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Medications to Treat Endometriosis

Find medications to treat endometriosis

Our Austin endometriosis doctors are experts in diagnosing and treating this frustrating and often-painful condition. Medications used to treat endometriosis can help many women find relief from symptoms such as severe uterine cramping, pain with intercourse and generalized pelvic pain. Although many physicians believe that endometriosis should be treated surgically, in some cases, medications alone can resolve the condition so that surgery may not be necessary.

Understanding medications to treat endometriosis

Endometriosis is basically normal uterine lining tissue located anywhere outside the uterus. Every month, these abnormally located cells cycle and bleed – just like the normal uterine lining cells. Medications to treat endometriosis include supplemental hormones, which may be able to reduce or eliminate the pain of the condition. Our Austin endometriosis doctors may prescribe hormone medications to slow, or even reverse, endometrial tissue growth and prevent new endometrial implants from forming.

Some common medications used to treat endometriosis include:

  • Birth control pills, which can help control a woman’s hormones, improve endometriosis symptoms and pain, and give her a shorter, lighter period. Progestin-only contraceptives can also stop a woman’s period and prevent the growth of endometrial implants, which can relieve endometriosis symptoms.
  • Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) agonists and antagonists temporarily lower estrogen levels by blocking the production of ovarian-stimulating hormones. This significant drop in estrogen production causes endometriosis implants to shrink, or occasionally even go away completely.

Medications to treat endometriosis are not a permanent solution, and a woman’s symptoms frequently return if she stops taking the drugs. However, hormone medications can help some women manage their symptoms, occasionally for many years.

Options other than medications to treat endometriosis

In some cases, our Austin endometriosis doctors may recommend surgery to help women overcome the condition, especially if a woman has severe symptoms or wants to become pregnant in the near future.

All of our Austin endometriosis doctors are highly trained surgeons with years of experience using laparoscopic surgery to remove endometrial implants while preserving a woman’s uterus, Fallopian tubes and ovaries. This minimally invasive surgery can relieve endometriosis pain and restore fertility.

Laparoscopic endometriosis surgery involves two basic steps:

  • The endometriosis surgeon must first perform a laparoscopy to diagnosis endometriosis. This procedure is performed under general anesthesia, and involves the surgeon making a small incision in the patient’s belly button through which he or she inserts a laparoscope (a thin, lighted instrument) to view the pelvic organs.
  • Once a diagnosis of endometriosis has been made, the surgeon can then proceed to treat the endometriosis. Through one or two more tiny incisions, the surgeon will insert additional surgical tools to destroy endometriosis implants and remove scar tissue, if necessary.

Contact us to schedule an appointment with our Austin endometriosis doctors to learn more about medications to treat endometriosis, including minimally invasive surgical options. Treatment can relieve your symptoms and restore your fertility.