The endometrium is the tissue that forms the lining of a woman's uterus. When this tissue also grows somewhere else in your body where it is not supposed to, such as the ovaries, the pelvis or the fallopian tubes, it is called endometriosis. This tissue continues its normal function as if it were in the uterus, which includes thickening, breaking down and causing bleeding. However, since it is doing this elsewhere, the blood cannot flow out of your body and as a result causes irritation by forming adhesions that abnormally bind organs together, forming cysts or causing tissue to scar.
Dysmenorrhea
Dysmenorrhea is the medical term for menstrual periods that are painful. Endometriosis can accentuate this. You may experience cramps and pain in your pelvis that begin prior to your period and can continue into your monthly cyclical flow. The Mayo Clinic reports that the level of pain does not necessarily mean endometriosis is extensive. It states that some women who experience severe pain only have mild endometriosis, while others with extensive tissue scarring feel little pain associated with it or none.
Pelvis
Because endometriosis produces endometrium tissue elsewhere in your pelvic region, it can cause pain there, too. For example, there may be pain that is sharp during sexual intercourse, at the time you are ovulating, when you urinate and when you defecate. If you have any of these symptoms, consult your physician. The Mayo Clinic states endometriosis can be misdiagnosed and confused with other problems that cause pain in your pelvis such as pelvic inflammatory disease and cysts on the ovaries. It also may resemble irritable bowel syndrome. This condition also can take place with endometriosis, so it makes it even harder to diagnose it correctly.
Bleeding
Endometriosis can cause you to bleed abnormally during your menstrual period. The condition of heavy menstrual bleeding is called menorrhagia. It may only occur occasionally. Endometriosis also can cause you to bleed at times when you normally are not menstruating. This condition is called medical menometrorrhagia.
Infertility
Because endometriosis can interfere with your ability to get pregnant, you may discover you have it only when you try to get medical help to conceive a child. During the tests to find out why you cannot get pregnant, your physician may find endometriosis is the cause.
