What is Endometriosis?

What is Endometriosis?
Posted on 05/13/2020

Endometriosis is something that 10% of women face once they’ve hit reproductive age. Here you can learn about the symptoms and stages of the disease as you continue to monitor your own health throughout your life.

Endometriosis occurs when tissue that usually lines the inside of a woman’s uterus also starts growing outside of it on other organs in the pelvic regions. Because that tissue shouldn’t be there, it can cause severe inflammation and pain to the person that is experiencing the phenomenon.

Symptoms

Symptoms of endometriosis can vary from person to person, but the most common are:

  • Painful menstrual cramps
  • Heavy periods
  • Painful sex
  • Pelvic pain between periods

Though these are the most common of endometriosis symptoms, they can also vary on where the extra tissue is located.

Stages

Endometriosis is categorized into four different stages of the disease. As the stages increase, the pain is considered more and more painful, with stage 4 being the worst of them. They are as follows:

  • Stage 1 - The extra tissue lesions are small and there are few of them in the woman’s body.
  • Stage 2 - There is more extra tissue than stage 1, and they are deeper implants.
  • Stage 3 - There are many extra tissue lesions, and there may be endometrial cysts on the woman’s ovaries.
  • Stage 4 - There are large endometrial cysts on at least one ovary with many deep extra tissue lesions.

If you are experiencing any symptoms listed above or believe that you have endometriosis make an appointment with Doylestown Women’s Health Center as soon as possible. We will be able to give you answers and help treat any ailments that you may have including endometriosis.