Living with chronic pain can feel like carrying something no one else can see.

You might look fine on the outside, while privately managing pain, fatigue, poor sleep, brain fog or anxiety about how much your symptoms are disrupting your life. For many women, the hardest part is not only the pain itself. It is feeling as though they have to prove it is real.

New data from Mamedica’s Sick Note Britain: Health and Work Index suggests this experience is affecting women far beyond the doctor’s appointment. It is shaping work, income, confidence and daily routines.

Among women surveyed by Mamedica:

• 24% have left a job due to ongoing health problems
• 23% have reduced their working hours because of ill health
• 28% have felt financially pressured to return to work before fully recovering
• 16% say their employer failing to recognise chronic illness has negatively affected them at work
• 11% say health-related absences have affected their career progression

For patients, these figures may feel familiar. Chronic pain rarely fits neatly around working hours, childcare, social plans or financial pressure.

Why chronic pain can be so difficult to explain

Chronic pain is usually described as pain that lasts for several months or continues beyond the expected healing time. It may be linked to a diagnosed condition, such as endometriosis, arthritis, migraine, fibromyalgia or nerve pain.

In some cases, the cause does not clearly appear on tests or scans. NHS England explains that chronic primary pain is real, even when the cause is not visible through standard investigations. It can also be linked with symptoms such as fatigue, poor sleep, low mood and anxiety.

This can make chronic pain especially hard to explain to other people. You may know how much it affects your body, but still feel as though others only understand it when there is a visible injury, test result or diagnosis.

The impact on work and money

Pain can change the way you work. It may affect how long you can sit, stand, travel, concentrate or recover after a flare-up. Some patients use annual leave to manage symptoms. Others reduce their hours, change roles or leave jobs altogether.

Mamedica’s research shows many women are making difficult decisions between their health and income. Wider UK data shows long-term sickness has become a growing reason for people being economically inactive, according to the Office for National Statistics.

For someone living with chronic pain, this is not abstract. It may mean worrying about pay, feeling guilty about absences, returning too soon after illness or wondering whether an employer truly understands what a chronic condition involves.

Why many women feel unheard

Many women with pain describe a similar pattern: repeat appointments, symptoms being minimised, long waits for referrals and the feeling they need to keep pushing for answers.

The UK Government’s Women’s Health Strategy survey found that 84% of respondents said there had been times when they were not listened to by healthcare professionals. Among those, 72% said this happened when discussing symptoms, 56% when seeking a referral and 54% when discussing treatment options.

When this happens, it can affect more than medical care. It can make patients doubt themselves, delay further help-seeking or feel exhausted by the effort of having to advocate for their own health.

Endometriosis shows how long women can wait for answers

Endometriosis is one of the clearest examples of how delayed recognition can affect women’s lives.

Endometriosis UK says the condition affects around 1.5 million women and those assigned female at birth in the UK. Its research found the average time to diagnosis has risen to 8 years and 10 months.

During that time, patients may be living with severe period pain, pelvic pain, fatigue, bowel symptoms, bladder symptoms or pain during sex, often while still trying to work, study, care for others and keep daily life moving.

NICE has also acknowledged diagnosis delays as a significant issue, noting that they can lead to prolonged suffering, ill health and risks to fertility.

What may help if pain is affecting your daily life

If pain is affecting your sleep, work, mood, movement or routine, it is worth speaking to a healthcare professional. Even if you have felt dismissed before, your symptoms deserve proper attention.

Before an appointment, it may help to write down:

• where the pain is
• how often it happens
• how severe it feels
• what makes it better or worse
• how it affects work, sleep and daily tasks
• what treatments or medications you have already tried
• any changes in symptoms over time

A symptom diary can make it easier to explain the real impact of pain, especially when symptoms vary from day to day.

Exploring treatment options

Chronic pain is complex, and treatment depends on the person, the cause of pain and how symptoms affect daily life. Some patients may be supported through physiotherapy, talking therapies, lifestyle changes, prescribed medication or specialist referral.

For people living with chronic or treatment-resistant conditions, medical cannabis may also be considered where clinically appropriate and legally prescribed by a specialist doctor.

Mamedica supports patients with a range of chronic and treatment-resistant conditions, including chronic pain, insomnia, anxiety, PTSD and women’s health conditions.