I don’t know whether it’s a case of my mildly conservative up-bringing, my very conservative schooling or my tendency to Google-diagnose, but I have no idea what goes on ‘down there’.
As a 20-year-old, educated student whose friends are finishing university and taking on the big scary world, I am noticing a trend of cluelessness when faced with a womanly medical problem.
(Warning, the rest of this post may cause men to feel awkward.)
Late cycles, itches, pains, pills – all issues many women face in their lives.
But when something untoward occurs in this area, a young woman’s first reaction is to panic, Google it, then call all of her friends to convince her she couldn’t possibly have what Google told her she has.
I can’t honestly say a month has passed in the last couple of years where a friend hasn’t joked about, but secretly lost sleep over, the possibility of being pregnant.
Of course, they never are, because we are just misreading signs our bodies are giving us.
This constant state of pregnancy paranoia can consume an entire day, or week, waiting for that bittersweet red flag to wave… and when it does, life continues as normal. Phew.
But what worries me is how little we understand our own bodies, and the quirks, changes and pains we are bound to get.
At the risk of sounding foolish, I only just a few weeks ago understood how the pill actually works.
It took an accidental stumble upon an episode of Dr Oz while I was at work at 5am to find out why women get urinary tract infections (UTIs) a lot.
And I still haven’t fully grasped the concept of what happens when, and why, in a menstrual cycle.
I never got a lesson. My primary school had sex education in year 5, but I left in year 3. My science teacher in year 9 had the thankless task of teaching a class of giggling girls the anatomy of the reproductive organs. And I vaguely remember a family planning van that visited in year 11, and there was a Styrofoam contraption and a condom… and then I draw a blank.
Top Comments
I can completely relate and I think there's three factors at play -
1) Sex ed for a lot of us (well, my school anyway) was along the lines of "Um, here are some tampons... so... yeah good luck with that".
2) If you have weird stuff going on, that can be really scary. At 24 I only just found out that the really horrible, weird tugging pain I get in the middle of my cycle is in fact, normal and it means I'm ovulating. Good to know.
I also found out that the reason my cycle is 46 days long is because I'm progesterone deficient and have an abnormally long 'luteal phase'. Also good to know!
3) Anyone else been treated really bad by Doctors? I had a female doctor yell at me and tell me to 'stop being silly' when I asked if I could get pregnant because I had a tummy bug while on the pill. I was only referring to what the instruction leaflet said (and common sense!). Another female doctor jabbed me so hard with her swab during an examination (when I wasn't ready. You could say she jumped me) that she actually gouged me and I went into shock.
So thanks to Google and good research, I think I've got it figured out now! Knowing about your hormones is very valuable - now knowing exactly how much I'm being influenced by progesterone, oestrogen etc. at any point in my cycle is very empowering.
Great short book by local newcastle author SJ Tierney 'The Vagina Buffet' - Tales of A Brazillian Waxer. HIlarious read and all round and good general educational treatise on what 'goes on down there'.
A great read for men and women of all ages that help normalise discusion about an oft taboo subject. Great blog as well http://www.vaginabuffet.com/