Pelvic pain is not caused by a deficiency of the birth control pill.
🙄🙄🙄 Fact!
Pelvic pain is not caused by a deficiency of the birth control pill.
March is #endometriosisawareness month so let’s break this down.
Endometriosis is a painful condition in women where tissue that is similar to uterine tissue lives outside the uterus around other pelvic organs.
Endometrial tissue responds to the hormonal changes of the menstrual cycle so that it can cause:
✖ Painful periods
✖ Pain during intimacy
✖ Pain with bowel movements
✖ Pain during urination
✖ Fertility problems which is the most common “symptom” of endometriosis
But here’s the thing.
Standard treatments for endometriosis are the birth control pill (or other hormonal therapies) and oftentimes surgery. I participated in a randomized double blinded multi center trial in the early 1990s comparing the use of birth control pills with Lupron for endometriosis management. Lupron works by suppressing hormones in premenopausal women to menopausal levels. In other words, a medically induced menopause state that is reversible. The gold standard “cure” for endometriosis in traditional medicine is natural or surgical menopause. Surgical menopause involves removal of both ovaries with or without a hysterectomy. That is a drastic measure, but it works. Lupron is a way of providing endometriosis treatment without surgery.
What we found was that birth control pills were somewhat effective only 30% of the time while Lupron was effective 98% of the time. It has amazed me over the years how many women with endometriosis were not offered Lupron or other similar hormones for management and were merely placed on continuous birth control pills or offered definitive surgery.
Don’t get me wrong—some women benefit from these treatments and they can be part of the overall plan. The problem is this:
👉 The birth control pill does not treat the root cause of the issue👈
That means that many women continue to struggle with pain even with the “best” treatments. The most commonly used birth control pill has typically been LoOvral or one of its generic equivalents. Again, only 30% efficacy especially for managing the pelvic pain that may accompany endometriosis.
Do you want to know what the real causes of endometriosis and pelvic pain might be? Wouldn’t having that knowledge be beneficial to you?
Because that’s what we do in functional medicine. We find the cause.
Here are 2 things you can do:
✅ Book an appointment with us if you’re looking to get to the source of the problem. We will address the issues through thorough evaluation, health coaching, and collaboration with a functional medicine practitioner. Send an email to bryanjtreacymd@gmail.com to start working with us.
✅ Follow along for more about the root causes and a functional approach to pelvic pain.
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