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How to Heal Endometriosis Naturally
Endometriosis (and other related hormonal imbalances) is becoming more common because of the level of nutritional imbalances, liver dysfunction, and adrenal fatigue that we are dealing with. Endometriosis can cause a lot of pain and sadness for those that suffer with it because of its possible effects on fertility.
What is Endometriosis?
Endometriosis is when tissue lining in the uterus spreads and grows outside the uterus, usually in the Fallopian tubes, intestines, and ovaries but the tissue can migrate almost anywhere in the body. This can cause issues with internal scarring because of the foreign tissue that ends up in other parts of the body.
Symptoms:
- Pelvic pain
- Menstrual pain
- Irregular menstrual cycles
- Issues with conceiving; miscarriages
- Some women can have these symptoms but not have Endo, or they can have Endo with none of these symptoms- it is very hard to diagnose
Conventional treatment of Endometriosis includes drugs and surgery- both of which will not solve the underlying issues. You can read more about endometriosis, symptoms and other treatments here.
Natural Treatment of Endometriosis:
Balancing copper will be the number one thing to do to heal from endo, or any other hormonal issue. Copper imbalances are incredibly common, especially among women, because copper is related to estrogen. The biggest issue that is created with imbalanced copper is that you can be both copper toxic and deficient, and they both come with their own sets of symptoms. Copper gets “toxic” when we are deficient in the copper-binding protein ceruloplasmin which depends on healthy adrenals, a strong liver, and a few key nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, and copper itself. When copper rises, estrogen tends to rise as well creating what we know as “estrogen dominance”, when in reality we are just high in excess copper, and unable to filter it out because of a sluggish liver. Please read my whole post on Copper imbalances to get the full story on how to test for this mineral imbalance.
Healing the Liver is the next step, and it is also a crucial part of healing from a copper imbalance. We need healthy livers to filter out toxins and excess hormones (especially estrogen), and we need healthy bile flow to excrete excess, unbound copper. We also need a healthy liver to create ceruloplasmin which is a key protein for balancing copper and iron. You can read about liver healing here, and check out other ideas for increasing bile flow here.
Healing the adrenals will also be very important to healing from hormonal issues. The adrenals are the emergency glands of the body. When we are constantly stressed, our bodies cannot keep up with the demands of homeostasis (keeping the body in balance). The brain sends messages that activate the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and the adrenal glands, which releases adrenaline- and this is whether we truly need it or not. Dealing with illnesses like endometriosis can be a constant stress (both physically and emotionally) on the adrenals. You can read more about healing the adrenals here. Getting a hair tissue mineral analysis to determine the state of your adrenals can be a great first step to healing.
Nourishing the body is also very important for healing from any illness. So many people suffer from nutritional deficiencies and imbalances because of the Standard American Diet, which is most definitely the saddest diet out there. Herbal infusions, nutrient dense organic foods, lots of healthy fats and proteins- these are all very good things to add to the diet to help heal from nutrient depletion.