Elaine Welteroth opens up about her history with pain for Advil’s ‘Believe My Pain’ campaign

During National Pain Awareness Month the newly launched Advil Pain Equity Project is shedding light on the harmful impact of racial bias in the medical field.

Elaine Welteroth is no stranger to extreme pain.

The journalist and TV personality told theGrio ahead of National Pain Awareness Month, that while she was pregnant with her son in 2021 through early 2022, she developed Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, and with that came excruciating pain in the pelvis. Jonathan Schaffir, an OB-GYN at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told the Bump that when a person is pregnant, their symphysis, a joint between the two pelvic bones, loosens to make way for the baby. In rare cases, this can result in extreme pain throughout the pelvis.

“It basically feels like your legs are slowly being pulled off of your pelvis,” Welteroth said. “It becomes extremely excruciating to even roll over in bed, get out of bed walk.”

Fortunately enough for Welteroth, after giving birth, her condition resolved itself. However, the former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue was left with greater awareness for those who live with chronic pain and those who aren’t believed when they try to get help for their pain. She learned many Black and brown people fall into this category.

“It was very humbling,” she said. “It was one of those deeply human experiences that connect you with the broader human experience. I think pain will do that. It’s something that you can’t really understand and you can’t explain it to somebody who hasn’t experienced it. You have to really understand it firsthand.”

This is why Welteroth seized the opportunity to have a part in spreading the word about Advil’s “Believe My Pain” campaign. Launched earlier this month, the campaign, in partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine and BLKHLTH, is a long-term commitment from the pain medicine company to “champion equitable and accessible pain relief.”

“Pain inequity is what it sounds like,” Welteroth explained, adding, “It is this idea, or it’s this phenomenon, an unfortunate reality that people experiencing pain in this country are not always treated equally.”

She added, “In this country, Black people in particular, but also people of color, experience pain inequity when they are seeking treatment for their pain. Too often it results in really unacceptable outcomes and treatment. Folks are dealing with pain. They’re dealing with pain beyond the point that they should. A common thing that comes up is not being believed and not being treated as somebody who is truly in pain.”

Welteroth brought up the fact that there are medical myths surrounding Black and brown bodies that have been passed down through generations in the medical field impacting the way modern doctors and physicians sometimes approach treatment.

“One, for example, is that Black people have thicker skin and they don’t experience pain the same way white people do, which is completely false,” she said.

The myth that Black people don’t experience pain at the same level as any other ethnicity has persisted in the United States since slavery. It’s also been used as an excuse to subject Black and brown bodies to horrendous medical procedures. While we’ve overcome some obstacles, many Black and brown patients continue facing disparity in treatment.

In addition to the campaign, Advil has also released a survey from 2,000 Americans about their experiences seeking treatment for pain. According to the survey, 74% of Black respondents said they experienced some form of bias; 53% of Black respondents said they didn’t return after a negative experience seeking care; and 66% said their pain or condition worsened or remained the same after having a negative experience seeking treatment.

The solution ultimately, Welteroth said, rests in the medical world continuing to deconstruct generations-old predjudices about Black and brown bodies.

“It’s addressing this issue at the source,” she said. “Why are patients being treated unfairly when they’re seeking pain treatment? One of the causes is that doctors or physicians are not equipped with education about how to prevent bias from seeping into their practice.”

She expressed that everyone has some amount of bias in their every day, “So it’s really important that physicians are conscious of their bias and working actively to dismantle that bias.”

Kay Wicker is a lifestyle writer for theGrio covering health, wellness, travel, beauty, fashion, and the myriad ways Black people live and enjoy their lives. She has previously created content for magazines, newspapers, and digital brands. 

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