Recognizing Endometriosis Awareness Month this March

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. This international movement involves fundraisers, and social media campaigns designed to raise awareness about endometriosis. According to the Endometriosis Foundation of America, the disease is often misdiagnosed or undiagnosed, often stemming from insufficient education and awareness.

At the Utah Fertility Center, we actively support reproductive health and promote awareness in our community. Endometriosis affects around 1 out of every 10 women in the United States. So for every woman you know, whether it’s a friend, family member, acquaintance or co-worker, at least one of those women is dealing with endometriosis.

What is Endometriosis?

It most often involves your ovaries, fallopian tubes and the tissue lining your pelvis. This medical condition creating pain and inflammation arises when endometrial tissue like those lining your uterus, grows outside of the uterus. It then thickens, breaks down and bleeds every time you have a menstrual cycle. Since it has no way to leave your body like it does when it’s in the womb, it instead becomes trapped. If you have ovarian cysts, you can get scars and adhesions. It can have a profound impact on your quality of life because of the painful symptoms and is the biggest cause of infertility in women.

Symptoms of Endometriosis

If you have this medical condition, you may find yourself struggling with the following symptoms:

-Painful Periods
-Irregular bleeding
-Painful Intercourse
-Bloating
-Infertility
-Fatigue

One of the reasons endometriosis is so difficult to manage is that it doesn’t have an exact known cause. And for many women who haven’t yet been diagnosed, they may be living with the pain without knowing why and even when they are diagnosed, they may need support to manage the symptoms as there’s currently no cure.

This can be done through medications or surgery. For those women who have endometriosis and struggle with infertility, the good news is that fertility treatments can increase your odds of conception.

Treating Endometriosis

The symptoms of this disease can be managed using medications or surgical treatment.  For those not trying to conceive, using medications may help successfully control the pain and inflammation.

For those who are trying to conceive, Utah Fertility Center  typically treats cases of mild endometriosis with controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, or  intrauterine inseminations.  Those women who struggle with more severe endometriosis have the most success using in-vitro fertilization or may opt for surgery to remove adhesions.  Although the adhesions tend to return, it can help for a time.

If you would like more information about treating endometriosis, our Utah Fertility Center team is here to help! We welcome you to reach out to us at 801-785-5100 to schedule an appointment with one of our board-certified Reproductive Endocrinologists in Murray, Ogden, Pleasant Grove, and St. George, Utah.

Creating Awareness!

If you want to do something to support Endometriosis Awareness Month, you could wear a yellow ribbon to spark a conversation or donate to a national organization. We encourage advocating for women’s health to improve the quality of life for generations of women to come!