Pain Doesn’t Define Us – The Power of Minimally Invasive Women’s Care

Many women live with painful conditions that go untreated for various reasons. Jacqueline Rohl, MD, and Mini Somasundaram, MD, both specializing in minimally invasive gynecological surgery, discuss why pain doesn’t have to define us on this episode of The Wellness Conversation.

“When we talk about minimally invasive procedures, we're talking about surgeries that are done to small holes or surgery that allow women to get back to their daily activities,” Somasundaram said. In the past, she said that women would need to take 6 to 8 weeks off to recover from procedures like a hysterectomy. Now, the recovery time can typically be significantly reduced so that people can get back to their daily tasks more quickly with much less pain.

Dr. Rohl said that many people are shocked by how quickly recovery is achieved after undergoing a minimally invasive procedure. They have found that when sending patients home after these procedures, they tend to do extremely well being surrounded by their support system and home environment.

“There’s still a recovery, but most people are generally surprised by the ability to do things much earlier than they anticipated. We have probably more restrictions because they feel better than they should be after the surgery,” Rohl said.

While Dr. Somasundaram said that different stages in a woman’s life can affect her pain levels, she emphasized that, “you don’t have to live in pain."

“Sometimes I find patients will say, I just want to stick it out until I get to menopause. So that I don't have to have a major surgery. We can talk about what are ways we can medically manage you, so that you don't need a big surgery,” Somasundaram said. “It's amazing to see the options people have where they don't have to suffer in silence anymore."

To listen to the full episode, click here.