Sometimes when it comes to pain in the body, you never know what the true cause is at first. You can look online and see if your symptoms coincide with certain medical issues on the internet, but self-diagnosis isn’t always accurate. Many symptoms mirror many different medical conditions. Then when visiting the doctor, there are times when you won’t be given the answer right away to what’s wrong with you simply because they can’t see it. Doctors will ask you about your medical history, family history and more, but some issues need more assistance than just knowing their history and symptoms. That’s where X-rays and scans come in to dive deeper into what might be wrong, but what happens when those don’t work either? What do you do then? Fortunately, there is a procedure that can possibly help you get the answers you need.
What Is Laparoscopy?
Laparoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure used to check the organs in your body’s abdomen as well as a woman’s pelvic organs. Doctors usually recommend this procedure when X-rays and CT scans aren’t clear enough.
How it works goes like this: a thin lighted tube with a video camera attached to it called a laparoscope is put into the belly through a tiny incision inside of the abdomen, the video camera will show pictures and videos of what the inside of your body in this region looks like.
This helps doctors narrow down the options to determine what the pain you’re feeling might be.
The procedure is usually used to check for belly pain, infections, bleeding in the belly, tumors and more.
When being done by a gynecologist, laparoscopies are used to check for fibroids, ovarian cysts, pelvic problems and more.
A laparoscopy can also be used for biopsies, removing organs and to see if there are any abdominal issues as well.
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How This Procedure Can Determine Endometriosis
Laparoscopy procedures are actually the main procedures used to determine mild to moderate endometriosis. If you’re in need of this procedure to detect endometriosis, this procedure will look at the internal organs to see if this medical issue can be determined due to any visible growths or if there are any other issues that you may be facing.
The procedure is also used to help with the removal of any found growths. Since these growths can cause infertility and pain due to the scar tissues, doctors will use the laparoscopy procedure to remove the endometriosis cyst.
The removal of these growths will help the internal organs such as your bowel and bladder that were possibly affected because of the severe endometriosis and scar tissue. The procedure will help end pain and possibly improve fertility since endometriosis causes infertility.
Day 1: Just Diagnosed with Endometriosis
What Is Endometriosis?
So what is this endometriosis that is being spoken of right? We know how to treat it, but what is it exactly? Well, endometriosis is a disorder (often painful) where tissue that is similar to the endometrium (tissue that lines the inside of the uterus) grows outside of the uterus.
This disorder usually affects the fallopian tubes, ovaries and tissues that line your pelvis. The mock endometrial tissue acts the same as the real endometrial tissue would.
The problem happens when the mock tissue has no way of exiting the body so it becomes trapped. It can involve the ovaries since the mock tissue has no way out, causing endometriosis (cyst) to grow on the ovaries. It then can cause irritation to surrounding tissues, pain, and the development of scar and fibrous tissue, which can lead to organs and pelvic tissue sticking together creating a very excruciating experience.
So Can This Procedure Really Save Your Life?
In hindsight, yes this procedure can possibly save your life. How? Because it can determine if there is an issue before it becomes worse. Of course, there are some risk factors that you will have to talk to your doctor about when the time comes as with any procedure but regardless of that, it can be very helpful.
Though the procedure is most commonly used to detect endometriosis or other issues found in women, it can be used for abdomen problems as well. Regardless of what you may need it for, a laparoscopy can be the one thing that finally helps you get the answers you’ve been searching for.