Self-Empowerment: How Women Can Protect Their Own Health And Wellness

 Amanda Winstead

Women live with a range of health conditions and wellness needs. For example, 1 in 4 women live with a disability. Ten million experience menorrhagia or heavy menstrual bleeding. And many more go through intimate partner violence.

We all have health needs we must accommodate and wellness goals we’re trying to achieve. But it’s hard to do either when you don’t have a supportive healthcare team, wellness resources, or the confidence to pursue what you need.

Protecting your own health and wellness can be especially empowering. With that self-empowerment, you can build a supportive healthcare team and a list of wellness resources that fuel good health.

Let’s discuss this and how better to protect your health and wellness in more detail below.

Be a Self-Advocate at the Doctor’s Office

According to a survey by TODAY and SurveyMonkey, 52% of women agreed that gender discrimination towards patients was a prevalent issue in the healthcare system, with 17% saying they’d been treated differently by a medical professional.

As horrifying as this is, we can’t ignore that any woman that walks into a healthcare facility is at risk of being treated differently because of their gender. This phenomenon could have serious ramifications, and with 25% of women in that same survey reporting their medical provider ignored their pain, it could lead to preventable deaths as well.

How can women ever feel safe and supported in a system where doctors and other medical professionals are liable to dismiss women's pain and treat them differently because of their gender?

Well, you may not be able to control your doctor’s behavior. However, you can stand up and advocate for yourself no matter whose office you’re visiting. Do the following to ensure doctors acknowledge your pain and provide the care and resources you need to be healthy:

• Enlist the help of a patient advocate;
• Don’t be afraid to get a second opinion;
• Stay confident in your observations and concerns;
• Keep a record of your symptoms and bring it to your appointments;
• Read your post-visit summaries and make sure all information is accurate;
• Bring a supportive loved one with you to your appointments to back you up. 

The strongest advocate in your health and wellness journey is you.

Embrace Your Emotions

To truly protect your health and wellness, you need to know yourself inside and out, starting with the latter.

We go through all kinds of emotions impacting how we think and behave. Those who try to stuff them down, hide, or ignore their emotions may have a harder time proceeding in their health and wellness efforts, as they haven’t learned how to cope with their emotions healthily.

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On the other hand, those that embrace their emotions, understand how they impact their mind and behavior, and use healthy coping mechanisms to deal with them have a better foundation for their health and wellness.

In addition, emotional stability is empowering. Your relationships improve, as does the way you care for yourself.

So, embrace your emotions. For example, if you want to cry, cry. Despite the negative stigma associated with crying, it can actually be good for your health. Renew your emotions, ease pain, prevent dry eye, and clear out debris with a good cry.  

Whether it’s anger, excitement, confusion, lostness, or another emotion, allow yourself to feel it entirely and then move through it. Just ensure that how you express your feelings isn’t destructive.

Learn Your Body

In addition to your emotions, learn the rest of your body. Doing so will help you determine the best ways to support your health and wellness. You won’t feel like you must go to the doctor for every ache. You’ll also be able to better determine when something is serious and act promptly.

Learn yourself. Touch and examine your naked body often. Track your cycle. Take note of how you feel in different situations. If you’re living with a mental health condition, document how your body changes with your symptoms. Notice how various food and drink affect your body.

Go all in learning about your body and how it functions. You’ll feel much more confident about who you are and how to go about health and wellness.

Work on Physical Fitness

There are two significant reasons why you should work on your physical fitness:  

1. It ensures your body is healthy and functioning correctly. 
2. It builds your confidence and self-esteem, driving you to take charge of your life.

Working on your physical fitness will help you achieve self-empowerment while nurturing your physical health. Dive into fitness at the level you’re comfortable at. For example, a former athlete might be more comfortable working out at the gym to start with. But a woman whose never really been active would probably benefit best from a more straightforward exercise routine like daily walks.

When you work on your physical fitness, you don’t have to rely solely on a doctor or healthcare system to protect your health and wellness. Instead, you can be a core part of protecting both for yourself. 

Conclusion

Ultimately, every woman’s health and wellness journey is unique to them. You’ll have different needs to accommodate and wellness goals you’re trying to achieve than the woman standing next to you.

Be sure to honor that and prioritize your health and wellness in a way that’s rooted in you. The tips above will get you started.

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Amanda Winstead is a writer from the Portland area with a background in communications and a passion for telling stories. Along with writing she enjoys traveling, reading, working out, and going to concerts. If you want to follow her writing journey, or even just say hi you can find her on Twitter.  

NOTE: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Nannocare. Nannocare is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with the author of this article, or any of its subsidiaries or its affiliates.