Transvaginal Ultrasounds & Endometriosis

Diagram of a transvaginal ultrasound

You may have heard that you can’t see Endometriosis on an imaging study.  Well, this is true…BUT, it’s not to say that imaging studies are useless in helping to suspect/diagnose Endometriosis.  They can spot things that may indicate Endometriosis is present…One such tool is a transvaginal ultrasound (aka TVU, TVS, or TVUS).

Have you ever heard of, or had, a transvaginal ultrasound? Let me tell you : it’s not the ultrasounds you see in the movies.  No cold cream squished onto my belly with a technician rubbing a scanner along my abdomen. Nope…imagine if you will : squishy cold cream rubbed onto the tip of a rather large probe…and said probe is shoved up your hoohaw (yes, that’s a technical term).  It allows a better look at your organs around your feminine bits.  It’s not the most comfortable procedure in the world…and can downright hurt at times. But…

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Endometriosis & The Bowel

Diagram of human bowels

As you may know, Endometriosis is not limited to just your reproductive bits & pieces.  It can implant, grow, and fester in many places; the bowel included.  But what does that mean? How do you know if it’s on your bowel?  Today’s blog will go into that…Read on, dear Reader…read on.  Word of warning : I will be using words like fart and poop! Why dance around the subject with flowery words when I feel like I’m a giggly 12-year-old girl?

It is estimated that between 5-15% (and some even doctors guess it’s actually between 3-34%) of women with Endometriosis suffer from Endo on their bowels.  Bowel Endometriosis may affect the colon, the rectum, the large intestine, the small intestine, the colon, or the sigmoid colon.  The implants may be physically located on the bowels, or even just located adjacent to them in areas like the Pouch of Douglas, uterosacral ligaments, or rectovaginal septum. The close proximity of the inflamed and irritated lesions may be enough to induce bowel Endometriosis symptoms.  And these symptoms may also be caused by adhesions pulling or twisting the bowels.

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Reader’s Choice : C-Sections & Endometriosis

A friend asked me to look up any connections between Endometriosis and Cesarean Sections.  So, here we go.  Lots of science in this one!  Some studies show that less than 1% of women who undergo a cesarean section end up developing incisional Endometriosis (Endometriosis in or along the c-section scar).  However, that tiny little 1% number has a staggering amount of studies involving a lot of women who suffer from this form of Endo.

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