Good news for Lena Dunham fans, as the actress has finally managed to get rid of her endometriosis. The star had been suffering from the condition ever since her teenage years, and she is now 33 years of age.
This means that, for the past many years, Dunham had been suffering from the painful symptoms caused by this gynecological disorder.
What is Endometriosis?
You are not alone if you don’t already know about endometriosis, because it is not a very common medical condition.
Basically, there is a tissue that lines the uterine wall called endometrium, and when this same tissue starts growing outside of this wall on other parts of the pelvis, this condition is called endometriosis.
While the growth of a simple tissue outside of its designated region may not sound like a very serious medical issue, but endometriosis is definitely very painful as it has the potential to cause bleeding that is unusually heavy, cramps of very severe nature, and pain in the pelvic region especially during the monthly period.
Dunham’s Case
Dunham’s case was of an ovary getting attached with the floor of the pelvis close to the rectum region. She had tried many ways to offer some relief to her condition, such as practicing yoga, opting for a healthy diet, and also therapy, and for the most part, it seemed to be working.
However, she recently experienced an unimaginable pain which landed her in the hospital, where she underwent another surgery. This was the fifth one the actress had undergone in the past year.
However, she is now very glad that the surgery happened, because as soon as she regained consciousness after her surgery, Dunham was delighted to find out that all the endometriosis had been eradicated from her body, and she no longer had the disease. But, can you really cure endometriosis?
Can It Be Cured?
According to Charles Ascher-Walsh, who is an MD and also the director of gynecology at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital, saying that one is free of a disease such as endometriosis may be a bit of an overstatement. According to him, the surgery is performed to essentially remove the tissue that is causing the pain in the pelvic region.
However, not all of this tissue can be readily identified and so, according to him, it’s difficult to assess whether the patient has gotten rid of all the endometriosis.
Also, while the patient may not experience any of the symptoms associated with the disease, Dr. Walsh believes that the disease may still exist although in a state that it does not show any symptoms or cause any pain.
And Dunham agrees with this fact. In the Lenny Letter, which is a newsletter she publishes, Dunham revealed that she did understand and acknowledge the possibility that her disease could still be there or could return.
However, for now, she wanted to celebrate the fact that she could feel healthy again because the pain which had made life difficult is finally gone after all these years.
