When Stephany Vazquez was taken to the hospital at 13 years old to get morphine for her cramps, her mom realized her daughter’s menstrual pains weren’t normal.
Vazquez, now an 18-year-old communication sciences and disorders freshman, found out she had ovarian cysts on both of her ovaries when she was 13.
She started her period at the age of 10.
It took her three years after the pain began to see a doctor.
“I was in this tremendous amount of pain, and my mom said she didn’t want her child going through this,” she said.
About 73 percent of women who experience pelvic pains have never seen a doctor for it, according to a new UF study.
Dr. Nash Moawad, head of minimally invasive surgery in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UF, was the physician leader for the research.
The study, “Attributes and Barriers to Care of Pelvic Pain in University Women,” found 284 of the 390 women surveyed experienced some type of pelvic pain.
Only 75 of those women had seen a doctor for their pains.
The study was published in the November issue of the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology.
“Some women think it’s normal to have painful periods,” Moawad said.
Women may think, “‘I’m going to live the rest of my life expecting that it’s part of being a woman.’ This is not true,” he said.
Vazquez said she thought her pains ran in the family because her mom had painful menstrual cycles growing up.
“Not a lot of girls had gotten their period yet,” Vazquez said. “So it was hard to explain to the teacher why I would have to go home so much.”
Vazquez would get the pains a few days before her cycle started.
When she was 15, she went to see an OB-GYN who suggested birth control to help ease the pains.
“Ever since I’ve been on birth control, it has helped me a ton,” she said.
A version of this story ran on page 5 on 11/19/2013 under the headline "Most women who experience pelvic pain don’t see a doctor"
