The impact of endometriosis in the quality of life
Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory process and although may not be a life-threatening disease like cancer but studies have shown that women suffering from endometriosis have an extremely poor quality of life. Many women first realize they are suffering from endometriosis when they undergo a laparoscopy and once confirmed with this diagnosis they are then able to understand what is impacting their day to day life and take remedial measures.
But I believe there are millions of women out there who face these non-specific symptoms everyday but have no clue that they may be suffering from endometriosis. Not just physical pain and difficulties, but the mere presence of physical symptoms can negatively affect their psychological health. Depression is a common in women with endometriosis and they suffer with mental health as a consequence of this.
The social impact of endometriosis
The social impact of endometriosis reflects from the fact that they are absent from work, school/college, and often avoiding social activities as they suffer from intense distress during their menstrual cycles. Sexual health is also affected and becomes an unspoken truth for these couples. Severe dyspareunia and chronic pelvic pain have a negative impact on these women’s sexual function. Maybe even a reason for marital discord, separation and ultimately divorce. Endometriosis significantly impairs the woman’s chance of becoming pregnant, increases her chance of abortion ultimately denying her the happiness of motherhood.
Awareness of endometriosis is the order of the day. It has become important that we break the silence and speak about it both to women directly as well as in media so that this crucial information about this chronic debilitating underlying disease becomes easily accessible and can
be used by these women to improve their quality in life in general. Sexuality is an integral part of a woman’s life which often gets adversely affected due to endometriosis.
Unfortunately, a gynecologist is not the first point of contact for these women because of their non-specific symptoms. We need to remember to engage these women suffering from endometriosis in detailed conversation to understand their pain, sexual difficulty and their inability to get pregnant. It is also important to take their partners into confidence and involve them in decision making and communicating with them in detail about this disease and see whether they can together work towards reasonable solutions
So don’t let embarrassment or being too busy put you off – if you are experiencing one or more of these problems, book an appointment to make sure everything’s in order.
