The Top 10 Natural Treatments For Endometriosis
For 10-15% (1) of women of reproductive age, battling endometriosis can feel like an uphill battle. Between a lack of understanding of this condition in mainstream medicine to conventional treatments that don’t actually address the root cause and come with their own set of side effects, many women feel like they have to relent to a lifetime of uncomfortable symptoms.
But I’m here to tell you that is rarely the case. As a functional medicine expert, I know that there are actually many natural endometriosis treatments that have been backed by research and can help improve your symptoms and even help slow the progression of this condition. So before you give up hope, let’s learn a little bit more about this condition and my favorite endometriosis treatments that you can start implementing today.
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What is endometriosis?
Endometriosis occurs when tissue that resembles the lining of your uterus grows outside of your uterus where it doesn’t belong. Known as lesions, this tissue can be found on different pelvic organs, including your ovaries, fallopian tubes, and even the lining of your pelvic cavity that can lead to a variety of symptoms, including:
- Chronic fatigue
- Digestive distress
- Dysmenorrhea
- Heavy periods
- Infertility
- Pelvic and lower back pain
While researchers don’t know exactly what causes endometriosis, they believe it has to do with a combination of factors including genetics, age, and hormone imbalances. For a complete guide to endometriosis symptoms and causes, check out my article here.
Conventional endometriosis treatments
Depending on the severity of a person’s endometriosis, there are a few different treatment options that conventional medicine typically relies on:
1. Pain management
Over-the-counter or prescription pain relievers, such as NSAIDs like ibuprofen and opioids, are often used to alleviate the chronic pelvic pain and painful menstruation associated with endometriosis.
2. Hormonal therapies
Hormone-based treatments, such as birth control pills, hormonal IUDs, or hormonal therapy, aim to regulate the menstrual cycle and reduce endometrial tissue growth. Although these options can help in these areas, they usually have their own list of side-effects including weight gain, anxiety, depression, and further hormone problems if you ever decide to stop using these treatments.
3. Surgery
In severe cases or when fertility is a concern, laparoscopic surgery known as excision might be recommended to remove endometrial growths. Some doctors may even recommend a hysterectomy in severe cases as a last resort, especially if multiple excisions have already been done.
A holistic approach to endometriosis
Unlike functional medicine which aims to identify and heal the reason behind the abnormal tissue growth in endometriosis, conventional medicine looks more at managing the symptoms of this condition.
Nutritional strategies for endometriosis
As a functional medicine expert, I believe food and supplements are two of the biggest things you can change about your life to overcome your health problems. These are a few of the best nutritional strategies you can start doing today.
1. Anti-inflammatory diet
Considering the fact that endometriosis is an inflammatory condition, lowering inflammation levels through an anti-inflammatory diet can do wonders for alleviating associated symptoms - especially since the standard inflammatory western diet is linked (2) to an increased risk of this condition. An anti-inflammatory diet eliminates most excess sugar, gluten and gluten-free grains, processed foods, and industrialized seed oils and mainly focuses on minimally processed whole food sources of protein, healthy fats, and clean carbohydrates and little to no excess sugar.
2. Natural supplements
Multiple studies have found that low levels of vitamin D, vitamin E, and zinc were associated (3) with a greater risk for endometriosis. Other powerful supplements shown to improve endometriosis symptoms include:
- Curcumin
- Omega-3s
- N-acetylcysteine
- Vitamin B6
For a full rundown of the best supplements for endometriosis, check out my article here.
3. Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is an adaptogenic herb long used in Ayurvedic medicine for its many medicinal benefits. When it comes to endometriosis, ashwagandha can lower cortisol levels - your body’s main stress hormone - that has been associated with more severe endometriosis symptoms.
My newest supplement, The Ashwagandha, is formulated with the highest quality ashwagandha and is backed by clinical research for its ability to support a healthy stress response. My other supplement, The Brain-Adrenal Balancer, combines ashwagandha and other powerful adaptogens to help your body resist the biochemical changes associated with stress while also improving sleep duration and quality.
4. CBD oil
Although the research is still relatively new, CBD oil has shown (4) a lot of promise for alleviating endometriosis-related symptoms like pain and lesion development due to its powerful anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenesis effects.
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Lifestyle strategies for endometriosis
In addition to dietary changes and supplements, there are many clinically-backed natural tools that you can implement into your daily life to relieve your symptoms.
1. Stress management
Stress is a cause and effect (5) of many chronic health problems, including endometriosis, acting as a both trigger and side-effect of your mind and body having to constantly battle ongoing symptoms. Multiple studies have found that women with more severe endometriosis pain have higher levels (6) of stress and battle other symptoms like depression and anxiety.
While researchers are still uncovering the exact mechanisms behind stress and endometriosis, we can’t ignore the obvious correlation between the two. Integrating daily stress management techniques like meditation, breathwork, yoga (which also has its own endometriosis benefits), and journaling can help bring you back to the present moment. You may also consider adding in some of the supplements I listed above to help rebalance your cortisol levels.
2. Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a widely-used therapy, common in Traditional Chinese Medicine, for a variety of women’s health problems including PCOS, infertility, and endometriosis. A 2023 clinical review published in Integrative Medicine Research (7) looked at over six different studies that included more than 330 patients with endometriosis and their results with acupuncture. The review found that acupuncture was able to improve overall pelvic pain, menstrual pain, and non-specified pelvic pain, specifically when compared to other common forms of menstrual pain relief.
3. Yoga
Another ancient wellness practice, yoga has been linked to improvements in health problems around the world and endometriosis is no exception. After completing twice a week yoga sessions, studies found (8) that overall quality of life significantly improved in those with endometriosis after just 8 weeks by reducing lower back pain, stress, depression, daily pain, and menopausal symptoms.
4. Low-impact exercise
In addition to yoga, other forms of low-impact exercise like walking, swimming, and cycling can directly improve endometriosis (9) symptoms by breaking up lesions and strengthening your pelvic floor muscles.
5. Wild yam cream
While the research is continuing to look at the long-term effectiveness of this treatment, progesterone cream derived from wild yam has shown a lot of promise for managing endometriosis. Since wild yam contains diosgenin - a plant-based compound similar in structure to progesterone - it is believed to help stop the formation of new blood vessels within the endometrial tissue in order to inhibit the progression of excess lesions.
5. Sleep
We all feel it when we get even just one night of bad sleep. And for those with endometriosis poor sleep can mean the difference between a day with intense symptoms or not. A Journal of Women’s Health (10) study showed that poor sleep quality was directly associated with bladder pain, depressive symptoms, and lower quality of life scores.
Since the pain associated with endometriosis can further perpetuate (11) fatigue, insomnia, and poor sleep quality, it can put you in a vicious cycle that is difficult to get out of. Cultivating a nighttime routine that supports your body’s own melatonin production - which has been linked to improvements in endometriosis and sleep quality - with tools like melatonin-rich tart cherry juice, limiting blue light exposure, and sleeping with blackout curtains to filter out extra light pollution, can finally help you get the rest your body is craving.
Seeking help from a functional medicine expert
Thankfully, there are many ways to treat endometriosis without the need for surgery or other invasive therapies. By taking a multifaceted approach, functional medicine aims to identify and address the root cause behind endometriosis, in order to find which of these natural tools are best for your specific health case and biochemistry. In my telehealth functional medicine clinic, we look at your health comprehensively and take into account the many mental and physical triggers that can contribute to endometriosis and put together a customized plan of action just for you. If you are struggling with endometriosis and ready to take a different approach, schedule a telehealth consultation to learn more about how we can help you with functional medicine.
As one of the first functional medicine telehealth clinics in the world, we provide webcam health consultations for people around the globe.
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References:
- Smolarz, Beata et al. “Endometriosis: Epidemiology, Classification, Pathogenesis, Treatment and Genetics (Review of Literature).” International journal of molecular sciences vol. 22,19 10554. 29 Sep. 2021, doi:10.3390/ijms221910554
- Liu, Penglin et al. “Association between dietary inflammatory index and risk of endometriosis: A population-based analysis.” Frontiers in nutrition vol. 10 1077915. 27 Feb. 2023, doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1077915
- Yalçın Bahat, Pınar et al. “Dietary supplements for treatment of endometriosis: A review.” Acta bio-medica : Atenei Parmensis vol. 93,1 e2022159. 14 Mar. 2022, doi:10.23750/abm.v93i1.11237
- Sabri Berkem Okten, Caglar Cetin, et. al "Cannabidiol as a potential novel treatment for endometriosis by its anti-inflammatory, antioxidative and antiangiogenic effects in an experimental rat model" Reproductive Biomedicine Online Volume 46, Issue 5, P865-875, May 2023 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbmo.2023.01.018
- Reis, Fernando M et al. “Is Stress a Cause or a Consequence of Endometriosis?.” Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) vol. 27,1 (2020): 39-45. doi:10.1007/s43032-019-00053-0
- Casalechi, Maíra et al. “Endometriosis and related pelvic pain: association with stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms.” Minerva obstetrics and gynecology vol. 73,3 (2021): 283-289. doi:10.23736/S2724-606X.21.04704-3
- Giese, Nora et al. “Acupuncture for endometriosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.” Integrative medicine research vol. 12,4 (2023): 101003. doi:10.1016/j.imr.2023.101003
- Ravins, Inbal et al. “The Effect of Practicing "Endometriosis Yoga" on Stress and Quality of Life for Women with Endometriosis: AB Design Pilot Study.” Alternative therapies in health and medicine vol. 29,3 (2023): 8-14.
- Bonocher, C.M., Montenegro, M.L., Rosa e Silva, J.C. et al. Endometriosis and physical exercises: a systematic review. Reprod Biol Endocrinol 12, 4 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7827-12-4
- Arion, Kristina et al. “A Quantitative Analysis of Sleep Quality in Women with Endometriosis.” Journal of women's health (2002) vol. 29,9 (2020): 1209-1215. doi:10.1089/jwh.2019.8008
- Facchin, Federica et al. “Sleep disturbances, fatigue and psychological health in women with endometriosis: a matched pair case-control study.” Reproductive biomedicine online vol. 43,6 (2021): 1027-1034. doi:10.1016/j.rbmo.2021.08.011
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BY DR. WILL COLE
Dr. Will Cole, DNM, IFMCP, DC is a leading functional medicine expert who consults people around the globe, starting one of the first functional medicine telehealth centers in the world. Named one of the top 50 functional and integrative doctors in the nation, Dr. Will Cole provides a functional medicine approach for thyroid issues, autoimmune conditions, hormonal imbalances, digestive disorders, and brain problems. He is the host of the popular The Art Of Being Well podcast and the New York Times bestselling author of Intuitive Fasting, Ketotarian, The Inflammation Spectrum and the brand new book Gut Feelings: Healing the Shame-Fueled Relationship Between What You Eat and How You Feel.
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