world trying to understand what this condition is.

 

And if you see the side of the coin: A lack of awareness on the patient side can delay diagnosis tremendously.

Menstrual taboos still persist, whether by family or through sexual education, that period might be painful or uncomfortable. What they never understood was how painful (or not) an average period should be.

I’m Palasha, and I’m a physiotherapist. I come from a country where periods or anything related to women’s issues is a little stigmatized. [8]

I’m passionate about pelvic health, and I’m not afraid to talk about something which needs to be addressed and to normalize our pelvis. I mean, it is high time for that! Allow me to deliver the latest updated information on it and how, as a physiotherapist, I can play a role in treating it.

Before we sign off, I would like to ask you a question. What color ribbon do you think represents Endometriosis?

Until then,

With lots of love,

Palasha.

References:

1. org. (2019). Facts about endometriosis « Endometriosis.org. [online] Available at: http://endometriosis.org/resources/articles/facts-about-endometriosis/ [Accessed 19 Nov. 2019].
2. Rogers PA, et al. Priorities for endometriosis research: recommendations from an international consensus workshop. Reprod Sci 2009;16(4):335-46.
3. Adamson GD, et al. Creating solutions in endometriosis: global collaboration through the World Endometriosis Research Foundation. J of Endometriosis 2010;2(1):3-6.
4. Kennedy, S., Bergqvist, A., Chapron, C., D’Hooghe, T., Dunselman, G., Greb, R., Hummelshoj, L., Prentice, A., and Saridogan, E. (2005). ESHRE guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis. Human Reproduction, 20(10), pp.2698-2704.
5. Jennette Wright’s answer to Has a doctor gave you a stupid diagnosis like ‘it’s in your head’ because he couldn’t admit he couldn’t find out? – Quora. (2019). Retrieved 28 December 2019, from https://qr.ae/TSOLqZ
6. Thiagarajan, K (2019). ‘I’m trapped in the prison of my body’: The severe, chronic pain of endometriosis. [online] Scroll.in. Available at: https://scroll.in/pulse/872166/im-trapped-in-the-prison-of-my-body-the-severe-chronic-pain-of-endometriosis [Accessed 22 Nov. 2019].
7. Ballard K, e. (2019). What’s the delay? A qualitative study of women’s experiences of reaching a diagnosis of endometriosis. – PubMed – NCBI. [online] Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=What%E2%80%99s+the+delay%3F+A+qualitative+study+of+women%E2%80%99s+experiences+of+reaching+a+diagnosis+of+endometriosis [Accessed 23 Nov. 2019].
8. Mehedintu C, e. (2019). Endometriosis still a challenge. – PubMed – NCBI. [online] Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25408753 [Accessed 21 Nov. 2019].

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