Gynaecology

Common Gynecological Complications

Painful Menstrual Periods

While all women can feel some discomfort during their periods, painful menses can be so severe that it stops you from enjoying your day to day. Such painful periods are known as dysmenorrhea, which is a common condition with 10% of women experiencing it. Severe dysmenorrhea can indicate the presence of Endometriosis, or Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. To learn more, click here

Endometriosis

When pregnancy does not occur each month, the uterus sheds its tissue with bleeding. Endometriosis occurs when these cells move to other parts of the body. Endometriosis can form in any part of the body, but is most commonly found in the pelvis. Although this tissue is away from the uterus, it still responds to cycle changes. Messages from your ovary tell this tissue to act as it normally would, which means it gets filled, and it bleeds when you have a period. This can cause all sorts of symptoms, including painful periods, heavy bleeding, bleeding during or after sex, pain during or after sex, etc. Endometriosis is a common disorder with 1 in 10 women experiencing it. Endometriosis can be chronic if left untreated, but usually goes away following menopause. Endometriosis is oestrogen dependent, which is a reproductive hormone which is released from when you first get your period, to when you go through menopause. Medical care for endometriosis is a most often a procedure commonly performed in hospital and is the most effective form of treatment. To learn more, click here

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)

PID is an infection of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and/ or the ovaries in women. PID is a syndrome consisting of a spectrum of inflammatory disorders of the upper female genital tract, including any combination of endometriosis, salpingitis, tubo-ovarian abscess and pelvic peritonitis. PID can cause lower abdominal and pelvic pain, pain during sex, abnormal vaginal discharge, fevers and chills, bleeding after sex, or between periods. Treatment is often a 14 day course of a combination of antibiotics, and its often recommended not to have sex for a week after commencing treatment. To learn more, click here 

Heavy Menstrual Bleeding

Heavy periods, also known as menorrhagia, affects 1 in 5 women in Australia and New Zealand. Menorrhagia is signified by an unusual increase in menstrual blood loss, menses lasting more than 7 days, frequent flooding, increase in the number of times you have to change your pads or tampons (more than every 4 hours or more than once during the night), passing blood clots that are larger than 3cm, iron deficiency of the blood due to excessive blood loss. Menorrhagia can be caused by Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding, Fibroids, Endomentrial Polyps, Endometrial Hyperplasia, Adenomyosis, and a few other very rare causes. To learn more, click here

Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding

Dysfunctional uterine bleeding is diagnosed when no abnormalities of the uterus is found. More than half of women with heavy menstrual bleeding are diagnosed with dysfunctional uterine bleeding. Dysfunctional uterine bleeding is probably related to a problem with blood levels of female hormones that control menstruation and throughout your cycle, these hormone levels are changing constantly.

Fibroids

Fibroids are non-cancerous growths of the muscle and connective-tissue cells in the wall of the uterus. They can cause undesirable symptoms including heavy menstrual bleeding and abdominal pain. Smaller fibroids often don’t cause any problems at all. Where a patient is symptomatic, the doctor may recommend a procedure to remove the fibroids, such as a Myomectomy. To learn more, click here

Endometrial Polyps

Polyps are non-cancerous growths which occur on the lining of the uterus. They can sometimes cause inconvenient symptoms in which case the doctor might recommend a procedure to remove them. To learn more, click here 

Endometrial Hyperplasia

Endometrial hyperplasia is a thickening of the uterus, otherwise known as the endometrium which often leads to heavier bleeding. Endometrial Hyperplasia can present in two ways, hyperplasia without atypia, and hyperplasia with atypia. Speak to Dr Cattanach about treatment options for these conditions.

Adenomyosis

Adenomyosis is an enlargement of the uterus caused by growth of the endometrium into the wall of the uterus. Adenomyosis is only found in pre-menopausal women as it is estrogen-dependent. It does eventually go away with menopause. Adenomyosis can occur with endometriosis. Women with this condition might have heavy periods, painful periods, pain during intercourse, bleeding between periods and lethargy due to anaemia. to learn more, click here