What is endometriosis? What are the symptoms, risk factors and treatments for endometriosis?
Today, let us talk about a topic which every girl or woman should be aware of - Endometriosis. Heard this name for the first time? No worries. In this article, you will get to know all the information about this condition.
What is Endometriosis?
It is a type of disorder which normally occurs in women of reproductive age. There is a lining of tissues inside the uterus of a woman. Well, in Endometriosis, this lining grows outside the uterus. This can be very painful and can get worse over time as it involves mainly your ovaries, fallopian tubes and the tissue lining your pelvis. If we look at this endometrial-like tissue, it functions the same as an endometrial tissue should. But , the problem is that normally when the lining is inside the uterus, it thickens, breaks down, and exits your body through each menstrual cycle. But as in this condition, the lining is outside, it is trapped inside your body as there is no way out. As a result of this, surrounding tissues also become irritated which leads to developing scar tissues and adhesions, meaning your pelvic tissues and organs might stick together.
Sounds painful, right? Well, it is, especially during the time of menstruation. Let us further dig in as to what are the symptoms of this disorder.
Symptoms of Endometriosis:
The symptoms discussed below may get unnoticed by you when you have them.
➔ Pain during Periods - It might happen with almost every girl or woman reading this. Here, pain in your pelvic area and experiencing cramps is the most common thing which can also begin a week early as a premenstrual symptom. One may also complain of lower back and abdominal pain during periods.
➔ Painful Intercourse - If you feel pain during or after sexual intercourse, you can be diagnosed with endometriosis as it is a most common symptom of it.
➔ Problem in Bowel movement or Urination: you can experience pain and irritation while urinating. Also, this is mostly experienced in periods or also due to lack of water in your body. But if it continues and gets serious, you need to get your body checked.
➔ Heavy Flow of Blood: Your blood flow can increase highly during menstruation or sometimes you may bleed in the duration between two periods too.
➔ Infertility: There are many cases registered of women with infertility having endometriosis disorder.
➔ Some other symptoms to know: Other signs you may experience are fatigue, diarrhea, constipation, bloating or nausea.
We know, you are shocked to see the symptoms realising that these all do happen to you! You can mistake it with the symptoms of periods but let us not be the doctors ourselves and go for a checkup, because there is no harm doing that. And it would be helpful for you only if the treatment starts as early as possible.
Having known the symptoms, let us check what are the risk factors involved in this condition.
Risk factors in Endometriosis:
1. You may not be able to give birth ever.
2. If you are a mom who has a daughter, reading this, it might be important for you to know that one of the risk factors involves starting your period at an early age.
3. Your menopause gets extended to an older age.
4. Normally, a menstrual cycle is of minimum 28 days. Due to endometriosis, the number of days can be cut off and your periods can start early.
5. Or, in contrast to the above point, your periods can last longer than seven days.
6. The level of estrogen in your body might increase for a lifetime.
7. Low Body Mass Index, i.e., your weight and height do not align with each other as it should resulting in either overweight or underweight.
8. You can develop other medical conditions too. For example, the one which does not allow the blood to pass during your periods.
9. Disorders of the reproductive tract.
10. You might have a relative or family member having this condition too.
11. You can also be exposed to Infertility, if not treated at the right time.
12. According to some studies, the chances of ovarian cancer is higher than expected, but the cases have been low.
You might be stressed out on hearing the risk factors. Do not fret. Just consult a good doctor who has knowledge in this field. Better now than later.
Treatments for Endometriosis:
For the treatment, your doctor might ask for the symptoms, which you have to tell very precisely. So, if you are even a little bit confused, then scroll right up and read once more the symptoms.
Now, for the diagnosis and treatment part,
Firstly there are a few tests which the doctor might ask you to perform. These tests are:
● Pelvic Exam - here, the doctor feels your pelvis with his/ her hands and looks out for any type of cysts formed.
● Ultrasound: An ultrasound of your abdominal region and vagina is done.
● Laparoscopy - Here, the doctor might transfer the case to a surgeon, who gives you anesthesia and then tears a cut near your navel to supervise your abdomen and look out for any signs of endometrial tissue.
When these exams are done, the doctor suggests the following treatment.
★ Medicines are recommended to ease the pain.
★ Hormone Medication is suggested so that the growth of previous endometrial tissue is slowed down and no new layer gets formed.
★ If you are or are thinking of getting pregnant, then the doctor removes your endometrial tissue through Conservative Surgery, which has a higher rate of success.
★ But if you don’t want to remove it through surgery, then a type of fertility treatment is given, where your ovary is stimulated to provide more eggs.
★ Another way is to remove the ovary and uterus itself, but the doctors do not recommend this approach anymore because it contains many after effects and can also cause an early death.
Conclusion:
We have covered all the things related to endometriosis in this article. Just giving a heads up to select the doctor you are most comfortable with, because this is a sensitive matter, which a woman cannot bear to go into the wrong hands.
Reference Link - https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/endometriosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20354656
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/endometriosis/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20354661
