I have a condition people are too embarrassed to talk about
Monica Thomas shares her struggle with lichen sclerosus, a painful inflammatory condition often misdiagnosed due to social taboos surrounding gynaecological health. The article highlights the need for better awareness and medical recognition of the condition.
Why it matters
It sheds light on an under-discussed women's health issue, encouraging better medical diagnostic practices and reducing stigma.
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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