Despite affecting 190 million women and girls across the world, endometriosis symptoms and treatments are hard to pin down. That’s why this Endometriosis Awareness Month, we want to help your patients learn more about the condition.
We are publishing a quick rundown of what the condition is and how it affects people across our blogs. Of course, you know all about the condition but please share the below copy across your own channels to educate your patients on the basics:
"So, what is endometriosis?
According to the NHS, endometriosis is a condition where tissue that is similar to the lining of your womb grows in other parts of your body.
People with the condition can experience the growth of endometrium in areas including the ovaries and the fallopian tubes. Others can experience endometriosis of the bladder and bowel. Because tissue is growing where it isn’t meant to be, the condition causes an inflammatory response that leads to the growth of scar tissue.
As a result, women and girls can experience pain in their tummy or back, very bad pain on their period and issues pooing and weeing. In the worst cases, women can become infertile.
What are the treatments for endometriosis?
Everyone’s experience of endometriosis is different. Whilst some women experience very severe pain, others can find it hard to carry out daily tasks. In less severe cases, the condition can be managed with painkillers like paracetamol and ibuprofen.
If someone is living with severe symptoms, they will be prescribed contraception which can help dramatically. In the worst case, people might be sent for surgery to remove some of the tissue (which can reduce the risk of infertility), or they might need a hysterectomy.
Given that the condition has the power to completely change your life, and that it is the second most common gynaecological condition in the UK, it still takes around 8 years to get a diagnosis."
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Whilst we have you, here are the various ways that we are helping women with endometriosis on our platform. Feel free to direct your patients towards:
Online clinics:
Since 2017, we have been running an annual online clinic all about gynaecology. We like to keep this one as general as possible so that your patients can ask all of their questions about endometriosis. In our most recent clinic, which ran last week, Dr Naomi Sutton answered one of our members questions - here’s what we learnt:
“The symptoms of endometriosis include heavy, painful periods and painful sex which may be caused by fibroids or ovarian cysts. These can usually be seen on ultrasounds. The contraceptive pill is often recommended to treat the condition and the progestogen-only pill, implant or hormonal coil can all help reduce symptoms too. The hormonal coil is a very popular choice due to its low level of hormone and low reported side effects.”
A couple of years ago, we ran a clinic with the charity Wellbeing of Women specifically about the condition. If you need to refresh your memory or you missed the clinic completely, you can see it here.
Patient stories:
We know how useful patient stories are for loads of our members. Not only do they chart a realistic experience, but the accounts can also help people to feel less alone with their condition. Heather, who is the Surgical Program Director of the Center for Endometriosis Care has been living with the condition for more than 35 years.
Read all about her story, here.
One more thing, are you an endometriosis expert?
Although we have covered loads of topics within women’s health (think menopause, sexual health and hormones), we are yet to interview an endometriosis expert.
If you specialise in women’s health and endometriosis or know someone that does, get in touch to host a webinar. We would absolutely love to hear from you. The events are promoted via weekly and monthly newsletters as well as social media and an online article. This means our members will get to know you as their go-to endo-expert.