Hysterectomy as a Treatment Option for Endometriosis

Endometriosis can be a debilitating condition with many steps to treat it, which could eventually lead to a hysterectomy.

According to Latasha N. Murphy, M.D., FACOG, a skilled board certified gynecologist and surgeon in The Gynecology Center at Mercy Medical Center, endometriosis is an inflammatory disorder. Often anti-inflammatory medicine is prescribed first and it can also be managed by hormonal treatments.

If all that doesn't work, eventually a person may need to consider a hysterectomy.

"Some people think when you do a hysterectomy that that means you automatically are thrown into menopause. It doesn't actually mean that. A hysterectomy is simply removing the uterus itself, which is the source of that endometrial tissue going into the wrong place," Dr. Murphy said.

Dr. Murphy noted that it is when a woman's ovaries are removed that she will start to have menopausal symptoms, adding a hysterectomy is really the last option because it is very definitive.

View Mercy gynecologist Dr. Latasha Murphy's interview regarding endometriosis and hysterectomy.