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Dr. Marchese recalls the conventional and naturopathic ways to treat endometriosis.
Dr. Marchese:
Well the mainstay conventional treatment is using laparoscopic procedure not only to make a diagnosis, but also when they have the lens inside the pelvic cavity looking for the endometriosis they can actually burn out the endometriosis or what’s often called cleaning it up and removing it. Sometimes the endometriosis comes back because it’s really just treating what’s already there and not treating the cause of the endometriosis.
Another common conventional medicine treatment would be prescribing the birth control pill because the birth control pill would be treating the hormonal cause of the endometriosis by shutting down ovulation and shutting down a woman’s own release of her hormones. However, if a woman is interested in getting pregnant while being on the birth control pill to manage the endometriosis will definitely get in the way.
Yes, I mean a naturopathic approach to treating endometriosis would definitely include a dietary counseling session. Educating the patients on avoiding foods that are very inflammatory and eating foods that are more anti-inflammatory would be really important. We know inflammation is a big process in endometriosis.
A conventional medical doctor might prescribe an anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen or naproxen whereas a naturopath could use diet to decrease inflammation; avoiding red meat and dairy products, which are very inflammatory, eating more fruits and vegetables and of course fish, which are very anti-inflammatory or even going so far as prescribing a really high-dose fish oil in a capsule or in a liquid to create that anti-inflammatory response.
Well the two methods I use with good success for treating endometriosis is approaching it from an environmental perspective and taking the patient through a detox or a cleanse to help remove these chemicals in the body that might be mimicking estrogen, and so I utilize herbs that help treat the liver, herbs that help clear estrogens through the liver and then a lot of sauna therapy, a detox diet, and of course different forms of bowel support whether that be ground flaxseeds or cilium husk powder because you need to have a good form bowel movement to get the chemicals out of the body.
And then the second piece that I always use in conjunction with the environmental approach is an electrical modality called Frequency Specific Microcurrent. Frequency Specific Microcurrent was created a few decades ago and it’s taught often by chiropractors and naturopathic physicians and it’s an electrical modality that can actually apply a very small amperage of a current into the uterus and help dissolve and break up the endometrial implants and endometrial adhesions.
So using those two methods combined, along with managing the inflammation and managing the menstrual cramps, which we would use with herbs that stop menstrual cramps, has been really a successful approach for me and my patients.
About Dr. Marianne Marchese, N.D., L.L.C.:
Dr. Marianne Marchese is a clinician, author, and educator. She graduated from Creighton University in 1990 with a B.S. in Occupational Therapy and specialized in neurological and orthopedic conditions while working at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Dr. Marchese received her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine (NCNM) in Portland, Oregon in 2002. She completed a two-year postgraduate residency in Integrative Medicine and Women's Health and completed a six-month post-graduate training in Environmental Medicine.
Visit Dr. Marchese at her Website