America's health care system is inherently sexist, especially when it comes to pain. Research has shown that female patients are consistently prescribed less pain-relieving medication than male patients. Female patients who have chronic pain conditions are also more likely to be misdiagnosed with mental health conditions.
When women started to speak out on TikTok, documenting their real-life experiences of getting an intrauterine device (IUD) inserted, so many felt it validated their pain. In some of the videos posted on TikTok, women describe the pain as “horrible” and “awful.” Another said she was told she’d feel a “pinch,” a common description of the process, but instead what she received was “trauma,” as she was crying during the insertion.
