Endometriosis Research Paper

Introduction
Endometriosis is a chronic, progressive and severe disease which affects women’s reproductive health and overall wellbeing. This essay will examine the illness experience of sufferers of endometriosis with reference to online support communities to deeply engage with and understand sufferer’s lives. Online illness communities are often the first line of health information for sufferers. These communities provide women with opportunities to share their illness experience with others that empathise with their experiences. Online illness communities can also provide direction for undiagnosed women to seek out health professionals which are sympathetic to their experiences and allow for diagnosis and effective treatment. Some endometriosis …show more content…
An estimated 10 percentage of women past puberty suffer with endometriosis.1 Tissue growth in other body cavities causes the body to produce an inflammatory response which can cause severe pain, difficulties becoming pregnant or infertility2, and may exacerbate mental health problems3. The endometrial tissue in other areas of the body can bleed in synchrony with a woman’s menstrual cycle resulting in pain and swelling as the blood cannot escape from the body cavity.4 Endometriosis is diagnosed by laparoscopic surgery which investigates the pelvic cavity to determine the location and severity of endometrial-like tissue.5 Following surgery, endometriosis can be diagnosed and classified into one of four stages depending on the severity of lesions and adhesions caused by tissue …show more content…
Most women throughout their lifetime will experience some form of period pain, and some endometriosis sufferers normalise their pain in this way. “I have had very severe periods, but I never thought I was sick. I was told that it was normal, that periods hurt a lot.”7 For a proportion of sufferers, pain dominates their lives and dictates their daily activities, within online support communities pain is explained with detailed metaphors, “The pain is paralysing…. It is entirely overwhelming. It feels like someone is pulling a big knife around inside my belly. Sometimes it's more of a burning sensation, like a hot iron is stabbing and pushing around… I need to curl up or lie down for some time before I am fit for life again”.7 For some women with endometriosis, pain is present in some form almost constantly whist for others it appears only during their period or during sexual activities. Women report that their pain negatively impacts their ability to work and some do not have supportive workplaces “I’d be absolutely fighting to get to work, because I was really worried about having more work, and I had a warning that my sickness rate was unacceptable”4. Pain is a major concern and dominates discussion in support

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