Endometriosis
Natural remedies for endometriosis
What is endometriosis
Every month, between periods, the lining of your womb – the endometrium – gets steadily thicker in preparation for supporting a baby should you get pregnant. This lining responds to fluctuating hormone levels.
When your body recognises that you haven’t conceived, progesterone levels fall rapidly, the lining breaks down and your period arrives.
In endometriosis, for reasons nobody really understands, bits of endometrium find their way out of the womb into other parts of your abdomen.
These patches continue to behave as though they are in your womb, and build up, break down and bleed as normal. Of course, they aren’t in the womb and there’s no way for the menstrual blood to escape.
The main symptom of endometriosis is pain, but the severity of the pain seems to have little to do with how badly you have the condition. And bear in mind that although infertility is the main complication of endo, that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to have babies.
Symptoms of endometriosis
| Symptoms of Endometriosis | ||
|---|---|---|
| Painful periods | Heavy periods | Painful intercourse |
| Fertility problems | Painful defecataion | Painful urination |
Endometriosis and fertility
Both the misplaced endometrial tissue and the blood cause inflammation and pain.
If the ovaries are affected and cysts form they can cause the ovary to stick to the fallpian tube. This makes it difficult for the egg to move down the tube to meet up with a sperm and for an embryo to nake its way to the womb.
In an attempt to deal with the misplaced tissue your body releases immune cells called macrophages. These in turn release cells called cytokines which are toxic to both sperm and embryos.
Progesterone levels can also be low in endo which can interfere with thickening of the womb lining and make it less receptive to implantation.,
Having said all that, if you have mild to moderate endo, your chances of getting pregnant are near normal. Your chances are lower if your condition is moderate to severe.
The longer you have endo, the more likely it is to become severe, so if you have it, it’s a really good idea to make lifestyle or dietary changes sooner rather than later, and if you suffer from pain and menstrual problems, perhaps you should consider acupuncture or herbal medicine.
If you do become pregnant, you should have a perfectly normal pregnancy,give or take a little pain in the early stages.
Chinese medicine for endometriosis
Based on its own view of the body and its own diagnostic methods, chinese medicine tries to address both the obvious symptoms of pain and menstrual problems and the chocolate cysts, hormonal imbalances and immune problems that causes them.
Whilst it would be untrue to say that Chinese medicine has a complete cure for endometriosis, studies have shown it can make a substantial difference to symptoms and the quality of life of a sufferer, without the side effects of western treatments.
My treatments are always based on your individual diagnosis, and might include herbs throughout the cycle plus one, or two acupuncture sessions at specific points in your cycle..
As ever, it’s sensible to review your diet. A diet based on your CM diagnosis would recommend foods that energetically support your treatment, and from a western perspective reduce your intake of inflammatory foods and increase your intake of antioxidants.
If you’d like to fnd out if I could help, please get in touch.
