Endo basics for school and uni

Endometriosis (endo) is a chronic (long-term) condition where tissue that is similar to the lining of the uterus is found outside of the uterus (e.g. on the bowel, bladder, ovaries). The tricky thing with endo is that symptoms vary between people (you may have a lot of symptoms or none). You might notice that you have pain with your period or bleeding that is heavier than you think it should be. Because the symptoms experienced are different for different people, it can be really hard to diagnose just on symptoms alone.

Endometriosis generally affects cis-gender women but can affect anyone who is assigned female at birth based on having a uterus and/or having two X chromosomes. It is thought to affect up to 10% of this population. Endometriosis has historically been difficult to diagnose. Many patients who are ultimately diagnosed with endometriosis report a significantly long time between the beginning of their symptoms and the diagnosis (6.4 to 8 years in Australia).