(Lisa Haney/ Health) — Most people who menstruate cope with heavy periods, killer menstrual cramps, and painful sex once in a while. But for up to 10% of females of childbearing age, these symptoms signal something more serious: endometriosis.
Endometriosis is a condition in which endometrial tissue—which is made up of cells similar to the tissue lining the inside of the uterus—moves outside the uterus and sticks to other pelvic organs. Those can include the fallopian tubes, bladder, or bowels. Every month during the menstrual cycle, this tissue becomes inflamed and swollen. It can cause intense pain and sometimes infertility.
It can be managed with treatment, but there’s no cure.
“Endometriosis is a war zone,” Tamer Seckin, MD, founder and medical director of the Endometriosis Foundation of America (EFA) and author of “The Doctor Will See You Now: Recognizing and Treating Endometriosis,” told Health. “If it’s not treated, it’s a wound that never heals throughout the reproductive life of a woman.” (…)