Woman was fed up with male doctors saying painful feminine procedures ‘don’t hurt’ — her perfect comeback left no room for debate
Several women have long been dismissed for sharing their health concerns. In some cases, male doctors even downplay the severity of certain procedures, leaving females in pain and confusion. A TikTok user named Sommer Tothill, who goes by @sommertothill, shared a post on July 6, 2026, explaining a woman’s experience. She came across the comment in a thread on social media and decided to share it with fellow women. The person noted that she was fed up with doctors telling her that feminine procedures “won’t hurt,” and came up with one statement to make them reconsider their negligence.
@sommertothill Most healthcare professionals are just doing their best in a tough system, but not enough of them fight the ingrained misogyny of that system.
♬ original sound - Sommer Tothill
Tothill herself shared instances where procedures like a cervical sweep, used to trigger labor during pregnancy, are often deemed painless by many medical professionals. However, the latter is extremely painful. The woman, too, mentioned how she’s had many male doctors tell her certain methods won’t hurt, only for the opposite to happen. So, when any professional tells her something won’t cause pain, and it does, she simply tells them, “Well, then you must be doing something wrong because it does hurt.” She puts the blame back on them so they can reconsider how much they understated the inconvenience.
“Women are gaslit into thinking certain things shouldn’t hurt, and if they do, then we think we’re being hysterical or overdramatic,” Tothill noted. Using this comeback, then, turns things back on the doctor, making it seem like it's simply their fault because their word turned false. According to the PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America), recognition of pain management is a human right. All should have access to effective treatment and prescriptions without any discrimination. Yet, there is often sex bias even in this field. The study conducted revealed that females are less likely to receive pain medication compared to males during treatment. This disparity was observed across all age groups.
Analgesic prescription, given to relieve pain without losing consciousness, was more likely to be given to men by both male and female physicians, compared to women. Statistics showed that even the percentage of females who experienced severe pain and received medication was lower than that of men who experienced extreme pain. For fellow women, this one statement felt like an epic solution. @sallybrategoodtimes wrote, “This is why I have the internet.” @princesseatspeaso added, “This is why I didn’t get a cervical screening for 30 years. The doctor said it might be a bit uncomfortable, but it was 10/10 pain.” @christina_theartist recalled, “The first time a doctor told me something wouldn’t hurt, and it did, I panicked because I thought something was wrong.”
You can follow Sommer Tothill (@sommertothill) on TikTok for more content on lifestyle.