If you think you have endometriosis you are likely feeling a lot of pain in your pelvic area. To get treatment you need to make an appointment with your OB/GYN doctor. The doctor can do tests to make sure this is what causing you pain, such as a pelvic exam, ultrasound, and MRI. If it is found that you do have endometriosis, there are many treatment options to help you, three of which are listed below.

Use Pain Medication

The doctor will start out giving you pain medications to see if this will work. You can start out taking over the counter pain medication. The most common medications the doctor will suggest are ibuprofen or nonsteroidal drugs. Talk with a pharmacist where you are purchasing this medication so they can help you choose the right one.

If the over the counter pain medications are not working, the doctor may prescribe a stronger medication.

Get Hormone Therapy Treatment

Along with pain medication the doctor may suggest that you have hormone therapy. This is using supplemental hormones that will help reduce or stop the pain that you are feeling. This is because during your menstrual cycle your hormones fluctuate which can cause your endometrial tissue to get much thicker, and then the area will break down, and then you will bleed. In many cases hormone therapy will slow down the tissue thickening.

You cannot take hormones for a long period of time so this will not permanently take care of endometriosis. The symptoms may not return, however, but the endometriosis may return in the future once you stop taking the hormones.

The doctor may prescribe you birth control, which contains the hormones that you need. If you do not want to take birth control pills, there are vaginal rings that will slowly release hormones.

Surgical Treatment

If pain medication and hormone therapy is not working well for you, the doctor will likely suggest surgery. There is a conservative type of surgery the doctor will use if you are trying to get pregnant or plan to get pregnant in the future.

Conservative surgery involves the doctor removing the endometriosis tissue that is causing you pain.

If you are older or are not planning to get pregnant, the doctor may suggest you have a hysterectomy, which removes your uterus, as well as your ovaries. This will completely remove endometrial tissue and the endometriosis will not return.

Your OB/GYN doctor can give you many more details about endometriosis treatment.