What is Endometriosis

Endometriosis stages are common & painful disease that affects women is one of the top three causes of infertility in women.

The lining of a woman’s uterus called the endometrium begins to thicken during a normal menstrual cycle, in preparation for conceiving a child.

If the woman doesn’t become pregnant that month, the endometrium is shed by the body during menstruation and the cycle starts over.

Sometimes the tissue very similar to the endometrium begins to grow outside the uterus in places it shouldn’t. This is called Endometriosis. This condition can affect the ovaries, the blocked fallopian tubes, the various structures that support the uterus, & the lining of the pelvic cavity.

Occasionally, it affects other places like the cervix, vagina, rectum, bladder, bowel, and elsewhere.

This tissue behaves like normal endometrial tissue, building up and breaking down with the menstrual cycle leading to problems.

However, it can’t be shed like natural endometrial tissue during the period. Thus, this troublesome tissue causes discomfort and inflammation, preventing the eggs from getting out of the ovaries or being fertilized by sperm.

Scarring and blocking the fallopian tubes and preventing the egg and sperm from meeting, can also be caused by this condition.

Some common signs and symptoms of endometriosis, besides infertility, include:

 

  • Pelvic pain
  • Painful intercourse
  • Painful urination
  • Painful bowel movements
  • Severe abdominal pain
  • Lower back pain
  • Heavy periods or spotting between periods
  • Fatigue

However, sometimes women with endometriosis do not have any symptoms.

Read More:- What is Endometriosis and What are its types?

Endometriosis & Pregnancy 

Women with endometriosis can conceive normally in most cases but endometriosis can be one of the root causes if one is having trouble getting pregnant.

If this is the case, it can be established by laparoscopy, where a surgeon inserts a small camera through a tube into the woman’s abdomen to check for unnatural endometrial tissue. The diagnosis is sometimes confirmed with a biopsy. 

The women diagnosed with endometriosis have several treatment options, depending on the severity of the disease, for example, Medication, either alone or in combination with surgery, can often decrease inflammation and reduce pain.

An attempt is made by the surgeon to remove as much of the diseased tissue as possible. Surgery considerably improves the chances of getting pregnant for some women. However, pregnancy rates tend to be lower for women with severe endometriosis

For women facing ovulation problems due to endometriosis, the use of fertility drugs to induce ovulation is another option.

Once the woman begins to successfully ovulate, the doctor may suggest trying artificial insemination, in which sperm is inserted directly into the uterus.

Read More:-Blocked Fallopian Tubes: A complete Overview

Fallopian Tube Problems

One of the possible causes of female infertility can be blocked fallopian tubes. Muscular tubes lined with delicate hair-like structures which work in both directions,

Fallopian tubes assist an egg to travel from the ovaries down to the uterus & help sperm travel up from the womb.

Each fallopian tube ends in fimbriae, which are finger-like structures. When the ovary releases the egg, it is caught and guided by fimbriae.

An important role is played by the fallopian tubes in the conception as they are the place where most eggs are fertilized.

Endometriosis in fallopian tubes also accounts for a significant percentage of infertility cases. The tubes may be blocked or scarred as a result of this disease.

An egg released from one of the ovaries travels through one of the fallopian tubes, the narrow ducts that connect the ovaries to the uterus.

Generally, the egg joins with the sperm in the fallopian tubes during conception and the fertilized egg continues to the uterus.

But, if the fallopian tubes are blocked, there’s no chance for the egg to become fertilized by the sperm.

A blockage in a fallopian tube can sometimes cause a fertilized egg to get stuck, known as an ectopic pregnancy.

 

Pregnancy with Fallopian Tube Problems

The blockage of fallopian tubes can be determined by laparoscopy or a hysterosalpingogram (HSG). Surgery is usually recommended for problems with the fallopian tubes, to correct the damage or unblock the tubes.

But if the woman is ovulating normally, other assisted reproduction techniques bypass the fallopian tubes entirely.

When performed by a competent and experienced Doctor like Dr. Shivani Bhutani’s best IVF center in Ludhiana at Eva Hospital, these techniques bear desirable results allowing the woman to get pregnant.

The techniques that have a very encouraging success rate of conception with blocked fallopian tubes are:

  •  Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)
  •  Artificial insemination directly into the uterus (IUI) 
  • In vitro fertilization (IVF) 

However, the efficacy of these treatments may vary from person to person. So it is best to let the doctor decide, which is the best line of treatment for a particular patient.

If you are having difficulty getting pregnant, fix an appointment today