Infertility, divorce, domestic violence, eating disorders...all have become part of a day's work for women and men in ministry to women. Yet, most are not prepared for this aspect of ministering to women in real pain over real issues. Designed to give leaders and care givers greater understanding, insights for shepherding, and referral resources, Shepherding Women in Pain is a compilation from contributors who have expertise and experience with women on the given issue. For example Stacey Womack, founder and executive director of Abuse Recovery Ministry & Services, wrote the chapter on domestic violence and Kimberley Davidson, founder of Olive Branch Outreach, authored the chapter discussing eating disorders. The reader will be provided concise, practical, and grace-infused information designed to help women deal constructively with the trauma of their life experiences. This book will serve as a key resource--read and re-read often--to those who serve women in pain.
“[A] powerful account of the sexism cooked into medical care ... will motivate readers to advocate for themselves.”—Publishers Weekly STARRED Review A groundbreaking and feminist work of investigative reporting: Explains why women experience healthcare differently than men Shares the author’s journey of fighting for an endometriosis diagnosis In Pain and Prejudice, acclaimed investigative reporter Gabrielle Jackson takes readers behind the scenes of doctor’s offices, pharmaceutical companies, and research labs to show that—at nearly every level of healthcare—men’s health claims are treated as default, whereas women’s are often viewed as a-typical, exaggerated, and even completely fabricated. The impacts of this bias? Women are losing time, money, and their lives trying to navigate a healthcare system designed for men. Almost all medical research today is performed on men or male mice, making most treatments tailored to male bodies only. Even conditions that are overwhelmingly more common in women, such as chronic pain, are researched on mostly male bodies. Doctors and researchers who do specialize in women’s healthcare are penalized financially, as procedures performed on men pay higher. Meanwhile, women are reporting feeling ignored and dismissed at their doctor’s offices on a regular basis. Jackson interweaves these and more stunning revelations in the book with her own story of suffering from endometriosis, a condition that affects up to 20% of American women but is poorly understood and frequently misdiagnosed. She also includes an up-to-the-minute epilogue on the ways that Covid-19 are impacting women in different and sometimes more long-lasting ways than men. A rich combination of journalism and personal narrative, Pain and Prejudice reveals a dangerously flawed system and offers solutions for a safer, more equitable future.
For any woman who has experienced illness, chronic pain, or endometriosis comes an inspiring memoir advocating for recognition of women's health issues In the fall of 2010, Abby Norman's strong dancer's body dropped forty pounds and gray hairs began to sprout from her temples. She was repeatedly hospitalized in excruciating pain, but the doctors insisted it was a urinary tract infection and sent her home with antibiotics. Unable to get out of bed, much less attend class, Norman dropped out of college and embarked on what would become a years-long journey to discover what was wrong with her. It wasn't until she took matters into her own hands -- securing a job in a hospital and educating herself over lunchtime reading in the medical library -- that she found an accurate diagnosis of endometriosis. In Ask Me About My Uterus, Norman describes what it was like to have her pain dismissed, to be told it was all in her head, only to be taken seriously when she was accompanied by a boyfriend who confirmed that her sexual performance was, indeed, compromised. Putting her own trials into a broader historical, sociocultural, and political context, Norman shows that women's bodies have long been the battleground of a never-ending war for power, control, medical knowledge, and truth. It's time to refute the belief that being a woman is a preexisting condition.
Finkler furnishes a fresh approach by weaving together the women's individual understandings about their lives, their distresses, their social circumstances, and their cultural beliefs. The resulting tapestry brings into bold relief aspects of their existence (including relationships with their mates) that pose dangers to their health. To give the reader a sense of how the women experience their pain, Finkler attends to the women's symptomatologies, to the bio-medical diagnoses they receive, to their health seeking trajectories, to the history of their symptoms, and to their biographies within the context of their anguish. She uses the concept of "life's lesions," defined roughly as the physical damage caused by cultural and social factors, to interpret the rich data gathered from her extensive fieldwork.
First book devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of sexual pain in women Female Sexual Pain Disorders is a remarkable fusion of clinical and scientific knowledge that will empower women’s healthcare professionals to help their patients in overcoming this common debilitating disorder. Based on the highest level research, it provides state-of-the-art practical guidance that will help you to: Evaluate and distinguish the causes of sexual pain in women Differentiate the many forms of sexual pain Implement multidisciplinary treatments Distilling the experience of world leaders across many clinical, therapeutic and scientific disciplines, with an array of algorithms and diagnostic tools, Female Sexual Pain Disorders is your ideal companion for treating the many millions of women who suffer from this disorder worldwide. All proceeds from this book are being donated to the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH).
The landmark, prize-winning, international bestselling examination of how a gender gap in data perpetuates bias and disadvantages women. #1 International Bestseller * Winner of the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award * Winner of the Royal Society Science Book Prize Data is fundamental to the modern world. From economic development to health care to education and public policy, we rely on numbers to allocate resources and make crucial decisions. But because so much data fails to take into account gender, because it treats men as the default and women as atypical, bias and discrimination are baked into our systems. And women pay tremendous costs for this insidious bias: in time, in money, and often with their lives. Celebrated feminist advocate Caroline Criado Perez investigates this shocking root cause of gender inequality in Invisible Women. Examining the home, the workplace, the public square, the doctor’s office, and more, Criado Perez unearths a dangerous pattern in data and its consequences on women’s lives. Product designers use a “one-size-fits-all” approach to everything from pianos to cell phones to voice recognition software, when in fact this approach is designed to fit men. Cities prioritize men’s needs when designing public transportation, roads, and even snow removal, neglecting to consider women’s safety or unique responsibilities and travel patterns. And in medical research, women have largely been excluded from studies and textbooks, leaving them chronically misunderstood, mistreated, and misdiagnosed. Built on hundreds of studies in the United States, in the United Kingdom, and around the world, and written with energy, wit, and sparkling intelligence, this is a groundbreaking, highly readable exposé that will change the way you look at the world.
Rate your pain on a scale of one to ten. What about on a scale of spicy to citrus? Is it more like a lava lamp or a mosaic? Pain, though a universal element of human experience, is dimly understood and sometimes barely managed. Pain Woman Takes Your Keys, and Other Essays from a Nervous System is a collection of literary and experimental essays about living with chronic pain. Sonya Huber moves away from a linear narrative to step through the doorway into pain itself, into that strange, unbounded reality. Although the essays are personal in nature, this collection is not a record of the author's specific condition but an exploration that transcends pain's airless and constraining world and focuses on its edges from wild and widely ranging angles. Huber addresses the nature and experience of invisible disability, including the challenges of gender bias in our health care system, the search for effective treatment options, and the difficulty of articulating chronic pain. She makes pain a lens of inquiry and lyricism, finds its humor and complexity, describes its irascible character, and explores its temperature, taste, and even its beauty.
In 1995, Kentucky governor Brereton Jones granted parole to ten women who had been convicted of killing, conspiring to kill, or assaulting the men who had abused them for years. The media began referring to them as the "Sisters in Pain," a name they embraced. These are their stories. Linda Elisabeth Beattie and Mary Angela Shaughnessy's interviews of seven of the Sisters in Pain detail the physical, sexual, or psychological abuse they suffered at the hands of their husbands or boyfriends, battery beyond comprehension. Anyone who has ever asked, "Why don't they just leave?" will come to understand the interconnected strands of abuse that make just living through another day a personal triumph. Beattie and Shaughnessy address the pervasive nature of domestic violence in America and explore the legal ramifications of fighting back. Their interviews with the Sisters in Pain reveal the ways in which these women have picked up the pieces of their shattered lives and learned to face the future.
“Women today not only deserve but should expect a pain-free, active lifestyle, no matter their age, no matter their previous experience.” Pain Free for Women In his famed San Diego clinic, Pete Egoscue has taught women of all ages and from all walks of life how to use the Egoscue Method for safe, effective, and permanent relief from chronic pain without prescription painkillers, physical therapy, or invasive surgery. Now he shares his specially adapted “Pain Free” program for women to use at home. Whether you suffer from back or neck pain, joint discomfort or sore knees, or need more stamina, improved balance, and extra strength, here is a revolutionary and proven approach to self-care that promises optimal health through a simple set of exercises that will transform the way you move and feel — forever! Egoscue shows women how to take back their bodies by recovering and restoring a precious health asset — full, free, flexible motion — that he believes has been drastically reduced by our modern lifestyle. As Egoscue explains, motion not only develops a woman’s body but also maintains and rejuvenates it. Yet as her motion-deprived muscles disengage and weaken, it is common for a woman’s body to lose alignment, leading to repetitive stress injuries, persistent pain, and general bad health. Even the simplest activities — how she sits, stands, walks, works, lifts, and sleeps — can trigger problems. Focusing on proper alignment, posture, and muscle engagement, Egoscue provides simple but powerful techniques to restore flexibility and function while at the same time boosting energy, revving up the immune system, even raising the body’s metabolic rate. The remarkable “E-cises” included within have also been linked to improved ability to fight disease, cope with aging, and recover from accidents and injuries. The “miracle” cure Egoscue offers is, simply, correct motion. Organized by the seasons of a woman’s life, Pain Free for Women pays particular attention to age-specific concerns such as puberty, childbirth, and menopause, as well as special issues such as arthritis, PMS, and depression. At the same time, Egoscue shows how women can build a framework of healthy movement that will prevent illness and maintain pain-free good health throughout the journey of life. According to Egoscue, reversing the effects of poor musculoskeletal fitness provides astonishing benefits, including: •Better balance, posture, and breathing, as well as increased resiliency •Effective and safe weight management •Healthy bone density and visual acuity •Heightened sex drive •Delayed symptoms of aging •Peace of mind and general tranquility Extensively illustrated to demonstrate proper placement, posture, and movement, Pain Free for Women offers women of every age the possibility of feeling better than ever before.
Research is finally acknowledging that sex differences in pain perception are experimental opportunities rather than obstacles. For the International Association for the Study of Pain, 32 specialists in 18 contributions explore basic biopsychosocial considerations for sex, gender, and pain research; and sex-related differences in experimental pain responses, and in clinical conditions (e.g. headache disorders, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome). The concluding paper by K. Berkley (neuroscience, Florida State U., Tallahassee) proposes a developmental lifespan framework for the complex issue of whether there is characteristic female pain as vs. male pain. Fillingim is in the U. of Florida's College of Dentistry. For those keeping count of such matters, there is about a 40:60 percent ratio of female to male authors. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.
