What You Weren’t Told About Period Pain - Dr Karen Tang

“A lot of women's health stuff - there's no easy diagnosis. So very, very often women's health things end up getting put into, you have fibromyalgia, you're a hypochondriac, or something like irritable bowel syndrome.” -Dr Karen Tang

Dr Karen Tang is a gynaecologist who specialises in the treatment of pelvic pain, endometriosis and fibroids. She also does a great service educating the public on social media, raising awareness of women’s health issues.

In this episode, I ask Karen how people can figure out what’s causing their pelvic pain, what surprising habits may be causing problems, how patients can better advocate for themselves, and how she’d reimagine sex ed.

Stay tuned to find out:

• Why “stabbing butthole pain” has gone viral, and what it actually is
• Why endometriosis is so commonly misdiagnosed as IBS
• How female anatomy, especially the uterus, does NOT look like it does in the textbooks
• Why we should teach children the proper names for their reproductive organs
• Why you should get a pelvic floor PT!

Chapters

(1:24) Stabbing butthole pain

(4:36) Endometriosis - more than a pelvic condition

(6:43) Endo vs IBS

(8:45) How much pain is too much?

(10:38) The link between gynaecological conditions

(13:20) Being proactive about your health

(16:14) How to advocate for yourself at the doctor’s

(21:56) Actionable tips for perimenopause/menopause

(26:04) How to take care of your pelvic floor health

(31:36) What the uterus actually looks like

(34:49) Reimagining sex sed

(36:53) Teaching children about sexual health

(38:26) The plague of misinformation

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An OG Podcasts production.