If you are a women in child bearing age, 1 in 10 of you reading this has Endometriosis (whether diagnosed or not).
Endometriosis is an inflammatory disease in which your endometrial cells (that should be located only within a uterus) travel outside of your uterine cavity. These cells can implement themselves on your ovaries, fallopian tubes, outside your uterus, intestines, bladder and rectum. These cells form a tissue, which is hormonally active and will respond to hormonal changes throughout your cycles. These growths can then become scars affecting your fertility and causing very painful periods.
Depending on where these extra cells grow, it can cause additional symptoms, especially if they are located outside your uterus and your blood is now trapped. Inflammation is what’s making it worse and allows for the condition to become worse. In many cases, women are underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed – it may take a few years until your medical doctor looks you in the eyes and really digs deep listening to your concerns. If you were suggested birth control for your painful periods and pain meds, continue reading. PMS and pain on your menstrual cycle is NOT normal. Just because majority of women are experiencing it, does not mean you should. There is likely an underlined hormonal issue, and we want to get to the bottom of it.
Symptoms of Endometriosis may be:
Menstrual cramps, significant pelvic pain especially on your period, depending on the area of growth: pain with bowel movements, pain with intercourse, pain with urination, heavy flow / heavy bleeding on your period, sometimes bleeding between periods, infertility, difficulty to get pregnant and miscarriage, PMS.
The gold standard diagnosis is laparoscopy which is a surgical procedure inserting a camera to your pelvic area through your belly button. Sounds fun? You may not have to go through this if you don’t want to.
One in three women with Endometriosis don’t actually show symptoms or don’t show symptoms as severe. In order to get appropriately diagnosed, you need to find yourself a curious regulated and licensed Naturopathic Doctor that will listen to you, map your concerns and dig deep into your hormone imbalances. An experienced practitioner will be able to utilize physical exams as well as blood work in order to rule it in.
Dr. Tali uses a comprehensive blood work with a set of physical exams, while taking into considerations your symptoms and your concerns.
There is no one cause for endometriosis but there are some theories that research points at being most likely:
What we do know, is that endometriosis is an estrogen dominant diagnosis. Meaning, that your body is either producing too much estrogen or not clearing it properly. Many factors can be influencing this, such as constipation, sluggish liver and detoxification, high exogenous estrogen in the body (such as plastic), poor diet, inflammation in the gut, abdominal fat (fat cells have estrogen receptors).
Naturopathic Medicine is great at treating and managing Endometriosis. Dr. Tali incorporates evidence based research integrative treatments and individualizes them to your symptoms, blood work and needs. Dr. Tali believes that management should be addressed to the root cause, reducing inflammation, reducing pain, balancing hormones and alleviating any other symptoms you may be experiencing. This can be done by using botanical medicine, supplements, dietary changes, lifestyle modification and sometimes acupuncture if necessary. Taking a deep look at your comprehensive blood work will help determine if additional testing should be done in order to tailor treatment for your needs – such as a salivary hormone test and other hormonal testing .
Optimization of your health is key as well as relieving symptoms. Dr. Tali strives to educate and talk about women’s health. She believes no woman should be experiencing pain during her period and Endometriosis is real pain. If you choose to take birth control, Naturopathic treatment can be managed in combination. Interactions with hormones and medications will always be checked.
A note on conventional treatment- they use anti inflammatories such as Advil, Tylenol and hormone suppression which will prevent ovulation. You have to keep in mind that while this may help symptoms, it wont treat the root cause. Depending on severity of your case, sometimes a surgery is done to remove the growth. In more severe cases, you may have a conversation to remove your uterus (hysterectomy). Naturopathic Medicine can support you while you are undergoing such procedures.