Endo Series Part 1: The Low-Down On Endometriosis 📖
Every month I run a group program all about nutrition for endometriosis & pelvic pain. And when I’m laying the ground work for digging into nutrition, I always like to make sure that people have a good understanding of what endometriosis actually is.
For the most part, I find that people with endometriosis practically have PhDs on the topic!
They have often had to fight so hard to get a diagnosis that they know more about it than most health professionals.
I’m always amazed at the depth of knowledge people have. And you might sit squarely in that camp too.
So instead of going over the science-y sounding basics all over again – in today’s email I want to give you my best 1 minute explanation for what endometriosis is.
It’s the type of explanation that will hopefully come in handy if you have to explain it to a loved one or colleague.
And then I’ll share with you my FAVOURITE blog post as to WHY pelvic pain is complex and WHY we need to treat it holistically.
Ready? Let’s go!
What is endometriosis?
Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory condition where tissue that is similar to tissue lining the uterus grows outside of the uterus. It’s often found in and around the pelvic area but it has been found as high as the brain and as low as the rectum.
Because the tissue is similar to the lining of the uterus, it also responds to menstrual cycle hormones. When our hormones change across the month, the endometriosis tissue responds with growing, inflammation and bleeding.
It’s kind of like having an eyelash in the eye. The eyelash is where it’s not meant to be, so our body jumps into action to protect us, causing irritation, redness and pain. Similarly, the endo tissue is where it’s not mean to be. In an effort to try to protect us, the body mounts an immune response causing inflammation and pain, which can lead to wounding and scarring.
People with endo are thought to have a dysfunctional immune system, 85-90% of people with endo have gut symptoms, they also often experience extreme fatigue and SO much more!
It has historically been thought of as a gynaecological condition, but now we know it impacts the WHOLE body. Yes, it impacts the gynaecological system, but it also impacts the immune system, nervous system, gastrointestinal system, endocrine system, musculoskeletal system and of course our psychosocial health.
Not to mention that it impacts 1 in 7 people with periods and is more common than type 2 diabetes!
There are about a million more things I could say but hopefully that gives a quick 1 minute overview.
Fortunately, other people have done a LOT of the heavy lifting in terms of spreading accurate and empathetic information on this topic. One such person is Dr Peta Wright.
Dr Peta Wright is a Gynaecologist in Brisbane and she has written what is my FAVOURITE blog post on the topic. I highly recommend the read. It’s called ‘Pelvic Pain: Dealing with more than just the tip of the iceberg’.
This image is from the blog post.
The article poses the viewpoint that removing endo tissue surgically is at the tip of the iceberg. Surgery can improve pain for some - especially if it's deep infiltrating endo. And we know that it might not improve pain for everyone.
If we jump to the bottom of the iceberg - we see it's complex!
Factors that also impact pelvic pain include trauma, central sensitisation, an overactive autonomic nervous system, altered gut microbiome and increase gut permeability, immune system dysfunction, inflammation, pelvic muscle dysfunction, increased stress hormones, and mental health.
And then on the outside of the iceberg are the things that can help improve pain. This is exactly why treatment needs to be holistic.
If you want to learn more about this as well as some wonderful treatment options – I highly recommended Dr Peta Wright’s book ‘Healing Pelvic Pain’.
Thanks for bearing with me as I lay the foundational knowledge that I wish all people with pelvic pain knew.
You may have spotted anti-inflammatory diet on the diagram above – and that’s exactly what I chat about in the blog post here!
Kindest,
Nadia xx