Endometriosis is a painful and chronic condition that causes tissue similar to the endometrium to grow in other places besides the uterine wall. It causes various symptoms and affects more than 190 million women worldwide.
Living with endometriosis is tough, especially when you're not sure what to expect. It's scary not knowing if you'll ever get relief from the discomfort, but it's possible.
The Collaborative Women's Care team provides various OB/GYN treatments for conditions like endometriosis, pelvic pain, and PCOS. Dr. Eduardo Valdes is an experienced OB/GYN offering hormonal birth control, surgery, and lifestyle remedies to alleviate endometriosis symptoms.
Endometriosis is a chronic issue where tissue very similar to that in the uterus grows in the pelvic cavity. The endometrial-like tissue can form anywhere, including other organs, on the uterus and ovaries, and in the rectum or bladder.
Women with endometriosis may have extremely heavy or painful menstrual cycles. They also report pelvic pain that interferes with daily activities and infertility from scarring on the reproductive organs.
Unfortunately, there's no cure for endometriosis, but you can manage it through lifestyle modifications and professional treatments.
Unfortunately, endometriosis is a chronic health condition that persists throughout a woman's reproductive years. It rarely resolves on its own, unless it's a very mild case.
Women living with endometriosis typically require lifelong management of symptoms, even after menopause. However, symptoms sometimes get better after menopause, as estrogen drives the condition's symptoms.
Although you can't eliminate endometriosis, there are various ways to manage symptoms and alleviate pain.
Eliminating endometriosis isn't an option, but you can successfully manage symptoms through a variety of lifestyle modifications. We offer the following helpful tips to manage discomfort and other symptoms of endometriosis:
Inflammation is a common factor among women with endometriosis, which you can combat through diet. Eat a diet high in antioxidants and fiber to help reduce inflammation and bloating. It's also essential to limit overly processed foods and those that you're sensitive to.
Managing stress isn't easy, but it is helpful when living with endometriosis. Try relaxation techniques, yoga, and meditation to ease your mind and combat pain and other symptoms.
Regular exercise is an essential part of managing endometriosis. It helps to reduce stress and improve inflammation, which lowers endometriosis symptoms.
Pelvic floor exercises help with various aspects of endometriosis by strengthening the supportive muscles of the pelvis.
Caffeine and alcohol both cause increased pain by uterine stimulation. Avoid these if you're living with endometriosis to avoid more discomfort.
If lifestyle modifications and home treatments aren't enough to eliminate endometriosis pain, Dr. Valdes provides other therapies. He discusses symptoms and, if you want any more children, determines the best route of treatment.
Hormonal birth control is one option to control endometriosis. The hormones balance out your body's estrogen to reduce period pain and lighten menstrual bleeding. However, they're not a good option if you still want to get pregnant.
Over-the-counter anti-inflammatories also help alleviate discomfort from menstrual cramps or pelvic pain. Surgery is an option for women with severe lesions who can't get relief with conservative measures.
To learn more about endometriosis and our treatments, call our Miami, Florida, office to speak with Dr. Valdes or request an appointment using our convenient online booking feature.
