Thread by @NorCalDD

#WomensHealthcare needs serious attention, specifically patient comfort. There are procedures that the patient is given no anesthesia for that are down right medieval. For example, lets visit something called an endometrial biopsy, a procedure that detects uterine cancer… 1

1You will be asked to undress fully or from the waist down and put on a hospital gown.
2You will be told to empty your bladder before the procedure.
3You will lie on an exam table, with your feet and legs supported as for a pelvic exam…

4. Your healthcare provider will insert an instrument called a speculum into your vagina to spread the walls of the vagina apart to view the cervix.
5. Your provider will clean your cervix with an antiseptic solution….

6. Your provider may numb the area using a small needle to inject medicine, or he or she may apply a numbing spray to your cervix.
7. A type of forceps may be used to hold the cervix steady for the biopsy. You may feel some cramping when it is applied.

8. Your provider may insert a thin, rod-like instrument, called a uterine sound, through the cervical opening to find the length of the uterus and location for biopsy. This may cause some cramping. The sound will then be removed.

9. Your provider will insert a thin tube, called a catheter, through the cervical opening into the uterus. The catheter has a smaller tube inside it. The healthcare provider will withdraw the inner tube creating suction at the end of the catheter….

…The healthcare provider will then gently rotate and move the tip of the catheter in and out to collect small pieces of endometrial tissue. This may cause some cramping.

10. The amount and location of tissue removed depends on the reason for the endometrial biopsy.

After the procedure, you may rest for a few minutes before going home. If you had any type of sedative, you will need someone to drive you home.

You may want to wear a sanitary pad for bleeding. It is normal to have some mild cramping and spotting or vaginal bleeding for a few…

…days after the procedure. Take a pain reliever as advised by your healthcare provider. Aspirin or certain other pain medicines may increase the chance of bleeding.

Tell your healthcare provider if you have any of the following:

Excessive bleeding, or bleeding longer than 2 days after the procedure

Foul-smelling drainage from your vagina

Fever or chills

Severe lower belly pain

Source: hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatme…

So all of that without anesthesia of any kind. It’s painful, intrusive, awkward, and basically horrible. Every woman I kno who’s had one hated it….

We get twilight sleep for colonoscopies. The difference, of course, is that men get those.

Women and the ppl who love them need to start demanding twilight anesthesia for #endometrialbiopsy and other invasive, sensitive procedures and demanding insurance companies cover it…

Post menopausal healthcare also needs way more attention and research. It’s atrocious what a low priority it is when literally half the human race will experience it. It’s ridiculous how many Dr’s still cite the outdated and debunked study on negative effects of HRT…

A discussion of benefits of HRT should be mandatory in any visit w Dr BEFORE menopause. Get a plan in place for preventative peri menopause and post #Menopause treatment. Many PCP’s don’t even bring it up….

And FFS can someone invent a #breastcancer screening tool that doesn’t involve squeezing the living shit out of our tits?

Ok, I’m done. Bottom line we need to do a lot better.

More research to improve cancer screening tools

More required education for physicians

ANESTHESIA

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