Most women--and indeed, many health care professionals--don’t know that women experience pain differently from men, and respond to medications in different ways; indeed, many common pain relievers do less for women than for men. In addition, for many ailments, women often exhibit entirely different symptoms than men do. Studies also show that women feel more pain, seek help more aggressively, and are more open to alternative treatments than men.
Unfortunately, most doctors are unaware of the gender gap in pain treatment--or simply choose to ignore it. Yet, one out of five women suffers some sort of pain every day. Conditions such as osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, and migraine headaches can cause pain that is agonizing and unceasing, but too often women are told that the symptoms are “all in your head,” or that pain is “just a fact of life.”
In Women and Pain, my co-author Mark Young, M.D., a pain specialist and acupuncturist, and I show readers how to treat their pain using complementary and holistic medicine as well as conventional therapies. Chapters cover the hormonal connection to pain; bone and joint pain; muscle and nerve pain; headache; sports injuries; foot ailments; and chronic pain. We describe a host of ailments, including PMS, migraine headaches, back pain, arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and many more. For each ailment, in addition to describing the conventional medicine cabinet, we include foods that heal; manual muscle strategies, such as Shiatsu and massage; herbal and botanical remedies; exercises to speed healing; mind-body therapies and acupuncture. Readers can use most of the remedies on their own, although they will need to consult with their doctors about others, such as conventional medicines and acupuncture.
