You May Have Adenomyosis But Don't Know about It?

Adenomyosis is a common gynecological disease with a very high incidence in women. But because the symptoms are mild in the early stages, many people have adenomyosis without knowing it. In addition, clinical manifestations of many diseases, especially adenomyosis, are similar to some common gynecological disorders, such as heavy and prolonged menstruation and pain beginning one week before menstruation and lasting until the end of it. Similar symptoms can also occur in many gynecological diseases, such as endometriosis. So you should be careful in your diagnosis.

The symptoms of endometriosis and adenomyosis are very similar, so how do you tell the difference between endometriosis and adenomyosis?

1. The ranges of lesions are different

When suffering from endometriosis, the endometrium can be transplanted to the myometrium, ovaries, pelvic cavity, and even abdominal cavity, chest cavity, and other places. When endometriosis occurs, symptoms may occur at the corresponding site.

However, adenomyosis refers to the active endometrium only transplanted to the myometrium, forming masses in the myometrium and resulting in the corresponding clinical symptoms of the patient.

2. The symptoms are different

At the onset of adenomyosis, patients present with dysmenorrhea, vaginal bleeding, and increased menstrual volume, generally without pain during intercourse. In addition to symptoms similar to adenomyosis, endometriosis can also cause abdominal pain, infertility, gastrointestinal bleeding, chest pain, painful sex, and other symptoms.

3. The treatments are different

Both diseases are caused by implant metastasis of active endometrial tissue, so their treatment methods are clinically similar. Patients can use progesterone to inhibit endometrial hyperplasia, reduce symptoms, and eliminate pain. Severe adenomyosis can be treated with a hysterectomy.

How can you find out if you have adenomyosis?

1. Diagnostic point 1: Patient's physical signs

In general, patients can have these signs present if they have adenomyosis. First, there will be abnormal dysmenorrhea. Then it will show secondary dysmenorrhea and progressively aggravate. Dysmenorrhea and the severity of the disease are proportional. Second, patients can feel the enlargement of their uterus, especially during the gynecological examination. Through double or triple diagnosis, you can touch the growth of the uterus.

However, while these signs can be an essential diagnostic basis for adenomyosis, they are not an absolute diagnostic basis because these clinical manifestations are not exclusive to adenomyosis.

2. Diagnosis point two: The patient's menstruation

Menstruation is an essential auxiliary basis for the diagnosis of gynecological diseases. If many women have gynecological problems, they can judge whether it is a gynecological disease from the perspective of menstrual management. Patients with adenomyosis can show menstrual disorders, with prolonged menstruation and irregular cycles. In addition, in the first two days of menstruation, patients can also appear dysmenorrhea, a typical clinical manifestation of adenomyosis, which is also essential evidence for adenomyosis.

Of course, patients with endometriosis can also show similar symptoms to adenomyosis, such as menstrual cycle disorders, dysmenorrhea, etc., so in clinical practice for the two diseases, it is necessary to learn the differential diagnosis.

3. Diagnosis point three: Auxiliary examination

Adenomyosis may sometimes be missed by the naked eye or routine gynecological examination, so other tests are required.

The first is B-ultrasound. Imaging examination can directly find whether there is an abnormal uterus. Especially if the uterus enlargement is not apparent, double diagnosis may not be found, but B-ultrasound generally can see the problem;

Second, through peripheral blood examination. If this index, some abnormally elevated indicators, such as serum CA125, is significantly higher than the average value or even more than dozens of times, generally confirming adenomyosis.

In general, the diagnosis of adenomyosis is relatively easy. Clinical attention should be paid to adenomyosis, especially endometriosis that co-occurs. So, if you have abnormal menstrual cramps that are getting worse, you need to pay attention, and it's probably adenomyosis.