14th of March, Endometriosis International Day. Period ache and the lack of comprehension

Period aches are not normal and it’s necessary to check what is going on. This is how Dr Belen Moliner, the international specialist and head of the pioneering Endometriosis Unit of Instituto Bernabeu, starts. In the month of Endometriosis, the expert calls attention to the need to give visibility to this disease that affects one in 10 women of childbearing age. And infertility is precisely one of the consequences of the abnormal growth of endometrial tissue, which lines the uterus in the outside. It’s implanted in other parts of the body (except the spleen), and it is the ovarian area where it is most frequent. In Spain, around two million women suffer from it and its main symptom is unbearable pain during menstruation (dysmenorrhea) and a diminished quality of life for many of the patients, due to the problems associated with it.

Dr Moliner warns the it’s also a very frustrating disease because it usually takes, in average, seven years to diagnose; something that is linked to the misunderstanding that the woman suffers during the previous years until she achieves the diagnosis that gives her pain a name. Early detection is very important in these cases to improve patient’s the quality of life. Its treatment goes through the use of painkillers and in the most serious cases, surgery. Early detection gives the opportunity to make reproductive decisions. Either egg freezing or early pregnancy to avoid greater difficulties the later you try.