Endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids and cysts — different or the same?

Many of our patients come to us with one of more of endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids or cysts. According to Western medicine, they are all different medical conditions because they clearly look different, and have different physical make-ups and structures. But, as we’ll explain, traditional Chinese medicine treats them in the same way as they have the same root cause.

What are these conditions? 

Endometriosis occurs when tissue is found outside the uterus that appears similar to the lining of the uterus (endometrium). It may grow on the outside of your uterus, ovaries, tubes and even on your bladder or intestines.This tissue can cause pain and adhesions (scar tissue) on the organs it touches.

Adenomyosis is a condition in which the inner lining of the uterus (the endometrium) breaks through the muscle wall of the uterus (the myometrium). The common symptoms are heavy or irregular bleeding and pain.

Fibroids can grow anywhere in the womb and vary in size considerably. Some can be the size of a pea, whereas others can be the size of a melon. The main types of fibroids:

• Intramural fibroids are the most common type of fibroids which develop in the muscle wall of the womb.
• Subserosal fibroids are fibroids that develop outside the wall of the womb into the pelvis and can become very large
• Submucosal fibroids are fibroids that develop in the muscle layer beneath the womb’s inner lining and grow into the cavity of the womb

A cyst is a pocket-like area within tissue that is not normally there. It can be filled with fluid, blood, tissue, hair, bone, a foreign body, etc. If it is filled with pus, it becomes an abscess.

There are different types of cysts. The common ones that women have are ovarian cysts. These can be caused by ovulation, abnormal cell reproduction, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), or pelvic inflammatory disease. They do not usually cause any symptoms, but sometimes, ovarian cysts can become twisted or burst open (rupture), which causes serious symptoms.

The Western medical perspective

Western medicine tends to pay more attention to the classification of diseases and much less attention to the cause of these conditions. Its focus is on getting rid of the manifested physical structures.

Western medicine doctors begins by first recognising these as different conditions. They then often goes on to suggest surgery, regardless of whether they are endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids or cysts. Rather like examining a tree with some disease, Western medicine calls these diseases by different names as they affect different branches. It then suggests chopping off the branches, rather than dealing with the root of the tree — the cause of the disease. While the branches are gone, the root of the tree remains, so new branches often grow back a few years later after surgery.

It is well known that endometriosis, fibroids and cysts often grow back after surgery. What’s more, many of our patients have told us that they have had surgeries before. Some told us that complications occurred after surgeries, including lighter periods, irregular periods, abnormal bleeding, hormonal imbalance, adhesions and infection leading to blockages of Fallopian tubes, to name but a few side effects. This led many to seek an alternative to surgery.

The Chinese medical perspective

According to traditional Chinese medicine, using the tree analogy, although the branches may look different, they all come from the same root — the conditions have the same cause.

Traditional Chinese medicine looks at how energy (qi) flows in the body. Think of your body like a household: rubbish needs to be constantly cleared and taken away, a process that needs to continue for it to remain clean. When the energy circulation is running well, “rubbish” is cleansed properly from the body; when it isn’t, then the“rubbish” accumulates and starts causing problems — such as endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids or cysts. In short, while the problems can manifest in different ways, it is the same underlying issue for all of them.

Traditional Chinese medicine focusses less on the appearance of the problem, but the root of the problems. This is why treatment of these conditions is less about getting rid of the “rubbish” (through surgery, for example) and more about unblocking the circulation system so that it runs smoothly and there is no build-up of “rubbish” in the system. Once the circulation system is functioning properly again, new “rubbish” is no longer accumulated and the old stuff gets cleared out over time. Our patients have told us that, during treatment, their periods became heavy, with big blood clots for a cycle of two, before going back to normal. Their post-treatment scans then showed that the endometriosis, fibroids and/or cysts have shrunk or disappeared completely.

The traditional Chinese medical treatment

Our treatment involves patients coming to see us once a month for a few months. A consultation each month ensures we understand patients’ current health status and how they have been responding to the last herbal prescription. A new prescription is given to ensure the patient continues to improve. 

What does success look like?

A scan after treatment is done as well as before treatment to compare the state of a patient’s conditions — like revealing if the endometriosis, fibroids and/or cysts have shrunk or completely gone away. Checking the symptoms post-treatment also helps us figure out the well the treatment has gone.