Decades of medicine dismissing women’s pain

It is evident from various sequences of events that there are differences in how men and

women are treated for feeling immense pain. In India, there are so many stances where

we can witness health inequality between men and women. In a Harvard health

publishing Laura Kiesel contributed an article about health inequality in the United States, she mentioned an op-ed piece that was posted by The New York Times where a man’s pain was dealt with utter seriousness in his workplace. While men’s health is equally important, why is a woman’s health often not dealt with as seriously as a man’s?

Women are more likely to endure pain. About 90% of women suffer from dysmenorrhea

each month and some are not even provided with the necessary sanitary care that they

need. Talking about menstruation and catering to menstrual needs in India is still

considered taboo. In some cases, women are given period delaying medicines like

Norethisterone to stop menstruation during festivals. Period delaying medicines can be

highly dangerous for some women as it alters natural cycles and can impact the body.

Health inequality is also the result of male physiology being more researched, most

disease concepts are based on working for the male body.

Consider this, if there aren’t enough studies or research for symptoms for particular malfunctions in the female body, one can easily misdiagnose. Misdiagnosing can have fatal repercussions and might even lead to demise.

Along with that, birth control pills that women have to take not only for sexual experiences but for period control have numerous side effects which can lead to heavy stress, depression, nausea, weight gain, migraines, and more. Medicine often ignores the

symptoms a woman can have after taking a particular medicine which can lead to

damaging consequences that women have to deal with eventually.

We can only hope for a better healthcare system for women that caters to special needs

and different symptoms since treatment and medicine can be individualized. Being in good and sanitary health is even more difficult for women without privilege.

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