What is Endometriosis?
Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory condition that affects approximately 1 in 9 people assigned female at birth, which equates to 830,000 people in Australia and 190 million people world wide.
Cells similar to those that line the uterus are found in other parts of the body, particularly in the pelvis and reproductive organs. It can cause mild to severe period pain, general pain, pain with sexual intercourse, bladder and bowel problems, fatigue and infertility. The average time to diagnose Endometriosis takes 6.5 years and involves symptom history, specialised pelvic ultrasound and even laparoscopic surgery. There is no cure, and treatments can vary from surgery, to pharmaceuticals, naturopathy, allied health intervention which includes Physiotherapy.
Best Management for Endometriosis
Holistic care is often the best management for endometriosis. Physiotherapy can help address several key aspects of Endometriosis. These include, the nervous system’s response to chronic pain, pain during sexual intercourse, low back pain, pelvic floor exercises, as well as post-operative care. Like any inflammatory disease, exercise is also good for managing inflammation. All which Physiotherapy can help with while improving quality of life.
Matilda App
Matilda, is an app designed by Physio’s that has won the 2023 People’s Choice Rising Star Award at the Physiotherapy Research Foundation awards. It is a digital platform that empowers people with endometriosis to take control of their health, while implementing positive, evidence-based behaviours to improve symptoms. For example, the app allows user’s to track their symptoms and lifestyle factors such as sleep, diet and exercise. While also having a library of resources and access to classes with multi-disciplinary health professionals, such as dietitians, naturopaths, psychologist and physiotherapists.
Such new technologies will help identify trends to understand symptoms better. For example, if the tracker picks ups poor sleep and this correlates to an increase in pain, this could potentially alert the user to help prevent and manage flare-ups.
Find out more about Matilda here.
Reference
Physiotherapy InMotion April 2024 Australian Physiotherapy Association.