Endometriosis is a serious medical disorder that causes tissue like the uterus lining to grow in other body areas. The tissues growing often lead to painful and uncomfortable symptoms.
Women have endometriosis for various reasons, and getting to the root cause of the problem is the key to treatment.
At Collaborative Women's Care, Dr. Eduardo Valdes and the team offer expert evaluations and specialized treatments for women with endometriosis.
Dr. Valdes is an experienced board-certified OB/GYN, providing customized care to women in the Miami, Florida, community.
The lining in your uterus is called the endometrium and normally sheds monthly during your period. Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the endometrium grows outside the uterus in various areas of your pelvic region.
Endometriosis typically affects the pelvic organs around the uterus, such as the fallopian tubes, ovaries, and other tissues that line the pelvic cavity. Endometriosis rarely affects other areas of the body outside of the pelvic region.
When you have endometriosis, the endometrial-like tissue thickens and bleeds monthly with your menstrual cycle. Because it has no way to exit the body, it stays in the pelvic region, leading to various painful symptoms.
The tissues in the pelvic cavity become inflamed and irritated, causing adhesions and scar tissue to form, which often leads to more discomfort, especially during your period.
The endometrial tissue that grows in the pelvic cavity leads to various uncomfortable symptoms, depending on where it grows and how much is there. People experience endometriosis differently, but some of the main symptoms include the following:
The severity of endometriosis doesn't always correlate to the symptoms. For example, someone with severe disease may have very mild symptoms. In contrast, someone else with a mild form of endometriosis has unbearable symptoms.
Endometriosis doesn't just happen overnight; many causes of the disorder lead to frustrating and uncomfortable symptoms. A few of the main reasons for endometriosis include the following:
The immune system is supposed to seek out and destroy invaders in the body, including endometrial tissues growing outside the uterus. An immune system issue leads to the inability of it to recognize endometriosis and eliminate the excess tissues growing.
In retrograde menstruation, blood from the uterus that contains endometrial cells flows backward into the fallopian tubes instead of exiting the body. The endometrial cells attach to organs and tissues in the pelvic cavity leading to endometriosis.
Endometrial tissue can attach to surgical scars after a C-section or hysterectomy. Even without a uterus, you can suffer endometriosis when the cells stick to scarring in the pelvic cavity.
In some cases of endometriosis, hormones affect the cells in the pelvic cavity, causing them to transform into endometrial-like cells, leading to endometriosis.
During puberty, the increase in hormones may cause embryonic cells, which are cells in early development, into endometrial-like cells that implant in the pelvic area.
Call our office today at 305-200-3878 to request an appointment if you suspect endometriosis or schedule a consultation with Dr. Valdes online.
