Flatulence as a symptom of endometriosis

Flatulence in endometriosis

Bloating is nothing more than accumulations of air in the intestines. Everyone experiences bloating from time to time. However, studies show that women, particularly around menstruation, are especially affected by bloating: 65 percent of all healthy women experience bloating; among women with endometriosis the figure is as high as 96 percent. This means that women with endometriosis have a significantly increased risk of experiencing bloating.

Bloating itself is not a disease. It causes discomfort and can lead to social withdrawal. The causes are usually benign. However, because serious conditions can be the trigger in a small number of cases, you should have recurrent, severe bloating that does not improve with behavioral changes evaluated to clarify the cause.

There is an evidence-based association between increased bloating and endometriosis. But why is that? In women who develop endometriosis, cells that normally grow only in the uterus also grow in ectopic locations. These so-called endometriotic lesions behave like the endometrium within the uterus: they build up and then bleed again. The consequences can include inflammation, adhesions, and scarring. The pelvis is most commonly affected, but the bowel can also be involved by endometriotic lesions. However, increased bloating occurs in women with endometriosis even when there is no bowel involvement.

Once purely physiological causes of bloating in endometriosis have been ruled out, bloating can usually be reduced through behavioral changes. This primarily includes the following aspects:

• Eating behavior: If you eat too quickly, you swallow a lot of air that enters the digestive tract and manifests as bloating.
• Gas-forming foods or unfavorable combinations of foods: Certain foods, alone or in combination, trigger increased bloating.
• Food intolerances, a disrupted gut microbiota: If, due to illness or as a side effect of medications, your intestines cannot metabolize foods optimally, increased bloating can occur.
• Physical inactivity: Movement also stimulates the bowel and helps prevent constipation, which in turn reduces bloating. In addition, moderate to vigorous physical activity has a positive influence on the size of endometriotic lesions.