But you are not a lot: Endometriosis is a collective experience

Numbers don’t lie. Endometriosis affects 10–15% of all women of reproductive age and 70% of women with chronic pelvic pain. Although many women need help, the delay in diagnosing endometriosis is very alarming. Unfortunately, this can result in unnecessary suffering and a considerably reduced quality of life.

1 in 10 women of reproductive age (15-49 years) deals with Endometriosis

^{176 million women today suffer from Endometriosis}

HOW IS ENDOMETRIOSIS PAIN MANAGED?

We can have a very extreme “solution” for severe endometriosis: surgery. The lesions can be removed, like hysterectomy and laparoscopic surgery. However, most women with a mild case manage the condition by non-surgical options. For endometriosis pain management, your doctor may recommend or prescribe the following medication:

1) Painkillers

• Over-the-counter painkillers (like ibuprofen, acetaminophen, naproxen)
• Prescription-strength painkillers (like ibuprofen, naproxen)
• If the pain is not controllable by the above medications, opioids may be prescribed (like hydrocodone with acetaminophen).

2) Hormonal therapy

• Hormonal birth control (like pills, injection, implants, IUDs)
• Gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonists (like Orilissa)
• Androgenic hormones (like danazol)
• Aromatase inhibitors: Arimidex (chemical name: anastrozole), Aromasin (chemical name: exemestane), and Femara (chemical name: letrozole).

^{Painkillers may not work well for painful sex.}

These medications can reduce endometriosis pain by anti-inflammation or by suppressing estrogen production. In fact, I used to take them because they may work well for pain associated with the menstrual period. But what about painful sex? Let’s be honest, sex is important, and makes us happy, we deserve to be happy! Conversely, the treatment of endometriosis with hysterectomy or hormonal therapy can cause vaginal dryness and atrophy, which may result in painful sex, loss of libido, and female sex dysfunction.

PAINFUL SEX + ENDOMETRIOSIS = NOT GOOD COMPANIONS

This is very important, so I will repeat it one more time: endometriosis can grow in different places around the uterus, fallopian tubes, and/or the back of the vagina. This is why women may experience sexual pain differently.

If the endometriosis is behind the vagina in the lower uterus, sex can be super painful, this is known as deep dyspareunia. 

Sometimes endometriosis can grow between the vagina and rectum, causing scars or adhesion of the two tissues. Penetration can pull and stretch the adhered scar tissues, causing pain. 

If the endometriosis is in other places, such as on the ovaries, you may not have painful sex (or maybe you feel less pain). But if endometriosis occurs in multiple pelvic organs and the uterus, sex may be more painful.

^{Endometriosis may cause painful sex}

Some women opt for hysterectomy or hormone therapy to treat their endometriosis. One of the problems with these treatments is the reduction of the level of estrogen, which often leads to vaginal dryness, making sex painful or uncomfortable. 

Endometriosis treatments may not work for relieving painful sex

We already know that when a woman has endometriosis, she may experience painful sex due to inflamed endometriosis tissue. For this issue, an anti-inflammatory painkiller may work. However, commonly painful sex may be because of the stretching of old scars or tissue adhesions which caused by previous endometriosis tissue damages. Anti-inflammatory, as it names states, is for inflammation.  Painkillers may not work on reducing pain caused by pulling old scars or tissue adhesions that have no inflammation.

Treating endometriosis with hormone therapy or hysterectomy may cause vaginal dryness, shrinking, or painful sex. Estrogen is often recommended to reverse vaginal dryness and atrophy, but this can increase the severity of endometriosis. Therefore, estrogen shouldn’t be used to relieve painful sex in women with endometriosis.

^{Drugs may not ease painful sex in women with endometriosis.}

 
^{NeuEve Silk suppositories}

^{NeuEve vulva balm cream}

For women with vaginal atrophy, deep pain in the pelvic floor, and pain associated with penetration, adding dilation exercise can speed up the healing process. The reason is that dilation stretches the atrophied tissue and reabsorption of the scar tissue. It promotes the regeneration of the vaginal lining of skin.

Many of our customers reported excellent results using NeuEve together with a vaginal dilator. We recommend the VuVa Smooth Set of Five Dilators, and the VuVa Neodymium Magnetic Set. These are higher in price, but you’re really getting what you pay for. They are worth it!

These dilators are not our products. They are sold by VuvaTech. For convenience of our customers, we list the product links below: 

Buy Non-Magnetic Pelvic Dilators

Buy Magnetic Pelvic Dilator

Tips about using dilators:

1) Avoid overstretching. It is understandable that one may wish to move up the sizes quickly to get a more rapid recovery. However, this can be counterproductive. The recovery of vaginal atrophy is a slow process. Moving up the dilator sizes too quickly or skipping sizes can cause overstretching, which in turn can tear the atrophied tissue to cause injuries. Please do not skip the sizes and try the largest dilator first. Please be patient and do the exercise with a stepwise increment to avoid possible injuries due to overstretching. Please give one size dilator at least 3-4 weeks to allow the tissue to catch up with the growth before moving up to the next size.

2) Preventing UTI. Physically, dilation exercise is like sexual intercourse. The penetration movement can mobilize bacteria normally on the skin into the bladder to cause UTI. You will need to pee immediately after each exercise to prevent UTI. Urination can flush out any bacteria that entered the bladder during the dilation exercise. Therefore, drinking a lot of water before exercise helps build up the urinating flushing pressure and prevent UTI. If you are dealing with UTIs, you may find support on NeuEve Corsaria, our daily supplement for urinary tract health. 

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is about natural products, nutrients, and/or methods for managing vaginal discomfort (not a true infection or disease). It is not medical advice for the treatment of any diseases.