Menstrual cramps are common; disabling pain is not. Discomfort managed with a hot pack and an occasional painkiller is normal physiology. Pain that keeps a girl out of school, sends a woman to the emergency room, causes vomiting or fainting, or does not respond to over-the-counter painkillers is a symptom of disease until proven otherwise. In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Abhishek Mangeshikar, director of the Indian Centre for Endometriosis, Mumbai, shared when period pain needs a closer look.
The ovarian reserve is lost to endometriomas. “The global delay from first symptom to diagnosis is seven to ten years, and in India, it is often longer. That delay is not caused by a shortage of scanners or surgeons. Meanwhile, the disease progresses. Superficial deposits become deep infiltrating disease involving bowel, bladder and ureters. Years of untreated pain rewire the nervous system, so pain persists even after the disease is removed.
It is caused by the pain being dismissed — first at home, then by teachers, then too often by doctors,” said Dr Abhishek.
