When women visit the doctors their common and treatable pains often go overlooked or mismanaged, according to a new study.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) reviewed several studies involving women and pain. The review found that women often suffer unnecessarily from conditions ranging from backaches to pain after cancer surgery, and also treat their pain with medications that may be ineffective and possibly harmful, according to a news release.
Dr. Donna-Ann Thomas, a member of ASA's Committee on Pain Medicine, said she frequently sees women silently suffering for years over treatable pains.
"I can't tell you the number of women I see who have been told they just have to live with the pain," Thomas said in the release of women who come to her with sciatica - a type of back pain that radiates down the leg. "It's just heart breaking because many of these women have been suffering a long time. Women, especially older women, are less likely to speak up and seek treatment for their pain."
Patients with pain are treated by specialists who have went through four years of medical school, had further training in a specialty (such as anesthesiology, internal medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, psychiatry or neurology), plus an additional year in training to become an expert in chronic pain. Certified specialists can be confirmed by a member board of the American Board of Medical Specialties.
The study review was published in the journal American Society of Anesthesiologists.
