Endometriosis is where cells like those in the lining of the womb grow in other parts of the body. In the UK, it affects 1 in 10 women and those assigned female at birth.
This makes endometriosis the UK’s second most common gynaecological condition, yet many health professionals don’t recognise the symptoms, and only 50% of young people know what it is.
Here we’ll explain some of the symptoms and treatments for endometriosis.
Symptoms of endometriosis
Endometriosis can affect anyone who has periods, from when their periods start through to menopause. Symptoms are caused by patches of endometriosis that can’t leave your body breaking down and bleeding during your period.
Some symptoms are likely to occur during your period, such as:
- Severe period pain
- Heavy periods
- Pain when you go to the toilet
While other symptoms of endometriosis may happen at any time during your menstrual cycle, including:
- Fatigue
- Pain around the pelvic area
- Pain or bleeding in other areas of the body
What to do if you have symptoms
If you’re affected by symptoms of endometriosis, you should speak to your GP. It can take a long time, up to 8 years, to get an endometriosis diagnosis, and you may need to have several tests, including blood tests and a physical examination. If it’s likely you have endometriosis, your GP will refer you to a specialist and offer you medication to help manage your symptoms.
The only way to confirm you have endometriosis is a laporoscopy an operation in which a camera is inserted through the pelvis area to identify any signs.
Treatment
There’s no cure for endometriosis but different treatments aim to reduce the severity of symptoms and improve your quality of life. If you’re diagnosed with endometriosis, your doctor should go through these options with you.
Treatments for endometriosis can include:
Medication
Medication is the first form of treatment you’ll have to help with your symptoms, you may be prescribed either painkillers or hormones, or both.
Hormone treatment
Hormone treatments reduce the levels of oestrogen in your body to prevent any endometriosis tissue from growing quickly.
Surgery
If other treatments aren’t helping to reduce your symptom, you might be offered surgery to remove areas of endometriosis or ovarian cysts or remove parts of organs affected.
Endometriosis FAQs
Endometriosis isn’t necessarily a cause of infertility, there is a connection to fertility issues, although the cause is not fully known. Even with severe endometriosis, natural conception is still a possibility, with around 60-70% of those with endometriosis able get pregnant spontaneously.
For those who do experience fertility issues, some can get pregnant after surgery to remove endometriosis or through assisted reproduction, like IVF
There’s no definitive or fully explainable cause of endometriosis. However, it’s possible that a combination of retrograde menstruation, genetic disposition, immune disorders, and certain environmental factors could cause endometriosis.
At the moment, there’s no way of preventing endometriosis
Endometriosis UK are a support network with a free helpline and local groups that meet across the UK.