What is Endometriosis Pain: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, and Remedies
What is endometriosis?
Endometriosis is a common condition. During the second part of your menstrual cycle, the interior lining of the uterus (endometrium) thickens in order to receive a fertilised egg. When the fertilisation doesn’t occur, the endometrium breaks down and eliminates as menstrual blood (a period). All these events manifest in concordance with the hormonal signals produced by your hypothalamus, hypophysis and ovaries.
For women with endometriosis, the endometrial tissue appears elsewhere in the body, such as ovaries, fallopian tubes, but also on and around other organs in the pelvis such as vagina, bladder and bowel. This tissue also thickens and breaks down during the menstrual cycle, but is unable to leave the body. This can lead to pain, swelling and scarring, and sometimes can cause infertility.
Endometriosis is a long-term condition affecting women of a childbearing age and usually disappears after the menopause. The chronic pelvic pain and infertility are the main complaints, but fortunately there are some treatments that can help.
Symptoms of Endometriosis:
The severity of the symptoms associated with endometriosis largely varies from woman to woman. While some experience severe symptomatology, others are completely asymptomatic. The most common symptom is chronic pelvic pain lasting for at least six months, which can feel like period cramping or dull and continuous pain.
Other symptoms might include:
• Pain during sex (dyspareunia)
• Ovulatory pain
• Heavy period bleeding (menorrhagia)
• Extreme fatigue
• Difficulties achieving a pregnancy
• Blood in the urine (haematuria)
Due to pleomorphic clinical manifestations, clinicians could encounter difficulties with the diagnosis of endometriosis. Although, some imagistic signs identified on ultrasound, abdominal-pelvic CT or MRI can strongly suggest the diagnosis when correlated with clinical picture, the exact diagnosis can be made by exploratory laparoscopy with the identification of any patches of endometrial tissue.
Causes of Endometriosis Pain:
The exact cause of endometriosis is still unknown, although genetics may play a role because the condition often runs in families; Moreover, some ethnic groups are more affected than others. Other scientific findings strongly suggest an immune component of the disease. Ultimately, we can consider this disorder a multifactorial one.
Treatment for Endometriosis:
Unfortunately, there is currently no complete cure for endometriosis, but there are various treatments available that aim to reduce the severity of symptoms and improve the women’s quality of life. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen can help with pain relief, hormonal products can be used in order to block or reduce the production of oestrogen in the body, and in severe forms of endometriosis the surgery is the treatment of choice, which may include cystectomy, conservative resections or lysis of adherences in the abdominal cavity.
Remedies for Endometriosis:
Maintaining a healthy diet and light exercise can help improve your mental and physical tonus. Endometriosis can be difficult to manage both physically and emotionally. Fortunately, for emotional support and patient education some support groups are available in online platforms or social media.
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