Level 2: Types of Pain in Endometriosis
Full Layout for Level 2
Information Booth 1
What is Endometriosis pain like for people who have not experienced this before?
The pain feels like a barbed wire wrapped around your organs, and then being juiced through a vacuum suction whilst being set on fire at the same time.
Unlike period cramps, pain with endometriosis is not just limited to the area surrounding the uterus.
Endo patients often experience the typical pelvic pain, abdominal pain, pain during bowel movements, pain during or after intercourse, pain with urination, thoracic pain, rectal pain, leg pain, sciatic pain, head pain and more.
The pain levels and symptoms of endometriosis can be exaggerated when menstruating and even outside of menstruation especially during ovulation.
Information Booth 2
Back pain
Back pain is very common with Endometriosis for a couple of reasons. Endometriosis lesions can be located near nerves that cause back pain or create nodules that can be present deep within the pelvic cavity, causing deep back pain. If your bowel is affected, then that too can cause severe lower back pain.
Endometriosis back pain stems from deep inside the body and is very different from the common back pain caused by other conditions. Hence, why seeing a chiropractor would not help with this back pain.
The pain for me starts from the lower abdomen and lower back, travelling upwards on the entire back and eventually reaches the neck and head.
The pain gets so severe and unbearable that it causes nauseousness and breathlessness.
Information Booth 3
Pelvic pain
Pelvic pain is another very common type of pain with endometriosis.
The lesions themselves can be present anywhere in the pelvis, potentially causing pain, or they can create scar tissue and adhesions that pull organs together, causing pain.
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Inflamed endometriosis tissue or scar tissue
Inflamed endometriosis tissue or scar tissue formed post-surgery also causes pain by creating nodules or attaching organs to each other. This can create deep pelvic pain that can cause pain with bowel movements or urination.
The presence of these nodules can lead to very sharp pain felt in the abdominal areas or the vagina, thus causing painful sexual intercourse either before or after.
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Neuropathy and restless leg syndrome
Neuropathy and restless leg syndrome can be caused by endometriosis, especially when the lesions grow near or on the sciatic nerve, causing extreme leg pain which feels like a sharp stabbing sensation.
This can feel like this fire trapped in between your skin and trying to come out but has nowhere to escape, hence causing an extreme burning sensation.
For some, they also experience swelling and inflammation of the feet or the hands making walking or holding things very difficult, and can sometimes feel like spasms similar to multiple leg cramps.
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Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) – Women with endometriosis have IBS more often than women without endometriosis. Many women who have endometriosis in the bowel and other nearby structures often receive an IBS misdiagnosis.
This results in having very painful bowel movements, with sharp or constant pain, along with constipation and/or diarrhea. This pain from the bowels worsens if you have very poor lifestyle habits and bad diets that are high in ultra-processed foods.