If you are a woman that wonders if things could be done differently at the gynecologist's office, then this may be just the group for you. We are a group critical of the highly valued pelvic exam in this society as we do not believe that womanhood is a disease. Eventhough there are already since years non-invasive, more accurate alternatives (like the CSA bloodtest) invented to check for the HPV virus, these tests are never being offered to women. In the meanwhile women are still placed in the stirrups and left behind in the dark about these innovative tests that could spare them the unnecessary humilation. That's why we want to offer women more information about the choices they can make that are truly benefitting their health by exchanging articles/websites on the subject that increase our awareness of existing alternatives and scientific facts about gynecological matters. The group also aims to make women feel secure and selfconfident again of their bodies, instead of being afraid of it. Several women have thanked us before because they gained so much more selfconfidence over their bodies and will no longer tolerate their bodies to be violated in the name of science.
**Recommended reading (though not obliged to join the group): Male Practice: How Doctors Manipulate Women by Robert S. Mendelsohn (If you are a woman living in America, the greatest danger to your health is, in all likelihood, your own doctor. Dr. Mendelsohn argues that chauvinistic physicians subject their female patients to medical procedures that are degrading, unnecessary and often dangeroous -- sometimes fatally so. Physicians order lab tests and x-rays more indiscriminately for women than for men, over-prescribe for their women patients, and intervine surgically far too often. Two of the most indiscriminately recommended surgical procedures are the hysterectomy and the radical mastectomy.)
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2 comments:
Great site, I couldn't agree more...
I studied in the States for 5 years and couldn't understand why women felt they needed these humiliating checks every year. Some women wore it like a badge of honour and chastized women who didn't have them calling them immature and reckless.
I'd interject..."Ah, am I immature and reckless as well?"
When I mentioned my Dr didn't recommend them at all and thought them harmful, they looked confused and dismissed my doctor as incompetent. In fact, these exams are NOT recommended in many countries - they are of low to poor clinical value and useless in overweight women and they are harmful as they lead to more unnecessary invasive tests and even surgery.
No Dr in Australia or the UK has ever suggested such an exam to me and I'd never agree to it anyway. It's offensive to suggest a healthy woman needs this sort of medical scrutiny.
I deal with symptoms.
I don't have routine gyn exams, they are totally unnecessary.
I've also passed on pap smears. My husband and I were not sexually active before we met and I see no point when my risk of this rare cancer is near zero, and screening would expose me to the risk of a false positive and potentially harmful over-treatment.
I think most women are over-screened and that leads to harm.
Every woman should assess her risk before agreeing to smears. When 99.35% of women won't benefit at all and yearly smears send almost everyone for colposcopy and biopsies, your informed consent is vital.
With no screening only 1% of women would get this cancer, with screening we have massive amounts of over-treatment. This is unknown to most women...they think all the abnormal paps are about cancer, they are in fact, the result of an inaccurate test.
I've never agreed to breast exams - there is no evidence they bring down the death toll, but they cause unnecessary biopsies.
I hate the way these things have become laws for women. Men would never be treated in this way.
I make my own decisions about my healthcare. If a test is unreliable and/or for a rare cancer, I'll pass, if I'm low risk, I'll pass...that is every person's right. To protect yourself from unnecessary exams and tests that may risk your good health.
I won't be having mammograms either...far too much risk for limited benefits.
I've been following the discussion at Dr Joel Sherman's website on Patient Privacy under Women's privacy concerns - the stats came from an article by an American Pathologist, Richard DeMay linked from that site. I'd recommend the site to all women interested in these issues.
Liz
hi Liz,
it's great to hear from another conscious woman, not brainwashed by the gyno industry unlike many others! I know in the States things are the worst, when it comes to the scare campaigns regarding pelvic exams and other gyn checkups. I've never been to the USA, but I know from reading the stories at the WAS yahoogroup where we have a lot of American members, that it's quite scary overthere. It's like a religion and as you explained not at all based on science, it's just 'in the name of'.
Thanks for mentioning this pathologist's name, these are interesting facts for sure. Eventhough I don't need it for myself personally, since I usually go by my intuition and *know* that it's a load of bullshit.
I've recently discovered dr Sherman's site. Definitely interesting! It's time for a change!
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