Ever experienced pain without any apparent source or means of dealing with it? If so, you’ll know that, for lack of a better term, this sucks. Like, a lot. And, if you are a woman, your chances of going through this is pretty high. This is the subject of a new YouTube documentary series called “It Got Real,” in which Erin Robinson (who you may know from the Clevver YouTube channel), documents her experience dealing with fibroids.
Fibroids are growths that appear in the uterus during a woman’s childbearing years. The growths aren’t cancerous, and many women don’t even realize that they are there, but they can grow in size and cause extreme pain (which is what Erin experiences in the series). In addition to the pain, fibroids usually causes heavy bleeding during periods, which can lead to anemia.
Another thing about fibroids? They’re common. Like, super common. There are over 200,000 cases of the condition per year in the United States, and it is estimated that 20 to 50 percent of women of reproductive age have fibroids. That’s a lot. But the most unsettling thing about the condition is how many people don’t actually know it exists. According to WebMD, most women who have fibroids never even know they have them, which, of course, means that lots and lots of women are suffering without knowing why.
Doctors tend to ignore women’s pain and illness in general, since female pain is generally perceived as being “emotional” rather than truly physical. This could be part of the reason why fibroids are so grossly under-diagnosed, as well as the fact that women’s reproductive health isn’t studied as much as it should be. For example, according to Broadly, there are more than five times as many scientific studies about erectile dysfunction than there are about PMS, despite the fact that 19 percent of men report suffering from erectile dysfunction at some point in their lives, compared to the 90 percent of women who have experienced symptoms of PMS.
So, what does this mean? First of all, you need to make sure you go to your gynecologist for a yearly physical so you can stay on top of your overall health and nip any reproductive issues, such as fibroids, that may come up in the bud. It’s also important to listen to your friends who are experiencing any sort of reproductive-related pain or sickness–period cramps, PMS, whatever. You aren’t a doctor (I mean, I assume. Maybe you are!) but providing some emotional support for the people you care about is super important. And, of course, watch all of It Got Real (which you can do here) to learn more about Erin’s story.
Are you going to watch this series? Do you have any other questions about fibroids? Let us know in the comments!