1. It’s normal to have distressing pain during your period
It’s normal to have some degree of discomfort during your period – but it should never be distressing enough to prevent you from carrying out day-to-day activities. If you’re forced to take time off work or school because of the pain, consult your doctor.
2. People with endometriosis only have pain during their periods
People with endo can have pain all month long, even when they don’t have their period. This pain is caused by other medical conditions people commonly have alongside endometriosis, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome and pelvic muscle pain.
3. People with endometriosis have to live with heavy periods
People with endometriosis don’t always have to live with heavy periods and don’t necessarily have heavy bleeding. There are several hormone medications that can be used to reduce bleeding or stop periods altogether.
4. Surgery will cure endometriosis
There is no definitive cure for endometriosis. Surgery can massively improve symptoms, but the endometriosis tissue can grow back even after the best surgery.
5. Teens can’t get endometriosis
Teens can get endometriosis like anyone else. In fact, the teen years are often when symptoms start. Teenagers, therefore, may experience very severe pain and should always be taken seriously.
6. Endometriosis is most common in caucasian women
Endometriosis affects one in ten people with female anatomy equally, regardless of nationality, race or socioeconomic status.
7. Pregnancy cures endometriosis
Pregnancy is not a cure for endometriosis – this belief is an old myth based on incomplete research. Symptoms may occasionally trail off after having a baby, but it’s not a cure.
8. The pain is from uterine tissue causing internal bleeding
The tissue that Endometriosis lesions consist of looks like uterine lining under a microscope – but it’s not the same thing. Many of these painful lesions don’t necessarily bleed, but are full of nerves and produce chemicals that irritate the surrounding tissue.
9. You have to have severe endometriosis to have intense pain
There are different severities of endometriosis, mild, moderate, and severe. However, this only describes the size and amount of endometriosis lesions present and doesn’t necessarily have any bearing on how much pain is felt.
10. Endometriosis makes you infertile
Around 3 or 4 in every 10 people with Endometriosis will have difficulty getting pregnant. This does not mean you’re infertile, as many people with endo have no problem conceiving at all.