How is endometriosis treated? (easy read)

At the moment there is no cure for endometriosis but there are things that your doctor can do to make the endometriosis symptoms less bad.

Your doctor will talk to you about what would be the best treatment for you so that you can decide together. Here are some of the things your doctor might want you to try.

Painkillers

Painkillers are medicines that you can take that help stop pain. Some examples of painkillers your doctor might give you are paracetamol or ibuprofen.

Antidepressants

Your doctor might give you antidepressants to help with your endometriosis. This does not mean that your doctor thinks that you are depressed. Sometimes antidepressants can make the endometriosis less painful.

Antidepressants

A type of medicine that doctors usually give to people who are feeling sad or depressed. Sometimes they are help people who have endometriosis.

Hormone treatments

Hormone treatments are medicine that you can take that changes the amount of hormones in your body. This medicine can help stop pain from endometriosis.

Hormone

A hormone is special chemical that your body makes. Different hormones help to make different parts of your body work

Surgery

Surgery is when you go into the hospital for an operation. The doctor will give you an anaesthetic to put you to sleep so that they can take away the parts inside you that are affected by endometriosis. Your doctor will usually only want to do surgery if your symptoms are very bad and make it very hard to live your life.

Anaesthetic

A type of medicine that puts you to sleep so that you don’t feel any pain

The treatment you can have will depend on how bad your symptoms are. Some people might find that painkillers are enough to make them feel better.

Every person is different and a treatment that works for you might not be the same as what works for other people.