I Recommend: Endometriosis Resources
One in ten. Did you know?
One in ten women is affected by endometriosis. Look around. Think about whether you have 10 female friends. If yes, one of them is very likely to have "it". Do the rest of the calculation if you have more than 10.
Look around one more time. Have you heard this "one in ten" sharing her "down there problem"? If not, it is likely because she didn't dare to share, not because the problem doesn't exist.
One in ten. And 8 years to get a diagnosis.
March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. And it is nearly a year that I’ve been supporting women living with endo and trying to get the best information I can.
This is the list of my favourite resources at the moment – something I watched, listened to or read myself and selected as "recommended" without a doubt.
Endometriosis and pain
Amelia Mardon is a PhD candidate with the Body in Mind Research Group at the University of South Australia. After being diagnosed with endometriosis at 14, she has developed a passion for all things pelvic pain and turned this into the focus of her research – optimising pain science education for females with persistent pelvic pain.
Amelia is also the author of the article “The cost of translational gaps for people with pelvic pain”
One of the best pelvic pain books at the moment. The more you know about pain, the more tools you have to manage it and be in control. “Why Pelvic Pain Hurts: Neuroscience Education for Patients with Pelvic Pain teaches you the truth about your chronic pelvic pain: what it is, how the brain and nervous system are involved in creating pain and how you can finally find relief.” Written by physical therapists.
Podcast: This Endolife - How the Brain Increases Endo Pain and How Pelvic Pain Becomes Chronic
Conversation with Christie Uipi, social worker and psychotherapist who is on the Scientific Advisory Team at Curable and is specialised in chronic pain, depression and anxiety. Christie endured years of chronic pain herself and discusses here how all pain is made in the brain (which doesn’t mean it is all in your head!), how pain becomes chronic and how upregulated nervous system can influence endometriosis pain. She also offers solutions to begin “reprogramming your brain” towards less pain.
My blog post: Endometriosis and Pain - What You Need to Know
Nearly every time I mention that in my capacity as a Feldenkrais® practitioner I am supporting people living with persistent pain, I have questions coming about endometriosis. That’s why I decided to dig deeper into some research and see how up-to-date neuroscience of pain can be applied in this case. I must confess I used to think of “endo” as a condition where the pain comes from the tissues and therefore not too much could be done about it, except for, perhaps, some relaxation techniques for the pelvic area.
I was so, so wrong! …
Endo as Immune dysfunction
Lara Briden (“The Period Revolutionary”) is an experienced naturopathic doctor and bestselling author based in New Zealand.
Here Lara explains that endometriosis is an inflammatory disease that’s affected by hormones but is not caused by hormones. Instead, endometriosis is, at least in part, a disease of immune dysfunction. Here you’ll find some of the new endometriosis research including the link with genes that increase the risk of autoimmune disease, the role of a bacterial toxin called lipopolysaccharide or LPS, and new targets for natural immune-modulating treatment.
Book: Period Repair Manual
This book explains how to use natural treatments such as diet, nutritional supplements, herbal medicine, and bioidentical hormones and provides advice and tips for women of every age and situation. Amongst other things, you’ll find here treatment protocols for PCOS and endometriosis. First two chapters available for free download.
Everything you wanted to ask your doctor about
Video: An evening with Dr Michael East held by CDHB Youth Advisory Council
Dr East speaks about how essential is education on what to expect from a normal period, why the waiting time for surgery within the NZ public health system is so long and explains how, even when you have access to surgery, re-education of the musculoskeletal system pre-and post-surgery should be a crucial part of the treatment to break the “pain-tightness-pain” cycle, as well as getting non-drug pain management skills.
Dr Iris Kerin Orbuch is one of the world's leading experts in endometriosis and she’s on the mission to address the disease's host of co-existing conditions--which can include pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, gastrointestinal ailments, painful bladder syndrome, central nervous system sensitization--through a whole-mind/whole-body approach. Beating Endo formalises the multimodal program she developed together with a world-renowned pelvic pain specialist and physical therapist Dr. Amy Stein, offering readers an anti-inflammatory lifestyle protocol that incorporates physical therapy, nutrition, mindfulness, and environment to systematically addresses each of the disease's co-conditions on an ongoing basis up to and following excision surgery.
Video: Interview with Dr Iris Kerin Orbuch on Endometriosis Management
Best practices for long term management of endometriosis and holistic approach to care and recovery.
Endo and movement & pelvic floor
An interview with Dr Brianne Grogan, a pelvic floor physiotherapist, the founder of FemFusion and Vibrant Pelvic Health. How to work out safely when you want to move, but you're scared of making the pain worse or doing damage, the benefits of movement for chronic pain conditions and how to adapt your exercise routine when pain levels go up.
Check my online classes “Lengthening Without Stretching” and Pelvic Floor series - while not endo-specific, they help your "core muscles" to lengthen/relax and improve your movement habits. I also offer individual pain education sessions where we can brainstorm your movement strategies so that you can use movement to bring your pain levels down.
Endometriosis and Nutrition
Blog post: Nutrition for Endometriosis
Julie from Nurture Nutrition is a Waikato-based qualified clinical Nutritionist. “When it comes to the holistic treatment of endometriosis, what you eat is likely to be the most important consideration. Through our diet, we can reduce inflammation which can provide a world of relief. Remember, Endometriosis really is a whole-body inflammatory disease rather than a period problem.”
My Q & A with Julie on Endometriosis and Nutritional changes
Here we address basic (and simple!) nutritional changes that could potentially make endo symptoms better. If you want to hear whether and why nutritional interventions work, what are the simple basic steps to follow and swaps to implement, and whether your self-care pack should include a chocolate (spoiler: it can!), have a listen.
If you know someone on their endo-journey, please share these resources with them. Remember, one in ten?