Endometriosis is tissue that looks and acts like the lining of the uterus but that grows elsewhere, usually in the abdomen. If you suffer from endometriosis these tissues will grow and then bleed at the end of every normal menstrual cycle. This can cause pain and swelling inside the abdomen or wherever the tissues are located because the blood has no place to go.

The most common symptom of endometriosis is painful menstrual cramps, though there may be other symptoms. The good news is that the amount of pain you feel is not necessarily relative to the amount of endometriosis you actually have. You may also experience pain in places like your intestines, if that's where the tissues are growing. Ironically, some women with endometriosis have no symptoms at all.

Diagnosis

The only real way to diagnose endometriosis is to do exploratory surgery to see if tissues are growing. This is usually done with a minor surgery, called a “laparoscopic surgery,” which minimizes invasion into your body.

Endometriosis can cause scarring where the tissue grows. It is most common to find endometriosis growing in or around the tubes and ovaries. If these areas are scarred, they can create blockages of the fallopian tubes or cause you to have difficulties with ovulation.

While endometriosis cannot be always identified as the cause of infertility, it can make your diagnosis more complicated. Endometriosis occurs more in women with fertility issues and it gets worse with age. Endometriosis is the suspected cause of about 15 percent of all cases of female infertility.

Other Pelvic Adhesions

There are other types of pelvic adhesions. These can result from previous surgeries you may have had or even infections. The adhesions can cause your reproductive organs to become attached to each other. This restricts the movements of otherwise mobile organs, like the fallopian tubes. This can cause you problems with your fertility.

Untreated Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) can lead to scarring of the reproductive tract in both men and women. This scarring can cause pelvic adhesions, blockages in the tubes, and uterine anomalies leading to infertility. It is always important to have every infection treated immediately to preserve your fertility.

Cervical stenosis is where the entrance or entire cervix becomes narrower. This makes it more difficult for the sperm to get through to reach the egg. It can also cause problems with cervical mobility.