No More Suffering in Silence-Managing Endometriosis with Physical Therapy

In a developing country like Pakistan, health issues, especially those related to women’s health, always need prime focus, particularly in the far away and distant areas of the country where even basic medical facilities are hardly available. Endometriosis is one of the rarely addressed diseases, mainly because of two reasons, lack of proper education and socio-economic conditions. Endometriosis is becoming a more challenging disease for the medical community, observed primarily in females 15 to 45 years of age. The prevalence of endometriosis in females is approximately 8–11% of the reproductive period (with or without a medical diagnosis)1 . Despite the fact that patients do not show clinical symptoms but the majority of them mainly suffer from pain during menstruation (dysmenorrhea) and pain during intercourse (dyspareunia) is also common. Other conditions associated with endometriosis are chronic pelvic pain (CPP), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), loss of quality of life and fatigue2, 3. Even though endometriosis is the primary reason for infertility, and it affects the quality of life badly, but endometriosis cannot be cured in a definite manner. The focus on managing of endometriosis is either hormonal suppression of disease, analgesic, or surgical excision. Several qualitative types of research have been undertaken on endometriosis to improve our understanding of its effects on the general quality of life, social relationships, and intimate life4 . Despite many studies, physiotherapy has been the most neglected treatment for the management of endometriosis.