Endometriosis Awareness

It’s endometriosis awareness month and we think that if any condition needs awareness, it might be endometriosis.

A condition that impacts one in ten women, causes debilitating pain and hinders quality of life, and yet often takes years to diagnose - endometriosis needs our attention.

Clinically, symptoms typically present as pelvic pain, pain during menstruation, and infertility. Other common symptoms include pain during sex, pain with bowel movements, IBS-like symptoms and even pain with urinating.

50-80% of women who complain of pelvic pain, and up to 50% of women experiencing infertility, have been reported to have endometriosis - that’s more than 176 million women worldwide!

It’s shocking when we consider how many women are impacted, that 65% of those women are initially misdiagnosed with something else. The problem is many symptoms of other gynaecological concerns overlap with those of endometriosis and a true diagnosis technically requires a laparoscopic surgery to visualize endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus.

To top it off, many women don’t even seek care because “period pain” has been so normalized. It’s still unclear exactly WHY endometriosis occurs. We do know that there is a high chance that genetics play a role as daughters with mothers who have had an endometriosis diagnosis are twice as likely to develop endometriosis.

The notion that endometriosis is simply a pelvic disease is also quickly becoming out-dated. As discussed, the symptoms can be varied and how it manifests outside the reproductive tract is not yet fully understood. As new research emerges, we can begin to draw connections with inflammation (not just in the pelvis!), as well as links with increased prevalence of cardiovascular, immune, neurological and metabolic changes.
Women with endometriosis are also at higher risk of suffering from anxiety, depression and fatigue.

Fortunately, there are options within naturopathic medicine that allow us to support your body and approach your symptoms looking at the whole picture. We also help you advocate for yourself within the medical system for proper testing and management.