Endometriosis is an extremely common health condition affecting women, and it’s estimated that it can affect as much as one in every ten women; that makes for approximately 176 million women worldwide, and that’s still excluding the number of women who are wrongly diagnosed – if they are diagnosed at all.
Endometriosis can be a very painful condition to live with, and it can affect every area of your life: It can even keep you from living your life, and cause other conditions such as uterine cancer and infertility if left untreated: As much as 30% of infertile women have or have had endometriosis – and there are many studies that prove it could have been the underlying cause.
If you suspect that you might have endometriosis, you should make an appointment with your doctor to start treatment and management.
Here are 10 main endometriosis symptoms that you should watch out for.
1. Painful Menstrual Cycles
For the majority of women, their menstrual cycle isn’t the most pleasant experience – but when it becomes overly painful and starts to get in the way or your life or work, then it turns into a much bigger problem and could be one of the early warning signs for endometriosis.
This can be called one of the worst symptoms – and also one of the most common. It’s usually the symptom that gets in the way of life and has you doubled over in pain.
If the pain associated with your periods starts to get increasingly worse, visit your doctor and have yourself checked: In the meantime, the pain can sometimes be relieved with the application of heat – so try a warm bath or a hot water bottle applied to your abdomen. This might even help to relieve some of the associated swelling.
Painful menstrual cycles are always a reason to see your doctor, and ignoring this symptom can only make it worse.
