Womens Health – Endometriosis facts
Learn about endometriosis, a painful yet common condition and the leading cause of infertility in women, including the symptoms and how a doctor can help.
What All Women Should Know About Endometriosis
Endometriosis is a common and painful condition affecting more than one in 10 women between 15 and 44. Despite being so common, endometriosis is a misunderstood and overlooked disease, and many women suffer for years without knowing something is wrong. Here’s what you need to know about endometriosis, including symptoms to watch for and when to see a doctor.
What Is Endometriosis?
Endometriosis is a disease in which the tissue that is supposed to line the inside of the uterus — or the endometrium — instead grows outside the uterus. This tissue continues to function like it’s supposed to, and during your menstrual cycle, it will break down and bleed. The blood will have nowhere to go as it’s emptied into the abdominal cavity, however, causing inflammation, lesions, and scar tissue over time as it touches other organs.
Researchers don’t know exactly what causes endometriosis. One possible explanation is that during menstruation, blood carrying endometrial cells flows into the fallopian tubes, becoming rooted and growing a second lining. It may also be caused by abdominal cells present during development that retain the ability to become endometrial cells later in life.
Symptoms of Endometriosis
Some women have no symptoms of endometriosis, but most do. Endometriosis often causes pain in the lower abdomen, painful periods, and pain during intercourse. The pain tends to get much worse just before and during your period before improving, but some women do experience constant pelvic pain. It can also make it difficult to get pregnant because it distorts the fallopian tubes and causes inflammation that can impair the uterus, ovary, egg, and fallopian tubes. It’s believed that up to 40% of women struggling with infertility have endometriosis.
If you have endometriosis, you are most likely to notice symptoms during your period. Along with painful periods and sex, you may also notice bleeding during periods, heavy periods, and other symptoms during your period, like fatigue, diarrhoea, and nausea.
Seeing a Doctor
There is no cure for endometriosis, but when it’s accurately diagnosed, there are several effective treatment options. Endometriosis can be confused with other conditions that cause abdominal or pelvic pain like ovarian cysts, pelvic inflammatory disease, and irritable bowel syndrome. Your doctor may use several techniques to confirm you have endometriosis. such as a pelvic exam, ultrasound, and laparoscopy, a surgical procedure that allows a surgeon to check for endometrial tissue growing outside of the uterus.
If endometriosis is confirmed, your physician may recommend hormone therapy, which can slow the growth of endometrial tissue and potentially eliminate the pain. Minimally invasive surgery to remove endometrial tissue outside of the uterus may also be recommended if your symptoms are severe and not relieved with hormone therapy.
Don’t ignore the symptoms of endometriosis. It’s the leading cause of infertility among women, and the symptoms can get worse over time. Early diagnosis and treatment is the best way to minimise the impact of endometriosis and help you feel better throughout the month.
At TMG we are lucky to work with many fantastic female GPs who can help you.
