I have a condition people are too embarrassed to talk about
Monica Thomas shares her journey of being diagnosed with lichen sclerosus, a painful and often misunderstood inflammatory condition. The report aims to break the social taboo surrounding gynecological health and encourage better medical awareness.
Why it matters
It addresses the critical need for better diagnostic practices and open dialogue regarding women's health conditions that are frequently misdiagnosed or ignored due to embarrassment.
Image source, Monica Thomas Image caption, Monica is the founder of charity Women's Health Hope
This report contains detailed descriptions of medical symptoms.
Monica Thomas was in her teens when she started experiencing intimate itching and soreness, but despite numerous trips to the doctors it was dismissed as thrush.
Her symptoms got worse, with sores and blisters leaving her in constant pain.
"I was bed bound for quite a long time because I couldn't walk," she says.
Monica says she was examined 28 times in six months before being offered a biopsy.
She says "we don't really talk about" gynaecological health as a society so there is a taboo around speaking about symptoms.
"Even when we go to the doctors, for me, the embarrassment of having to get undressed...with these doctors looking it is embarrassing," she says.
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