Endometriosis
by: Josh Riverside

Many people don’t know that endometriosis is one of the most common causes of pelvic pain and infertility in women. Endometriosis is defined as a painful, chronic disease where tissue that should only be found inside the uterus is found somewhere else inside the body. The areas that can be affected include the bowels, intestines, appendix, ovaries, and the pelvic wall.

The misplaced tissue reacts to menstruation just as it should: it builds up, breaks down and sheds, but it cannot leave the body and provokes internal bleeding, inflammation, pain, infertility, and bowel problems depending on the area of the body where it appeared. It can also create ovarian cysts, called edometrioma that can interfere with ovulation.

To be able to properly diagnose endometriosis, it is necessary for a woman to review her medical history and have a pelvic exam. Next, a surgical procedure called laparoscopy can complete the diagnosis and classify the woman in one of the four stages that catalog the disease: 1 (minimal), 2 (mild), 3 (moderate) or 4 (extensive). This involves removing and analyzing a portion of suspect tissue. After the diagnosis is complete, the doctor will recommend treatment. Treatment can include pain medication, surgery or hormone therapy. Endometriosis is not always diagnosed right away since the women or doctors may see it as normal during the menstrual circle.

The cause of endometriosis is unknown, although researchers do have some theories. More than 5.5 million women are affected in the United States and Canada alone.

Chronic Endometriosis provides detailed information on Chronic Endometriosis, Endometriorsis And Infertility, Endometriosis, Endometriosis And Cancer and more. Chronic Endometriosis is affiliated with Male Menopause.

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I will include more on this topic soon. (Amy, RN). I had endometriosis for years and ignored the pain and bowel symptoms. I saw my gynecologist regularly, but because I didn’t talk about the symptoms of endometriosis, I ended up losing my uterus and ovaries when I was only 40. And l most likely lost 3 pregnancies because of it too.

I had two surgeons who spent HOURS removing the tissue that they estimate took about 18 years to build up. They said they had never seen a case as bad as mine (and no one suspected endometriosis).

Don’t ignore symptoms, always talk to your doctor if you have a concern. Now the medical community knows a lot more about this condition than they did even five years ago.