Endometriosis Specialist

What is endometriosis?

Endometriosis is a typically painful disorder of the endometrium, the tissue that lines the inside of your uterus. In a case of endometriosis, this tissue starts developing outside of the uterus and encounters your ovaries, fallopian tubes, and the tissue lining your pelvis. The displaced endometrial tissue goes through its regular process, breaking down and bleeding with each menstrual cycle, but gets trapped with no exit. Symptoms of endometriosis then arise, requiring medical attention.

What are symptoms of endometriosis?

The primary symptom of endometriosis is pelvic pain, similar to the kind of cramping you experience during your menstrual period but reportedly worse. Other symptoms include:

• Painful periods (dysmenorrhea): May begin before your period and extend days into your period
• Lower back and abdominal pain
• Pain with intercourse
• Pain with bowel movements or urination: Particularly during your period
• Excessive bleeding either during your period (menorrhagia) or in between cycles (menometrorrhagia)
• Infertility

Other symptoms, such as fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, or bloating, may occur especially during menstrual periods.

It’s important to note that symptoms of endometriosis can easily be confused with other conditions that cause pelvic pain like pelvic inflammatory disease or irritable bowel syndrome. Visit Dr. Cha for a clear diagnosis of and treatment for endometriosis or whatever is causing your symptoms.

What causes endometriosis?

The exact cause of endometriosis isn’t known, but some possibilities include:

• Retrograde menstruation: Happens when menstrual blood containing endometrial cells flows back through the fallopian tubes and into the pelvic cavity
• Transformation of peritoneal cells: Potentially caused by hormones or immune factors
• Embryonic cell transformation: Caused by hormones
• Surgical scar implantation: When endometrial cells can attach onto an incision
• Endometrial cells transportation by blood vessels or the lymphatic system
• Immune system disorder

What are potential complications associated with endometriosis?

There are a few complications that are associated with the progression of endometriosis.

Infertility is a potential consequence, affecting as many as one-third to one-half of women with endometriosis. This, however, doesn’t mean getting pregnant isn’t possible.

Another potential consequence is ovarian cancer. However, though endometriosis may increase the risk, the probability of getting ovarian cancer, in general, is relatively low.