Treatment Options to Relieve Painful Endometriosis Symptoms and Preserve Your Fertility
Endometriosis is a severely painful disorder that happens when your endometrium grows outside your uterine cavity. The possible places the uterine lining will likely grow include your fallopian tubes, ovaries, and pelvis. When you have the condition, the endometrial tissue thickens, breaks down, and bleeds with every menstrual cycle. Since the broken tissue has no exit point, it gets trapped inside your body, irritating your surrounding tissues resulting in chronic abdominal pain. Are you suspecting your symptoms could be endometriosis-related? If so, Midwood endometriosis care providers at Dr. Gregory Shifrin, OB/GYN PC are the specialists to visit. The expert team will offer you various treatment options to manage your symptoms and preserve your fertility.
What are the symptoms you are likely to have with endometriosis?
Pelvic pain associated with your menstrual flow is the primary endometriosis symptom. Though cramping is typical with many women during their menstruation, you will have worse than usual pain when you have endometriosis. Other symptoms of endometriosis include:
- Painful intercourse
- Pain with urination and bowel movement
- Heavy menses or abnormal vaginal bleeding
- Lower abdominal pain before and during your menstruation
- Infertility
- Bleeding between periods
- Lower back pain
- Bladder and bowel symptoms
Your pain’s severity is not usually an indication of your condition’s extent. You may have severe pain with mild endometriosis or advanced endometriosis without symptoms. You will likely mistake endometriosis with other conditions causing pelvic pain like ovarian cysts or pelvic inflammatory disease. Therefore, you must visit your gynecologist regularly to allow the professional to evaluate slight changes.
How will your doctor relieve you from your painful symptoms?
Endometriosis has no permanent cure. However, your doctor could help you manage your symptoms and other potential complications with medications and surgical procedures. The fertility expert will first try conservative measures before recommending surgery if your symptoms fail to respond to medication. Since endometriosis patients react differently to various treatment options, your gynecologist will recommend one that best suits you. Your treatment options could include:
Pain-relieving medications
Hormone therapy. The therapy regulates your hormonal changes that trigger tissue growth.
Hormonal contraceptives. Your doctor will recommend hormonal contraceptives to lower your fertility, thus prohibiting endometrial tissues’ monthly development.
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists and antagonists. Your gynecologist will advise you to take the medications to block estrogen production. The blockage causes artificial menopause, preventing menstruation.
Conservative surgery. The surgical procedure will be your best option if you desire to get pregnant or hormonal treatments do not offer you relief from severe pain. Your gynecologist will destroy or remove the abnormal endometrial lining during the process without interfering with your reproductive organs.
Hysterectomy. Usually as the last resort, your doctor will recommend a hysterectomy if your symptoms do not improve with other treatments. During the surgical procedure, your gynecologist removes your cervix, uterus, and ovaries. Additionally, the specialist will remove any visible implant lesions. However, you will not be able to get pregnant after the procedure. Therefore, you should seek a second opinion before going through the process, especially if you are thinking of starting a family.
Endometriosis is a complex condition to manage. Though the condition has no cure, an early diagnosis could help you better manage your symptoms. Call the OB/GYN experts today if you suspect your painful symptoms could be endometriosis-related.
