How Do You Know if Your Fallopian Tubes Are Blocked

Endometriosis and your fallopian tubes

Endometriosis can implant on the outside surface of the fallopian tubes and cause scarring. Just like fire scars can lead to contractures that distort limbs and other body parts, the endometriosis scarring can distort the fallopian tubes and then they can't function properly.

How endometriosis blocks your tubes

Endometriosis inside the fallopian tube can partially or totally block that tube. This blockage may cause infertility or ectopic pregnancy. Unfortunately, even skillful imaging techniques, such as X-rays or ultrasounds, can't come across inside the tubes. Besides, during surgery, doctors have a difficult time seeing direct in the narrow tubes because the instruments used to view the pelvic cavity are too big to enter the tubes.

Endometrial implants can likewise disrupt the function of the fimbriae (which means fringe in Latin), the ends of the tubes that pick up the egg. Endometri-osis can cause these fine, delicate fimbriae to stick to each other or other structures. In the worst-case scenario, these tiny fingers are destroyed and lose all function. In that instance, the chance for pregnancy in full general is greatly reduced, but the risk of an ectopic pregnancy is loftier.

Even if the fimbriae aren't destroyed, any decrease in their functionality tin lead to problems. For example, endometriosis may cause them to stick to the ovary, tube, uterus, intestines, or pelvic wall, then they can't motility around to pick up an egg. Inflamed fimbriae can besides be painful and can cause additional hurting by adhering to some other structure. This pain may be the consequence of the stuck tube pulling as a woman goes about normal activity. (Remember, tubes are usually free and can move effectually a bit.)

What blocks your tubes

Endometrial implants tin totally cake the fallopian tube by forming scar tissue that destroys the fimbriae and sticks these tiny fingers together. As these delicate fingers get distorted and stuck, the end of the tube tin close off, literally, keeping sperm and egg separated.

The post-obit three substances can damage a fallopian tube:

^ Blood: A blocked tube filled with blood (from endometriosis in the tube or some other reason) is called a hematosalpinx (hemato ways blood and salpinx means tubes). Visually, a hematosalpinx can look similar to an ectopic pregnancy.

^ Inflammatory fluid: Endometriosis that totally blocks the tube near the fimbriae tin lead to a swollen, chronically inflamed fallopian tube called a hydrosalpinx. (Hydro means fluid.)

Imagine a water balloon with fluid coming in and filling the airship (tube). Because the end is closed, the airship swells up. The inflammatory fluid in a blocked fallopian tube contains many chemicals, cells, and tissue that cause inflammation, which tin can lead to pain, fever, infertility, and fifty-fifty miscarriage.

i Pus: Infection is another common cause of tubal blockage, although information technology's not a event of endometriosis. When an infection results in tubal blockage and it fills with pus, it's called a pyosalpinx.

All three of the salpinxes (substances) tin can crusade pain because a tube is swollen and stretched — and all of these weather condition are obvious causes of infertility. (Merely like having your tubes tied, the sperm and egg can't meet.) Cheque out Figure 3-two for examples of how endometriosis tin can affect the fallopian tubes.

Endometriosis and your ovaries

Endometriosis is common on the surface of the ovaries, but it can as well invade the meat, or interior, of the ovary. This section looks at the three means endometriosis tin affect the ovaries.

On the ovary's surface

The fact that the surface of the ovary is a very common site for endometriosis makes sense, because retrograde menstrual flow coming out of the tube spills right onto the ovaries. (Check out Affiliate 4 for more on retrograde menstruation.) This endometrial tissue tin implant onto the surface of the ovary and do all sorts of damage.

Endometriosis can as well start directly from the surface cells of the ovary by a process called metaplasia. The resulting implants can be on any part of the ovary and cause the same problems that retrograde spills produce. (Check out Chapter iv for more on metaplasia.)

When endometriosis develops on the surface of the ovary by retrograde menstruation or metaplasia, the inflammatory procedure begins and leads to adhesions (scar tissue). Equally a result, the ovary tin can become stuck to the tube, uterus, intestines, or pelvic wall. These adhesions (check out Figure 3-three) tin can crusade pain and bug with the intestines and they can crusade infertility.

Effigy 3-3:

Adhesions in the female reproductive system.

Effigy 3-iii:

Adhesions in the female reproductive organization.

In the about severe cases, all contents of the pelvis — such as the uterus, fallopian tubes, and intestines — can exist stuck together in a frozen pelvis. In addition to causing pain and issues with the intestines, these adhesions can cause infertility.

Forming painful cysts

Some other severe trouble is endometrioma (cysts) inside the ovary. These cysts (see Figure iii-4) are a result of inflamed endometrial tissue implants on the ovary surface that develop scar tissue (to wall off the implants like a pimple). But this dense, firm scarring causes the endometriosis implants (lesions) to take the path of to the lowest degree resistance — into the stroma (the relatively softer ovarian tissue).

Over time these cysts fill with endometrial tissue and old claret. A more than flavory proper name for these cysts is chocolate cyst because their nighttime brown fluid looks similar liquid chocolate. If the cysts burst, the contents spill out into the pelvic cavity and can cause severe pain. In this case, because the fluid is highly inflammatory, scar tissue can too form in the pelvic crenel. Other structures or organs in contact with the fluid can besides stick to it. The results tin be dramatic and astringent.

Effigy 3-four:

Endometriosis in the ovaries leads to cysts over time.

Figure 3-4:

Endometriosis in the ovaries leads to cysts over time.

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These cysts continue to grow each calendar month because their endometrial tissue, which responds to menstrual wheel hormones, deposits more than and more tissue implants and blood into the cysts each month. As these cysts enlarge, they put pressure, literally, on normal ovary tissue, distorting it and often making the tissue unrecognizable. Worse yet, the ever-increasing pressure actually destroys the normal tissue of the ovary. This loss of functioning ovarian tissue significantly decreases the number and part of primordial follicles, or future eggs (we cover the menstrual cycle in detail in Chapter 5), causing infertility and early menopause.

Resulting in LUF

Endometriosis may besides upshot in luteinized unruptured follicle syndrome (LUF). With LUF, an egg has developed within the follicle (the fluid-filled sac that the egg develops in) to supposed maturity and is set up to be released into the world (and then to speak!). But for some reason, the egg never leaves the ovary. Obviously, an egg that stays in its follicle can't be fertilized, so LUF leads to infertility. But what causes this failure of the egg to leave its home? Doctors don't really know. Again, the body is wonderfully circuitous, and the serial of events leading to follicle rupture are many. Any one of the following processes may cause LUF:

^ Scar tissue from endometriosis surrounding the ovary tin physically forestall release of the egg.

^ The presence of endometriosis can interfere with the surface of the ovary in the usual cascade of events that leads to ovulation.

^ Some women are decumbent to endometriosis; LUF may be a marking of the defect that causes endometriosis.

Doctors really aren't sure what causes LUF. It'south the chicken-and-egg story. That is, do some women have a problem that causes LUF and endometriosis, or does the endometriosis cause the LUF? (Meet Chapter 7 for more than on LUF and how the menstrual cycle works.)

Proceed reading here: Endometriosis and your pelvic cavity

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