The Pain Gap: raising awareness of pain in women’s health issues
In this second article devoted to analysing issues that need to be brought to the forefront of public awareness to support the femtech market, Josephine Ornago, owner at OutspokenPR, addresses the issue of pain in women’s health issues.
Specifically, women’s pain is still largely conflated with wellbeing issues and reports show it is less likely to be rapidly acknowledged as worthy of in-depth investigation.
Take pelvic pain for example: most women have been offered over the counter medication, told to use a hot water bottle and do some stretching to help reduce it. While these measures can help relieve passing pain, they may also make it harder to get a quick diagnosis for a range of more serious issues. As femtech startups tackling endometriosis, heavy menstrual bleeding, fibroids, urinary incontinence, polycystic ovaries, ovarian cysts, menopause, fertility issues, sexual health, and cancers continue to enter the market, they have a clear interest in ensuring that sufferers are able to access their products in a timely manner, instead of having their pain dismissed for months or years.
A recent report suggests that women are more likely to experience pain than men, with one in six experiencing pain every day. Worse still, 1 in 2 women report feeling that they had their pain ignored or dismissed because of their gender. As a result women are less likely to receive pain relief than men and face longer waiting times for diagnosis; in fact, a study by King Edward VII’s Hospital found that average diagnosis times for a women’s health condition are two years and three months. Of those affected by women’s health conditions, 30% were still waiting for a formal diagnosis. This result is corroborated by the Neurofen Gender Pain Gap report which found that 47% of women surveyed receive a diagnosis for their pain within 11 months, compared with 66% of men.
If women’s pain goes consistently unheeded, then it follows that the number of women suffering, the length of time they suffer for before getting a proper diagnosis and the resulting length of treatment they will need may all skyrocket too. In addition to perpetuating unnecessary suffering, the existing mindset concerning pain in women is reported to be driving up mental health issues among sufferers; studies suggest that nearly 25% of women enduring symptoms say the health issues have harmed their mental health, adding another complaint to their existing problems.
Although pain in general remains difficult, if not impossible, to measure, there is still globally a shameful attitude towards the pain felt by women, especially when it is connected to reproductive and female health issues. Ever practical, women are largely happy to take control of the issue and are calling for more resources to aid better conversations between them and their HCP (20%). More public awareness can also provide them with tools and data to demand that their pain gets the proper attention, but most importantly it can help finally enact a much needed change in biased mentality.
Living with pain is simply not an option and it not only impacts people’s quality of life but also the wider economy, with 20% of women compared to 16% of men reporting pain so debilitating it stopped them from working. At the same time, when pain is impacting mental health, physical issues will conflate with mental issues resulting in a much broader, complex and more costly path to health for the patient and the healthcare system.
With an issue so broad and urgent, there are multiple arguments in support of creating a more rapid pathway to the treatment and medical devices being developed by the many new femtech businesses flooding the market. Driving pain up from the bottom of the agenda, where it has been banished alongside sniffles and headaches, is key to ensuring the conditions they address are diagnosed rapidly and efficiently, creating a healthy competitive environment for businesses, as well as providing millions of women with a way out of pain.