Experts in Lagos have urged awareness and affordable diagnosis of endometriosis, warning that severe menstrual pain is not always normal and often leads to infertility.
A Lagos-based gynaecologist, Ms. Nwakuba, has called for increased awareness about endometriosis, warning that the condition is often mistaken for normal menstrual pain and is a leading cause of infertility among women.
Speaking in an interview on Thursday, Nwakuba, Managing Partner of StrongTower Specialist Hospital and Fertility Centre, said many young girls and women assume that all menstrual cramps are normal.
“Most menstrual pains are caused by an endometriosis condition, but many people do not know because they assumed it to be normal for women to undergo pains when seeing her menses,” she explained.
The gynaecologist noted that endometriosis affects women of reproductive age and accounts for about 40 per cent of infertility cases. She added that the disorder has “scattered many marriages” as it renders some women unable to conceive.
Sharing her personal experience, she said, “I was a victim of endometriosis. I started experiencing painful menstruation from the day my menstruation began at 13… That’s why we are clamouring for awareness because people need to be educated so that women that are experiencing the peculiar symptoms of endometriosis will stop dying in silence.”
Radiographer Dr. Bode Ademola highlighted the need for affordable diagnostic tools. He stressed that a transvaginal ultrasound, costing about ₦1,500, could detect the condition compared to an MRI scan that costs above ₦70,000.
“If a woman is having painful menstruation, she shouldn’t just keep quiet – let her take the first line of action – go for the transvaginal ultrasound and detect the condition,” he advised.