Most women have heard of endometriosis and many have at least a general concept of what it is. In my practice, I remember it being called “the working women’s disease.” That’s because there was a theory a couple of decades ago that endometriosis was related to a high stress lifestyle.
What is Endometriosis?
Stress definitely has a role in endometriosis, as do most chronic diseases, but let’s go back to the basics. Endometriosis, in the simplest possible terms, is tissue from the uterine lining growing where it shouldn’t. During healthy menstruation, women shed their endometrial lining, or the endometrium, each month. The material is expelled from the body as part of the monthly menstruation. While many women would probably like to bypass this inconvenient and sometimes painful monthly routine, it is the key to life itself.However, in the 5.5 million North American women with endometriosis, cells from the uterine lining have migrated from where they’re supposed to be -- inside the uterus -- to other parts of the body, most often within the pelvic area, on the bowel, bladder, ovaries and the outside of the uterus. It’s sometimes called retrograde menstruation. Rogue endometrial tissue has been known to migrate as far as scar tissue on the arms and legs.
