Endometriosis is a painful disease for women, mainly a gynecological condition in which active endometrial cells are grown outside the endometrium where they should be. The endometrial tissue is supposed to grow inside the uterine cavity. But because the uterine cavity is not properly connected to the fallopian tubes through the pelvic cavity, the endometrial cells are allowed to grow in ectopic places in the pelvic cavity through the fallopian tubes.
Some women are surprised when their doctor tells them that the disease affects the bladder because they did not know that endometriosis could grow ectopically in the bladder area. Yes, endometriosis can affect the bladder.
The endometrial cells of endometriosis can appear in many other areas outside the uterine cavity. For example, they can be ectopic between the muscular walls of the uterus, the ovaries, the abdominal cavity, and in some cases, the bladder. When endometriosis invades a woman's bladder, the patient can have painful urination and periodic hematuria.
So, how does endometriosis affect the bladder?
Ectopic endometrium involving the bladder is relatively uncommon in endometriosis, accounting for only 1% to 2% of these cases. In bladder endometriosis, the endometrium migrates to the bladder mucosa due to surgery or other reasons. As the ectopic endometrium is subjected to hormonal cycles in the body, it also shows changes such as secretion, proliferation, and bleeding, so the ectopic endometrium will have pain and bleeding when menstruation occurs.
Endometriosis at the site of bladder folding is often caused by implantation during cesarean section to close the sutured bladder peritoneal fold. Back pain and hematuria can occur during menstruation if it is involved at the base of the bladder and further implants into the bladder mucosa. Still, no symptoms can arise at regular times.
To better determine the disease condition, patients in this category are usually recommended by the doctor to do a cystoscopy. The doctor can usually see several purple-blue elevations, grape-like, with bleeding under the cystoscope, and the lesions become smaller and orange-red after menstruation. When there are already endometriotic lesions in the bladder, the doctor may even recommend a proctoscopy if necessary.
The most common treatment today is medication, administered by intramuscular injection. The medicines are mainly intended to reduce endocrine stimulation at the site of the lesion. Surgery is recommended if the condition does not improve after six months or even a year of medication. If the patient is young and does not have children, surgery is usually performed to remove only the ectopic lesion of the endothelium with great caution, a condition that has the potential for recurrence.
The general approach to treatment is to reduce the number of lesions removed, to relieve and eliminate pain, to improve and promote the patient's fertility possibilities, and ultimately to reduce and avoid the recurrence of the disease.
Therefore, for inflammatory irritation at the lesion site caused by endometriosis to the bladder, female patients with reproductive needs may consider taking the herbal medicine Fuyan Pill. This medicine is a patented herbal formula that can treat inflammation in the cervix, uterus, pelvis, ovaries, etc., and can relieve pain with excellent effects.
This disease has a high recurrence rate, so female patients should strictly follow the doctor's requirements for daily health care to avoid recurrence and cause other complications. In conclusion, regular review, early detection, early diagnosis, and early treatment are the best strategies to control the recurrence and malignant changes of the disease effectively.
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