Words Matter When Diagnosing Endometriosis
In this recent article, the issue of language in diagnosing endometriosis is analyzed. According to their study, doctors aren’t adept at identifying the symptoms described by patients as endometriosis and women don’t feel that current modalities of measuring pain adequately express what they are experiencing.
The article states that “many women use metaphors and similes to describe their pain. The most common metaphors were those that invoke violence.” Things like stabbing, poking, burning were all common descriptors and while some doctors do suspect endometriosis, many either dismiss these descriptors or misinterpret them as something else, creating a situation in which patients feel dismissed and their condition can take up to eight years.
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