What is pain?

Endometriosis pain

People with endometriosis often experience pain. Some of the more common pain symptoms include:

• pain before or during a period (dysmenorrhoea)
• pain during or after sexual intercourse (dyspareunia)
• ovulation pain (can consist of pain in the legs, buttocks and thighs)
• pain with bowel movements or when urinating
• pelvic pain that occurs outside of your period.

A common misconception is that pain is determined by how extensive the endometriosis is. But this is not the case. A person can have a large amount of endometriosis throughout their pelvic and abdominal cavity and have no pain, while others can have severe pain but have very little endometriosis.

So, what causes the pain associated with endometriosis? Because every case of endometriosis is different, so is the type of pain and its location. Pain is usually located within the pelvis, but it can also occur in other parts of the body such as the:

• abdomen
• legs
• back
• buttocks
• thighs.

Chronic pelvic pain

One of the most common types of endometriosis pain is chronic pelvic pain (CPP). CPP is pain that lasts for more than three months within your pelvis. Non-stop pain for three months or more to a specific area of your body can cause your central nervous system (CNS) to start processing pain differently. In simple terms, this means that you can still feel pain even after the cause of your pain has stopped or healed. For example, if you've had your lesions removed, you may still feel pain.

It’s not uncommon to experience some pain with your period. But, if this pain reaches a point that it stops you from taking part in everyday activities, you need to seek medical help. Early pain management can help prevent it from developing into chronic and debilitating pain.

What is pain?

We tend to think of pain as nothing more than an uncomfortable (painful) physical sensation that passes once the cause of the pain has gone. Like when you knock your elbow or break a leg. However, pain is much more complicated than that. Pain is something that we all experience differently because pain is determined by many different factors. Factors can include how we’re feeling when experiencing pain, our state of health and our past experiences of pain.