As many as 1 in 10 women is living with endometriosis, a condition that develops when the endometrium — the tissue that lines your uterus — grows elsewhere in your body. It’s an incredibly common cause of heavy periods, pelvic pain, and even infertility — yet many women suffer in silence.
March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, and now is the perfect time to shed light on the condition and one potentially effective treatment: endometrial ablation.
If you’re struggling with heavy menstrual bleeding and severe cramps due to endometriosis, endometrial ablation could help reduce or eliminate excessive menstrual bleeding. But is it the right option for you?
Our team at OB-GYN Associates of Marietta is here to help you find answers. Let’s explore what endometriosis is, how endometrial ablation works, and when it might be an option worth considering.
Endometriosis develops when tissue that’s similar to the lining of your uterus grows outside it. This tissue can attach to your ovaries, fallopian tubes, or other pelvic organs, leading to painful periods, heavy bleeding, and infertility.
Since this tissue responds to hormonal changes just like the uterine lining, it thickens, breaks down, and bleeds with each menstrual cycle. Unlike the normal uterine lining, however, it has nowhere to exit your body. As a result, it can cause inflammation, scarring, and severe pelvic pain.
Many women who have endometriosis experience prolonged, heavy menstrual bleeding, which can impact their daily lives. While medications and hormonal treatments can help manage symptoms, some women seek a more long-term solution, and endometrial ablation is one such option.
Endometrial ablation is a procedure that removes or destroys the lining of your uterus to reduce or stop menstrual bleeding. There are a number of different ways to perform endometrial ablation, including heat, cold, radiofrequency, and laser energy.
All of the methods we use at OB-GYN Associates of Marietta are minimally invasive, which means no open surgery is required. It’s an outpatient procedure, and it takes as little as five minutes, depending on the method we use.
You can go home the same day, and most women return to their normal activities within a few days. Light bleeding or discharge may last for a couple of weeks as your body heals.
Since endometrial tissue is responsible for menstrual bleeding, removing it significantly reduces or even eliminates heavy periods — and it could be a good option for you if you’re dealing with heavy bleeding due to endometriosis.
Endometrial ablation can offer relief from heavy periods, but it’s not necessarily the right choice for every woman. It’s not a cure for endometriosis, but it can benefit women whose primary concern is excessive menstrual bleeding caused by the condition.
You might be a good candidate for endometrial ablation if:
In a few situations, we don’t recommend endometrial ablation for endometriosis. It’s not a good option for women who want to conceive in the future, because pregnancy after ablation is difficult or even impossible, and it comes with significant risks.
It’s also important to understand that endometrial ablation doesn’t remove endometrial tissue that is growing outside your uterus, so it may not be the best option for you if your primary symptom is endometriosis-related pelvic pain rather than heavy bleeding.
If you’re dealing with heavy bleeding from endometriosis and you’re searching for relief, talk to our team about endometrial ablation. We evaluate your health, review the treatments you’ve already tried, and answer your questions to help determine if you’re a good candidate for the procedure.
Call us at 770-422-8700 to book your first appointment today at our office in Marietta or Woodstock, Georgia.
