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Navigating Chronic Pelvic Pain: Insights and Advocacy for Women's Health | Georgie Kovacs


Navigating Chronic Pelvic Pain: Insights and Advocacy for Women's Health | Georgie Kovacs

Episode Summary:

In this episode of Fempower Health, host Georgie Kovacs delves into the complexities of chronic pelvic pain, a condition that affects countless women yet remains widely misunderstood. Chronic pelvic pain can stem from various conditions like endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, and pelvic floor dysfunction, but it also encompasses a wide range of symptoms beyond just pain, including fatigue, digestive issues, and emotional distress. Georgie shares her experiences interviewing top experts in the field, discussing the importance of early diagnosis, comprehensive treatment plans, and self-advocacy in navigating the healthcare system.



 
 

Key Topics Covered:

  • Understanding Chronic Pelvic Pain: Explore the multifaceted nature of chronic pelvic pain and why it’s essential to address it from both a medical and holistic perspective.

  • Expert Insights: Learn from experts like Dr. Allyson Shrikhande and Dr. Peta Wright on the importance of early diagnosis, effective treatment options, and the role of pelvic physical therapy.

  • Patient Advocacy: Discover practical tips on how to advocate for your health, including how to prepare for doctor appointments, ask the right questions, and track your symptoms.

  • Navigating the Healthcare System: Gain valuable insights into how to find the right specialists, understand the impact of treatments like hysterectomy on pelvic health, and manage the emotional toll of chronic conditions.

  • Real-Life Stories: Hear from patients and advocates like Katie Boyce and Tanika Gray Valbrun, who share their personal journeys and offer advice on managing chronic pelvic pain.


Why You Should Listen:

  • Empower Yourself: This episode equips you with the knowledge and tools to take control of your health and navigate the often overwhelming healthcare system.

  • Comprehensive Coverage: Whether you’re dealing with chronic pelvic pain or supporting someone who is, this episode provides a thorough understanding of the condition and the latest in treatment options.

  • Expert Advice: Benefit from the wisdom of leading clinicians and patient advocates who specialize in women’s health.


Resources Mentioned:


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Disclaimer

The information shared by Fempower Health is not medical advice but for informational purposes to enable you to have more effective conversations with your doctor.  Always talk to your doctor before making health-related decisions. Additionally, the views expressed by the Fempower Health podcast guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.


Transcript

Welcome to Fempower Health. This is Georgie. Here, we tackle the tough and often overlooked issues in women's health. And today, I'd like to talk a bit more about chronic pelvic pain. In case you had missed it, Fempower Health has covered all sorts of women's health topics over the course of the many seasons that we've been in existence. And after looking at all the data, what's been clear is you're really coming to Fempower Health for the complex, health care issues that women are facing. And a lot of those are currently related to chronic pelvic pain as well as perimenopause and menopause. And I've created now channels where we have the main podcast feed, which many of you have been following and subscribing to.


So thank you so much for that. But to help you have a more customized experience, there is now a chronic pelvic pain hub as well as a perimenopause and menopause hub. So please do follow those where you listen to your podcast. So today, I wanted to dive into chronic pelvic pain and why it is so important for Fempower Health to cover this. Because at the end of the day, Fempower Health was built to help you advocate for your health. So in case you didn't know, I have a health care background on the business side, and I have been a consultant. And my specialty and superpower is all around, the processes and systems that are in place and the stakeholders that are involved to make things happen in health care. And most of that has been with biopharma companies up until now.


And because of these past many years of running Fempower Health, I've spoken to, you know, well over a 100 clinicians. I've spoken to femtech founders, insurance companies, otherwise known as payers, etcetera. And the one thing that is a 100% clear to me is because of this chaotic health care system, the lack of research and money being funded for women's health, which, by the way, this year, it's changing significantly, and has been over the past recent years. We're kind of stuck in the middle of navigating the health care system. And not everyone has the same fortune that I do to have a health care background so I understand how to navigate it. And so my mission has been to use both my expertise in the health navigating the health care system, plus the expertise of of each of the clinicians that I've been speaking with to help you all have a better picture of what might be going on with you so that you can advocate within this crazy system. And, of course, my hope and my wish is that over the coming years, there will be more research and data and better diagnostic tools and better treatments for the various conditions that women face. So for now, it's all about empowering you to advocate.


So why chronic pelvic pain? Chronic pelvic pain is complex and often misunderstood because it's not just one thing, and it tends to be a collection of stem symptoms that can stem from various conditions like endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, pelvic floor dysfunction. But here's the thing. It's also not always about pain. And trust me, I did think, wow. Should I have called this the chronic pelvic pain hub? Because it's really more about pelvic health, but then people think that it's all about kegels. So for now, for lack of a better word, it's the chronic pelvic pain, hub. But nonetheless, for many, the conditions, you know, because it's not always about pain, it can be debilitating fatigue, digestive issues, emotional toll that comes with all of this can be pressure, in your pelvic area. So chronic pelvic pain can affect every aspect of your life from your physical health to your mental well-being.


And as I've mentioned, I've had the privilege of speaking with incredible experts on this subject. So for example, I've spoken with doctor Allyson Shirkhande, who's been a guest many, many times. And she's spoken about the critical need for early diagnosis in endometriosis and how cons comprehensive treatment plan can save lives. I did a 4 part series speaking of endometriosis where I interviewed someone who is trying to build a femtech company. I should I shouldn't say try. She is building a femtech company around helping with earlier diagnosis. And she was a patient herself that was able to advocate and finally get the proper diagnosis. And so, I interviewed her.


I also interviewed Katie Boyce, who is a staunch patient advocate for those who are struggling with endometriosis. I also interviewed doctor Shanti Molling, who shares all the details that you need about surgery as it relates to endometriosis. And then I also interviewed Caitlyn Tivy who talks about pelvic PT and its role in endometriosis, just to give you an example. And then Dr. Peta Wright, she's one of the most popular episodes I've ever done. She emphasizes the importance of looking at the whole woman, not just her symptoms, and how holistic care can improve overall quality of life. I've even interviewed, Tanika Gray Valbrun, and she is a patient advocate for uterine fibroids. I've also interviewed a ton of pelvic floor PTs, and they've talked about everything from, pelvic organ prolapse and how through all of our phases of life, our hormones change. And because of that, it can impact our pelvic health.


And so anything that you wanna know about pelvic health, you can go to the fem power health website. And there's a whole section on all of those episodes. But again, you can also follow the chronic pelvic pain hub where you listen to podcasts. And outside of the diagnosis is also the treatment. Sometimes the treatments are really just about pain management rather than treating the underlying cause because we really do need to better understand so many of these conditions that that women face. So also the health care system, it it can be overwhelming, especially when dealing with something as complex as chronic pelvic pain. You know, there's gaps in specialist knowledge, and it's easy to feel lost in this sea of referrals and treatments. And this again is why it's so important to learn how to advocate for yourself.


And no one knows your body better than you, and understanding how to navigate the system is key to getting the care you deserve. So as an example, one of the things I've learned in all these interviews that I've done are a lot of sub specialists, but even within these, clinicians in the health care system, there are different degrees of training and quality of care and so many other factors. So one concrete example is in the world of endometriosis. So one of the, you know, keys is, getting an early diagnosis. And if you do need laparoscopic surgery, one of the frustrations has been finding the right clinician. Because if you think about an OB GYN, they're trained in so many things. They're almost like the, primary care practitioner equivalent for women's health. And just like when we go to our primary care doctor, they don't treat heart disease.


We go to a cardiologist. And you kinda have to think that way almost when it comes to the OBGYNs. And so if they're doing general surgery and because of the complexity of endometriosis, if they haven't done a lot of those and have not done a lot of complex cases, that really puts you in a place where you may not get optimal care. And, again, as Dr. Peta Wright said, it's more than just about surgery. But, again, I'm speaking very specifically to if you do need the surgery, you have to make sure it's the right expert, and also that you have, dual decision making. And even another interesting example is, when it comes to hysterectomy. So what I was surprised by, and I did 2 episodes. 1 with someone who does surgery on hysterectomy so that you know how to advocate in preparation for the hysterectomy and then after.


Because depending on if your ovaries are removed, it impacts hormone levels, which could impact really, anything that is being touched, so to speak, between your belly button and your upper thigh, that is going to impact your pelvic floor. We also talk about how the structure of your posture and other factors in your body, not just in that belly button to upper thigh region, can impact the health of your pelvic floor. So I'm not at all trying to overwhelm you. I hope that, I'm more just giving you examples of what why it's so important to advocate for yourself and why it's kinda hard to navigate this system. And so what I'd really do is create episodes that are as specific as possible so that you can kind of, sort through what's going on with you to figure out which episode to listen to so that you can get the most support. And one of the things I'm starting to do is shift more into as I can, of course, because it depends on the topic, more symptoms. So one of the interviews that I'm working on doing now is, you know, if if your bladder area is bothering you, what could that mean? Because to you, that's the symptom. You may not Google, and find on Fenpower Health interstitial cystitis because unless you've heard the term, you wouldn't look for it.


But if you're having one of the symptoms related to that, you're going to look for that and then realize that it could be interstitial cystitis as an example. So that's one of the things that I'll be working hard to do is really look at it more from your own perspective, and the symptoms that that you may be experiencing. Okay. So how do you advocate for yourself? You know, again, it's crucial to be informed. We need to know the right questions to ask your doctor. For example, you could say, could this pain be related to my menstrual cycle, or what are the possible underlying causes of my symptoms? We should ask that because if we don't, you know, doctor appointments are shorter, and doctors are human, and maybe they're on autopilot that day, or maybe they're not a subspecialist in something and are so used to, if I see x in a patient, I do y. And so it's really important to kind of create that pause and ask these questions. So make sure you list them out before you go to your doctor, so you do not forget when you're in that appointment.


The next thing is to really track your symptoms, And it may be tedious, but keeping a log of these symptoms when they occur, their severity, any potential triggers can provide invaluable information for your doctor. Like one example, so I do belly massages. I have endometriosis, and I also will sometimes have constipation. And for me, like, if I eat well, I'm fine. But if I don't, oh my goodness, it's not so fun. So the belly massages are great. And I remember when I was doing them more frequently, I had this pain near where my ovary is on the right side. And I kinda I will admit I dismissed it.


I didn't think much of it. I went to my OBGYN, and it turned out to be a cyst. And we watched it, and on its own, it ended up go going away. But it was still valuable information because we were able to check it out. So try not to dismiss them, and don't be hard on yourself if you do. I remember recently a clinician was posting how she dismissed her own symptoms, and she ended up having to get surgery and was kind of out for a little while because of this. And so it can happen to all of us. I have friends who are clinicians, and, you know, they've had family members where they're like, no.


It's fine. It's fine. And then it turned out to be something. So we're all human. Forgive yourself, but just really do try to monitor and and advocate about that. And then really prepare for your appointments. Go in with a clear agenda, and don't be afraid to ask for what you need, whether it's a referral to a specialist or a specific diagnostic test. And you'll find in the Fempower Health, podcast episodes, What I really do is work with the clinicians to understand what the condition might be or the symptoms.


And then how is it that you navigate talking to your doctor or the type of subspecialist that you may want to see. And, you know, we also acknowledge some of the challenges in the health care system. So we really do kind of walk through all of that in these episodes. And what's so cool is I know it works because I've had people reach out to me and they're like, oh, I just heard about the Fempower Health podcast. And I binged on your episodes and I've had all these things going on with me for 20 years. And now that I've listened to this, I've put the pieces together. And now I know exactly what to share with my doctor to get the care I need. And when I heard that, I was like, oh my goodness.


That's literally exactly why I do this podcast. So to help you on this journey, there are resources on the website, including previous episodes where we've discussed these issues in detail. So remember, you're not alone in this. I I won't lie. So Fempower Health currently is self funded. It is something that I've been doing in my free time on top of, being a single mom and having a full time job. And so I have all sorts of things that I really want to be creating for you guys, but it's just going to be a matter of time. And so just know that on my side, I'm doing the best I can, but I also have to advocate for myself and my mental health.


And so I do need to sleep and take care of my son. But just know that on the website, I do have things organized in the best way that I can for now to help you on this journey. So in closing, pelvic pain, you know, it is a journey to navigate. And while it can be challenging, you do have the power to advocate for yourself and seek the care you deserve. So I really appreciate you joining me today. And if you found this helpful, please share it with others who might benefit. And I would, of course, greatly appreciate you writing a review where you listen to this podcast because it really helps others become more aware of this valuable information. And as always, stay tuned for more insightful conversations on Fempower Health.


And if you have any specific questions or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. I'm always open to hearing that this podcast really is for you, and it's been my privilege to take my health care expertise and my love for interviewing clinicians and bring that to you to help you. So thank you so much.

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