What is endometriosis? (easy read)

Endometriosis is a disease. It is pronounced end – oh – mee – tree – oh – sis.

Endometriosis is when cells that usually only grow inside your womb, grow in other places in your body.

Because these cells grow in places they should not, endometriosis can make you feel very ill.

Some people with endometriosis have periods that hurt a lot and tummy pain. If you have endometriosis it might also be hard for you to have babies. This is because it affects your baby making parts.

Endometriosis usually affects people between 11 and 45 years old.

Endometriosis is mostly found in your baby making parts, like the womb and the ovaries. But it can also affect other organs like your bladder and bowel and fallopian tubes, and even in your lungs.

• Your bladder is the the organ where you make pee
• Your bowel is the organ where you make poo
• Your fallopian tubes are organs that connect your ovaries to your womb. Eggs travel through fallopian tubes to your womb
• Your womb is an organ that grows babies
• Your lungs are the organs in your chest that allow you to breathe.

The parts of the body with endometriosis can hurt, bleed, and make things get bigger and stick together. If you have had endometriosis for a long time, it might hurt more often.