When we first conceived the idea of launching a news website devoted to chronic pain, we had a pretty clear goal — to be a clearinghouse of information focused on pain management and patient empowerment.

At National Pain Report, we were counseled by physicians and others who work with pain patients that there is one large group to which we need to pay special attention: women.

And we have been doing just that.

In addition to talking with experts about this topic, we’d like to go one better. We’d like to hear and publish more first person stories from women in chronic pain.

Do you have a story to tell?

Before you ask “Who would listen to me?” consider this from one of our experts who studies the issue:

“Women suffer from chronic pain more than men, it strikes women more severely, the episodes of pain are longer and of greater frequency,” said Beth Darnall, PhD, Associate Professor of Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine.

There are millions of individual stories that are worth sharing so that others in pain can learn, be inspired or both.

So what may seem like a pedestrian story to you because you are just “dealing with it” may be an inspirational one to patients who can identify and learn from your experience.

A recent column by Carol Levy reminded us of the power that chronic pain can have over one’s life. Her battle with trigeminal neuralgia, a chronic facial pain disorder, is a moving one and reminds us that chronic pain is about daily self care and endurance.

A recent story on Cynthia Toussaint and her 30 year battle with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome was widely circulated, another example of the importance of telling the patient story.

And we reported on a study released this month which said that the trauma of being sexually abused could lead to the development of chronic pain in women.

As Laurie Edwards of Northeastern University opined recently in the New York Times, “A review published in the Journal of Pain in 2009 found that women faced a substantially greater risk of developing pain conditions. They are twice as likely to have multiple sclerosis, two to three times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis and four times more likely to have chronic fatigue syndrome than men. As a whole, autoimmune diseases, which often include debilitating pain, strike women three times more frequently than men.”

We ask that you think about sharing your story or that of a loved one.

Telling your personal story in a public forum like the National Pain Report will be seen by many others coping with the same issues.

And think of all the good it might do.

You can comment below or email us at editor@nationalpainreport.com.