It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health (But Were Never Told)

by Karen Tang

While the causes are complex, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and other professional organizations within the field of OB-GYN acknowledged the role that racism has played in a joint statement issued in 2020:

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In a study by Duke University School of Business in which participants were given different photos of potential job candidates with identical qualifications, Black women with natural hair were given lower scores for professionalism and were recommended less often for interviews than Black women with straightened hair or white women with straight or curly hair. These biases put pressure on Black women to alter their hair to fit Eurocentric standards of beauty by using relaxers and hair straighteners. Unfortunately, some chemical relaxers have been shown to increase the risk of both fibroids and uterine cancer. This is one mechanism through which racism can cause serious health disparities.

it wasn’t until 1993 that President Clinton signed an act mandating that NIH-funded human research projects must include women and racial minorities.

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The choice of which birth control to use is usually determined by patient preference and trial and error, whereas the type of medications used to treat non-gynecologic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes is based on studies and research.

Gynecologic procedures are reimbursed at significantly lower rates than procedures in any other surgical field, including urology, which treats the male reproductive organs.

If the pregnancy implants anywhere other than the endometrium, it is called an ectopic pregnancy. Ectopics occur most often in the fallopian tube, but they can also occur in the muscle of the uterus, the cervix, C-section scars, the ovary, the intestines, and other organs of the abdomen.

The use of chemical hair straighteners might be yet another risk factor for the development of fibroids in Black women, who are more likely to use hair-straightening products than white, Asian, and Hispanic women.

Over-the-Counter Pain Medication Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil) and naproxen (Aleve) are the most effective over-the-counter medications for uterine pain. NSAIDs increase bleeding elsewhere in the body but actually decrease menstrual bleeding. In fact, NSAIDs are almost as effective as birth control methods in lightening uterine bleeding. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) may also improve pain but usually to a lesser extent than NSAIDs, and it does not have the same beneficial impact on bleeding.