Why does the lining of the uterus shed

Laparoscopic surgery confirms the diagnosis. This common procedure allows the doctor to look inside your uterus. Your doctor will make a small cut in your abdomen. He or she will use a small, lighted camera to look for patches of endometriosis. Your doctor may take a sample of tissue to the lab. You cannot prevent or avoid endometriosis. Some women have an increased risk for the condition. Factors that increase your risk include:. Birth control pills, danazol, and GnRH analogs are taken for 6 to 9 months.

During that time, your pain should get better. However, it may come back if you stop taking the medicine. Your doctor may recommend a procedure. It could be surgery or a diagnostic laparoscopy. In this procedure, the doctor removes the endometrial tissue that has grown outside of your uterus. As a last resort, your doctor may recommend a hysterectomy. This is would be the surgical removal of your uterus, and sometimes ovaries. Endometriosis can make it harder to get pregnant.

Talk to your doctor if you plan to become pregnant. Your doctor may advise you to not put it off. The condition can get worse with age, so your chances of getting pregnant lessen over time. Some studies have suggested that endometriosis may put you at a higher risk of getting ovarian cancer.

However, the overall risk is low. Endometriosis often goes away or becomes milder with menopause. American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Endometriosis. This article was contributed by: familydoctor. This information provides a general overview and may not apply to everyone. Talk to your family doctor to find out if this information applies to you and to get more information on this subject.

Zika is a virus caused by a bite from the Aedes mosquito. It is contagious and increases the risk…. If your pregnancy is unexpected, you may be feeling scared or confused about what to do.

It is important…. This is when a mature egg or ovum is released from one of the ovaries. The ovaries are the two female reproductive organs found in the pelvis. If the egg is fertilized by a sperm as it travels down the fallopian tube, then pregnancy occurs. The fertilized egg attaches to the lining of the uterus.

The placenta then develops. The placenta transfers nutrition and oxygen to the fetus from mother. If the egg does not become fertilized, the lining of the uterus endometrium is shed during menstruation. The average menstrual cycle lasts 28 days. The cycle starts with the first day of one period and ends with the first day of the next period. Of the , follicles still present at puberty, between and will eventually develop into mature eggs.

During the reproductive years, follicles develop throughout the cycle, but each month, under the influence of hormones, usually only one follicle develops fully. Sometimes two or more follicles develop fully, in which case a twin or other multiple pregnancy can result. The follicle with the maturing egg inside moves toward the surface of the ovary.

At ovulation, the follicle and the ovarian surface open, allowing the tiny egg to float out. About this time, you may feel a twinge or cramp in the lower abdomen or back called mittelschmerz. A year or so later I began tracking all of my fertility signs when I decided to try to get pregnant.

I felt a funny cramp on my left side that was a familiar sensation but I had never put two and two together to recognize that it was my body ovulating. Headaches, stomach pains, or sluggishness are not uncommon at the time of ovulation, but you might also feel fantastic. Each tube is lined with microscopic hair-like projections cilia that constantly move back and forth. As the egg begins its several-day journey to the uterus, wavelike movements of the muscles in the tube peristalsis and the movements of the cilia help it along.

If sperm enter the vagina, pass through the cervix, and travel through the uterus into the fallopian tubes, the cilia propel the sperm toward the egg. If the egg and sperm meet, they may join. The fertilized egg then travels the rest of the way along the fallopian tube to the uterus. The corpus luteum continues to make estrogen and also begins making progesterone. If a fertilized egg implants into the uterus, it sends a signal to the ovary to keep making progesterone, which will help sustain a pregnancy by keeping the uterine lining thick and nourishing.