Get help understanding endometriosis

Let’s start with the name. “Osis,” part of the word endometriosis, means abnormal location. A woman with the disease will have tissue normally found within the uterine cavity (endometrium) growing on structures outside of the uterus.

The syndrome that causes problems for up to 50 percent of infertile women can be difficult to detect, and even harder to live with (when symptoms exist). One problem with endometriosis making the diagnosis. You may have warning signs, like painful periods, pain during sex, or pain when you go to the bathroom. Or, your only symptom of endometriosis can be infertility.

Fertility surgery is often the only way to confirm a diagnosis. Here’s what Dr. Hansard is looking to find in an endometriosis evaluation.

Chocolate cysts and other forms of endometriosis

Dr. Hansard and her fellow Texas Fertility Center reproductive surgeons are trained to find and remove endometriosis, from tiny specks to large implants. These can be clear, white, brown, red, black or blue; flat or fluid-filled; tiny as a pea, or swollen to the size of a grapefruit.

Minimally invasive fertility surgery is really the only way to know for sure if endometriosis is causing your infertility. Surgery alone is sometimes all that you will need to improve your chances of getting pregnant.

Who is affected by endometriosis?

Approximately 10 percent of all women have endometriosis.

• Young women in their teens … and mature women
• Women who have never had children … and women with children
• Women with pelvic pain … and women with no pain

Managing endometriosis can help lessen the pain, and clear a path to pregnancy. Ask us about the TFC fertility treatment plan for diagnosing and deciphering the hidden problem of endometriosis.

A video to help with understanding endometriosis

In this short video, Dr. Lisa Hansard, one of our TFC fertility specialists, explains how endometriosis can cause infertility.

Read more info on endometriosis here. You can also contact us for more information.