What Is Endometriosis?
How does it affect your fertility?

"What is endometriosis?"Endometriosis is actually a very common disease affecting many women in their most fertile years when they can reproduce.
If you have endometriosis you will have tissue growth in places that shouldn't happen. The tissue I am talking about is the endometrium which actually lines the inside of your uterus and sheds when you have your period each cycle.
Because the tissue attaches to areas where it shouldn't, such as your fallopian tubes, the outside of your uterus, your ovaries and around any region in your pelvic area, it is what causes the problem.
But how?

Find out more about endometriosis in this short video:

What Causes Endometriosis
To Be Painful?

If you are still asking 'what is endometriosis?' read on...Endometriosis is painful and causes problems because the tissue isn't supposed to implant anywhere but onto the inside lining of your uterus.
If it does attach to other places and surfaces than the tissue will respond in those places to your changing cycle hormones in the same way as it would inside your uterus.
That is it will build up each month, break down and than cause you to bleed. The trouble is, when this happens in places like your pelvis area than it can be painful for you and even interfere with your normal reproductive system, making it harder for you to conceive and get pregnant.
For example, if you have the tissue growing on or inside your fallopian tubes it can impede your fertility by making it hard for the egg or sperm to travel along the tube.
It is critical they can travel up and down your tubes to meet and travel into your uterus where hopefully they become an embryo and try to implant into the wall of your uterus.
You can treat endometriosis with hormone therapy, or by surgery.
To work out whether you need surgery, have a look at the four stages of endometriosis here.