Endometriosis has four stages: minimal, mild, moderate, and severe. Symptoms vary, and surgery is the most effective way to determine the stage. Treatment options include hormone therapy and surgery, depending on the severity of the condition.
There are four stages of endometriosis: minimal, mild, moderate and severe. Doctors often have difficulty knowing what stage of endometriosis a woman is in based on symptoms because symptoms vary from person to person. It is not uncommon for someone with mild endometriosis to experience painful symptoms or for someone with severe endometriosis to have none. Surgery is the most effective way for a doctor to determine what stage of endometriosis a woman is in, but it is typically not done unless she has severe symptoms.
Endometriosis is a condition that causes the endometrium, which is the lining of tissue that thickens and sheds during the menstrual period, to grow outside the uterus. Most often this only affects the ovaries and fallopian tubes, but endometrium can form elsewhere on the body as well. Most women affected by this problem are of childbearing age. Symptoms almost always disappear at the onset of menopause.
Minimal endometriosis is diagnosed when there are only small, isolated areas of the endometrial lining growing outside the uterus. Mild endometriosis is diagnosed when there are several spots of endometrium growing along with a very small amount of scar tissue. As the stages of endometriosis progress from mild to moderate, there can be many deep areas of lining and scar tissue that are on the outside of the uterus. Women in the severe stage have much greater degrees of excess lining and scar tissue, which could also extend outside the pelvic region and into the rectum.
Symptoms of this condition usually include heavy periods, spotting between periods, irregular periods, pelvic pain, and difficulty getting pregnant. Fertility problems are often only present during the moderate and severe stages of endometriosis. Many women don’t even know they have the disorder until they see their doctor about problems conceiving.
Women who don’t want to get pregnant can occasionally control endometriosis symptoms with birth control pills or other types of hormone therapy. Very severe cases may require surgery to remove excess endometrial tissue growing outside the uterus. If pregnancy is desired, surgery may be required before conception can occur.
Women with mild to moderate endometriosis may not require surgery to get pregnant. Even if a woman does not want to become pregnant, surgery may be recommended if she is in the moderate or severe stages of endometriosis in order to eliminate other painful symptoms.
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