What is adenomyosis?

Adenomyosis is a common gynecological disease that troubles many patients. There are many causes of adenomyosis, which are generally related to the patient's lifestyle. In addition, if you do not pay attention to the health of the perineum, the probability of disease occurrence will increase. This disease requires both husband and wife to face it together and maintain better living habits together. So, what does adenomyosis mean?

1. Causes

The cause of adenomyosis is still unknown. The current consensus is that because the uterus lacks a submucosal layer, the basal cells of the endometrium proliferate and invade the myometrium, accompanied by compensatory hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the surrounding myometrial cells, forming a lesion.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that this disease is caused by qi stagnation, cold stagnation, heat burning, qi deficiency, and kidney deficiency, which lead to blood stasis blocking the Chong, Ren, and uterus, and dysmenorrhea when menstruation is not smooth. The main pathogenesis is blood stasis blocking Chong, Ren and Baogong.

2. Clinical manifestations

In the past, adenomyosis mostly occurred in multiparous women over 40 years old, but in recent years it has shown a trend of gradually becoming younger, which may be related to the increase in intrauterine surgeries such as cesarean sections and artificial abortions.

1. Symptoms

(1) Menstrual disorders (40%-50%) are mainly manifested by prolonged menstrual period and increased menstrual volume. Some patients may also experience spotting before and after menstruation. Severe patients may develop anemia.

(2) Dysmenorrhea (25%) is characterized by secondary progressive dysmenorrhea. It often begins a week before menstruation and is relieved when the menstrual period ends. Taking painkillers can relieve dysmenorrhea in the early stages, but as the disease progresses, the dosage of painkillers required for dysmenorrhea increases significantly, making it impossible for patients to tolerate it.

(3) About 35% of other patients have no obvious symptoms.

2. Physical signs

Gynecological examination shows that the uterus is often uniformly enlarged and spherical, and adenomyoma may appear as hard nodules. The uterus is generally no larger than 12 weeks of pregnancy. As menstruation approaches, the uterus feels tender; during menstruation, the uterus enlarges, becomes softer, and the tenderness is more obvious than usual; after menstruation, the uterus shrinks. The uterus is often adhered to the surrounding area, especially the rectum at the back, and has poor mobility. 15% to 40% of patients have concomitant endometriosis, and about half of the patients have concomitant uterine fibroids.