The average time to get a diagnosis is 7 years. This is because symptoms can vary between women, and symptoms can change over time. Also, period pain is often accepted as normal.
When you visit your doctor, they will ask about your symptoms and your family and medical history. They may also ask to do an internal examination. Depending on your situation, your doctor may recommend an ultrasound, laparoscopy (keyhole surgery) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Some women have asymptomatic endometriosis, which means they don’t experience common symptoms such as pelvic pain or infertility. In these cases, the condition may be found during an unrelated operation or procedure.
When endometriosis symptoms are acknowledged and treated, most women with the condition do well.
On this page, you’ll learn about how endometriosis is diagnosed and when to see your doctor.
Ultrasound
Laparoscopy
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Stages of endometriosis
Endometriosis in teenage years
When to see your doctor
The first step to diagnosing endometriosis is usually an ultrasound. Ultrasound uses sound waves to produce images of your body. Doctors with expert training can use ultrasound to make a ‘working diagnosis’ of endometriosis. A working diagnosis is a tentative diagnosis based on information available at the time.
Depending on the findings and your symptoms, you may or may not need surgery. Medicines may be offered based on ultrasound findings alone and this may be all you need to manage the condition. If the ultrasound is normal, your doctor may still suggest medicines to help relieve symptoms.
A laparoscopy is keyhole surgery (via the abdomen) performed under general anaesthetic. A laparoscopy can confirm the presence of endometrial tissue, which can be treated during the operation. This operation is usually performed when other treatment options haven’t worked, when a woman has difficulty falling pregnant or when an ultrasound suggests there is deep endometriosis and scar tissue. It’s important to minimise this type of surgery, so look for a specialist who has experience using different treatments to manage endometriosis.
MRI is a technology used to take cross-sectional pictures of your body. MRI may help diagnose endometriosis if it’s reported by a radiologist with experience in diagnosing the condition. Using this technology to help diagnose endometriosis is still in the early stages. MRIs may be a good option for people who can’t access specialist ultrasound scans or want to avoid surgery.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine has created a staging system for endometriosis. Endometriosis is classified as minimal, mild, moderate or severe (or stages 1 to 4). The stages are based on where the endometriosis is and how much endometriosis is seen during surgery.
The above classifications are useful, but they don’t always reflect the severity of symptoms. For example, a woman with stage 1 endometriosis may have more pain than a woman with stage 4 endometriosis.
If you have difficulty getting pregnant, doctors can use the Endometriosis Fertility Index to help predict your chances of pregnancy following surgery.
It can take time to get a diagnosis of endometriosis when you’re a teenager. But with more awareness of the condition and its symptoms, doctors are identifying endometriosis earlier.
Symptoms such as pain before and during a period, pain between periods or pain related to the bowel or bladder are common in teenage years. And these symptoms may not be due to endometriosis.
If you have symptoms, your doctor may explore different treatment options, such as medicines, before recommending surgery. Medicines commonly used to reduce pain include anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, mefenamic acid and naproxen.
Your doctor may also recommend hormonal treatments such as the Pill and progestogens to reduce period pain.
You may find that medicines improve symptoms. But if pain persists and you’ve seen a doctor 3 or more times over 6 months, your doctor is likely to recommend a laparoscopy. Your doctor will be able to confirm the diagnosis and treat the endometriosis during surgery.
Your doctor can refer you to a gynaecologist with specialist skills in treating endometriosis in teenagers.
Pain is a common symptom of endometriosis. But it’s not normal to have severe period pain. If you think you have endometriosis, see your doctor as soon as possible, as early diagnosis and treatment can reduce the severity of the condition.
You can use our Endometriosis symptom checklist to help you talk to your doctor about your experience. Your doctor may ask questions about:
You might also like to read our Seeing your doctor about persistent pelvic pain fact sheet.
This content has been reviewed by a group of medical subject matter experts, in accordance with Jean Hailes policy.
© Jean Hailes Foundation. All rights reserved.
