Painful Sex and Endometriosis with guest Lara Parker

Welcome back to the Period Chats Podcast!

We have Lara Parker here today, author of the book “Vagina Problems.” Laura has experience with endometriosis, adenomyosis, vaginismus, and vulvar vestibulitis, and began to write about the topic because it was so underrepresented in literature and she didn’t want people to feel alone.

Indicators that you might be suffering with pelvic pain or a related condition are: pain during sex and/or orgasm, super heavy periods, skin irritation and redness, digestive symptoms like bloating or IBS-type issues, or tenderness to touch.

Sometimes doctor visits and the nature of the issue can make people feel more isolated in the experience, and Lara gives some great examples of ways we can humanize and de-stigmatize the topic, and by extension many other issues that our society would do well to further normalize.

As we all continue to advocate for ourselves, and move toward the place where we can “act like a white man,” aka confident communication without apology or other self-shrinking verbiage, we need to remember that our health issues aren’t something we need to apologize for, over-explain, or minimize.

Lara shares about her experience with a surgery for endometriosis, how that particular surgery interacts with most insurance plans, and what her recovery and ongoing health journey has looked like since.

Her modalities of care currently include physical therapy for pelvic pain, chiropractic care, therapy, acupuncture and others.

We also talk about how the conversation around chronic illness needs to shift towards quality of life. Sometimes in our culture there can be a false dichotomy where you’re either dying or you’re fine, but focusing on quality of life gives the conversation more much-needed nuance, and can help outsiders empathize with where each of us are on the health spectrum.

If you need a good reminder to take care of yourself, advocate for your own recovery and health, and leave behind the habit of apologizing for existing, Lara’s wisdom and honesty will point you in that direction today.