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One of the main symptoms of Endometriosis is dysmenorrhea, painful periods with murderous cramps and sometimes horrible lower back pain.
In case you haven’t read about this before, on Indian Legion’s Gazette’s September 2020 edition, it is a disorder where the endometrial tissue grows outside the designated area of the uterus. These “clots of tissue” commonly known as cysts are usually found on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and around the pelvis region. This causes immense pain in the abdomen and pelvic regions.
Now, how many women have Endometriosis?
The statistics at the moment are 1 in 10 women and many more who are asymptomatic and/or haven’t been diagnosed yet due to the stigma around reproductive health and menstrual health issues. The earlier it is diagnosed, the better it is to try and cure it. Yet, there is no specific medicine like the common cold or even COVID-19. The best way to get rid of Endo (at least for a few years but not eternally) is through surgery.
There are 4 stages and each comes in its unique ways.
Stage Ihas a few small implants or lesions (small wounds) without any scar tissues.
Stage IIhas more implants, usually deeper and with some scar tissue.
Stage IIIis when small but deep cysts are formed with thick bands of scar tissues called adhesions can be seen.
Stage IVis the most widespread and has many deep implants, thick adhesions, and larger cysts.
Although it seems like these are visible to the naked eye or even ultrasounds and MRI scans, they are often not visible on these scans unless they are around stages III and IV. These cysts are benign but they cause much more than just dysmenorrhea or painful periods. The existence of Endometriosis in a woman is mostly first diagnosed only during the treatment of infertility, causing a delay of at least 7 to 15 years in diagnosis.
Let’s take a step back and see, WHY it is important to learn about Endometriosis?
It affects more than 176 million women worldwide, but there is very little known about the cause of Endo in someone, the exact symptoms, and most importantly, an affordable treatment than a laparoscopy to confirm it fully.
You guys might be wondering, why March is THE month and not any others.
The movement of Endometriosis Awareness was started by Mary Low Ballweg, one of the eight women who founded it in 1993.It was originally a week-long celebration of recognizing and applauding those who suffer from Endometriosis. Eventually, it became the month-long celebration it is today.
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Endometriosis Australia is Australia’s national organization that supports research and education about Endo across the country. It was started by two women who had Endo themselves and wanted more girls and women to know about it. If you search up their logo, it is of an Australian Wattle. Golden in colour, it is the most widespread flora found across Australia. The reason behind choosing this particular flower is to highlight the resilient spirit of women with Endo. To push them through the hardships and remain strong but delicate and soft as the wattle is best suited to withstand droughts, winds, and bush fires. Due to its colour, the yellow ribbon is the awareness ribbon of Endometriosis.
It might be JUST Endometriosis Awareness Month, but that should not stop you from researching other disorders like PCOS and PCOD which are becoming extremely common these days. The more people know about menstrual health, the better the world will for young girls and women who are standing clueless about any of these.
Here are a few ways you can help educate people around you about menstrual health and endometriosis:
• Speak up about it. You have the world at your fingertip: research and get talking.
• Post on Social Media. Share facts about endo on your Stories, promote endo survivors’ pages, or even just ask a question: “do you know what endometriosis is?”
• Bea part of the events. Many events happen around you, search for those and attend them. If there are none, take the initiative to organize something like a march or educational talk.
• Learnmore and more. Unless you are a gynaecologist, you might not know everything about endo. Even if you are, each case will be different. Use the resources around you to know more and get the talk started. Maybe then, one day in the future, we will be closer to finding a cure or better treatments for endo.
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Awareness is the first step to solve any problem. Hope you all will take this seriously.
