Many Women Aren't Seeking Treatment for Menopause and I Think I Know Why

We need to talk about a recent Mayo Clinic study, which observed nearly 5,000 women aged 45-60. Three out of four women surveyed reported experiencing menopause symptoms (in many cases, symptoms that intervened with daily life and productivity). 

Yet about 80 percent of the respondents didn't seek treatment or care for their symptoms.

And it's not because those treatments don't exist. Instead, some women studied said they preferred to manage their symptoms at home, some were unaware that treatments for symptoms of menopause exist, and some were too busy to seek care.

What’s important about this study, in my opinion, is that it doesn’t just reveal a trend in women’s health, it also begins to get into the context around it. As women’s health advocates and commentators, we have the power to take this conversation deeper.

Because  here's the thing about women's health: It isn't just about the findings or the treatments or biology of it all. It's also about access. It's about understanding all the socio-cultural factors that stand between women and the care they need. And in this particular conversation, those factors are especially important to consider.

As women, we're told our entire lives that discomfort and pain are just part of the deal. Normalization of women's pain happens from the time we get our first periods, if not earlier: We're told the cramps and the nausea and the fatigue and the headaches and the mood swings are "normal" and things we just have to power through. 

Those messages get under our skin in major ways — and even in middle age, we can't fully shake the idea that we just have to grit our teeth and deal with the symptoms.

We're also discouraged from sharing the realities of our bodies (for fear of giving "TMI" or complaining), which means we have a really hard time gauging what's "normal" and what's unnecessary suffering. 

While information about menopause treatments is out there, it's not always presented in a way that's accessible, or spoken about candidly in a way that encourages women to seek out more information.

And then of course, there's the time piece. Because let's be real, every woman I know has way too much on her plate, and many of those responsibilities involve taking care of other people (kids, spouses, parents, siblings, friends...) to the point that they neglect their own needs.

That's the part of the conversation we ought to be having more. Not just that women aren't getting care to manage their menopause symptoms, but why.