Endometriosis & Adenomyosis
Endometriosis and adenomyosis are two related conditions. In both, tissue like the lining of the uterus grows where it should not. One grows outside the uterus, the other inside its muscle wall. Both cause pain that is brushed off for years.
See a clinician now if
- Bleeding so heavy you feel faint, breathless, or your heart races. Heavy periods from adenomyosis can cause anemia. That needs a blood test and treatment now, not at the next routine visit.
- Blood in your stool or urine around your period, or pain when you poop or pee that flares with your cycle. These can mean the disease has reached the bowel or bladder. That changes the imaging you need and the planning before any surgery.
- Trouble getting pregnant alongside painful periods. Both conditions can affect fertility. Earlier referral means pain and fertility get managed together instead of one at a time.
- Rising use of opioid painkillers for pelvic pain. Opioids work poorly for this kind of pain and carry a real risk of dependence. Needing more of them is a sign the plan has to change.
What is going on in your body
Every month the lining of the uterus builds up and then sheds as a period. In both conditions, tissue that acts like that lining ends up in the wrong place. It still follows the hormone cycle, so it swells and bleeds every month with nowhere for the blood to go.
Endometriosis: outside the uterus
Patches of lining-like tissue grow on the outside of the uterus and on nearby organs. The usual spots are the ovaries, the thin lining of the pelvis, the ligaments that hold the uterus in place, and sometimes the bladder or bowel.
Each cycle these patches swell and bleed. The blood is trapped, so the body responds with inflammation and scar tissue. Over time organs can get stuck together, and the nerves in the area become more sensitive, so the pain grows even if the patches do not.
- Superficial: small patches on the pelvic lining. The most common form and the hardest to see on a scan.
- Ovarian: a cyst on the ovary filled with old blood, called an endometrioma or chocolate cyst.
- Deep: nodules that grow more than 5 mm into ligaments, the bowel wall, or the bladder.
Adenomyosis: inside the muscle wall
Here the lining tissue grows down into the muscle wall of the uterus itself. The wall thickens, the uterus gets bigger and rounder, and it can feel heavy and tender.
Because the muscle is full of tissue that bleeds every month, periods are often very heavy as well as painful. The two conditions often show up together. In symptomatic women, studies find adenomyosis in roughly 4 in 10 and endometriosis in 2 to 4 in 10. [22][54]
Tap a numbered marker to read what grows there and how it feels.
Tap a numbered marker to see what changes in the wall of the uterus.
How common is this, and why me?
About 1 in 10 women of reproductive age has endometriosis. Adenomyosis is harder to count. For decades it could only be confirmed after a hysterectomy, so older numbers are too low. Modern ultrasound finds it far more often, and it gets more common with age and after pregnancies.
Neither is caused by anything you did. Genes play a part, and so does the way the immune system handles stray tissue. Researchers are still working out why some people get one, the other, or both. [47][49][54]
What to look for
Painful periods are common, but these patterns are not just cramps. Pain that keeps you home from school or work, or that painkillers barely touch, deserves a proper look.
Points to endometriosis
- Deep pain during or after sex
- Pain when you poop or pee that is worse on your period
- Pelvic pain on days you are not bleeding
- Bloating and bowel symptoms that flare with your cycle (often called endo belly)
- Trouble getting pregnant
Happens in both
- Period pain bad enough to miss school, work or plans
- Cramps that start before bleeding and last after it stops
- Pain that over-the-counter painkillers barely touch
- Tiredness and low mood from living with pain
- Years of symptoms before anyone names the problem
Points to adenomyosis
- Very heavy periods: soaking through pads or passing clots
- A heavy, dragging or bulky feeling low in the belly
- Pain that feels like the uterus itself hurts, not the sides
- Anemia from blood loss: tiredness, breathlessness, dizziness
- More common after 30 and after having children, but teenagers get it too
The delay is real
It takes years, not months, for most people to get an endometriosis diagnosis. Reviews put the typical wait at 4 to 11 years depending on the country, and it is longer for people with less access to care. In one US biobank, women of African ancestry were 43% less likely to get a surgical diagnosis. If you have been told your pain is normal and it is not, that is a reason to push, not to wait. [21][51]
How diagnosis works
You no longer need surgery to get a diagnosis. Current guidelines say a careful history, an exam and the right imaging are enough to name the condition and start treatment.
- 1
Tell the story
The doctor asks where the pain is, when in your cycle it hits, whether sex, peeing or pooping hurt, and how heavy your bleeding is. A dated symptom diary makes this much stronger.
- 2
A pelvic exam
The doctor feels for a tender or bulky uterus, which points to adenomyosis, and for tender nodules behind the cervix, which point to deep endometriosis. A normal exam does not rule either out.
- 3
Transvaginal ultrasound by someone trained in endometriosis
This is the key test. It can show cysts on the ovaries, deep nodules on the bowel or ligaments, and whether the organs slide freely or are stuck together. For adenomyosis it looks at the muscle wall: a thick, ragged junctional zone, one wall thicker than the other, and small cysts in the muscle.
Note: Ask specifically for an endometriosis-trained scan. A routine scan often misses deep disease, and adenomyosis signs are specific but easy to miss: in one study the best single sign caught only about half of confirmed cases.
- 4
MRI when the picture is unclear
MRI shows the muscle layers and deep nodules in more detail. It is used when the ultrasound is uncertain, before complex surgery, or to confirm adenomyosis. In a 2026 head-to-head study, expert ultrasound and MRI performed about the same for deep disease.
- 5
Laparoscopy only if it changes the plan
Keyhole surgery lets the surgeon see and remove lesions, and it is still the only way to spot the smallest superficial patches. Guidelines now say it should not be required before starting treatment.
Note: Adenomyosis cannot be seen at laparoscopy. It lives inside the wall, so imaging is the test.
Newer tests you may hear about
A few newer tests are worth knowing about so you understand what a doctor may offer. None of them replaces imaging yet.
- Saliva test: a test that reads tiny RNA fragments in spit was 97% sensitive in a 2025 validation study of 971 women. It is sold in some countries, but the study was funded by the company that makes it, and guidelines do not yet recommend it.
- Blood tests: several are in development. None is standard care.
- CA-125: an older blood marker that can be raised in endometriosis. It is not reliable enough to diagnose or rule it out.
- AI on scans: software is being trained to spot lesions on ultrasound and MRI. A 2026 review found it is not ready for routine use.
Which one is it, or is it both?
Tap a row to filter the treatments below
What to get checked
Endometriosis-trained pelvic ultrasound, or MRI
In trained hands, ultrasound finds deep and ovarian endometriosis and adenomyosis, and treatment can start without surgery. A normal scan does not rule out superficial disease, so symptoms still count. [24][25][29][52]
A blood count and iron studies if your periods are heavy
Heavy bleeding from adenomyosis often causes iron deficiency and then anemia. Ferritin shows your iron stores before anemia sets in. [22]
Note: Ferritin can sit inside the lab "normal" range and still be too low to feel well. Ask for the actual number, not just "normal".
A dated symptom and pain map
Where and when the pain happens (periods, sex, bowel, bladder) points to which condition and which treatment fits. It also documents how long this has been going on, so you are taken seriously. [2][21]
A check for what travels with it
Pelvic floor tightness, bladder pain, bowel involvement and a sensitized pain system each need their own treatment. A 2026 study found people with central sensitization were 3 to 4 times more likely to have hormonal treatment fail, so it is worth knowing up front. [13][16][44]
A fertility conversation, if you might want children
Both conditions can affect getting and staying pregnant. If pregnancy is a goal in the next few years, say so early. It changes the order of treatments, because most hormonal options prevent pregnancy while you take them. [42][62][64]
What actually works, and what is approved
Approval = where it is officially licensed for this use. Off-label use is normal here.
Anti-inflammatory painkillers (NSAIDs)
Ibuprofen, naproxen and similar drugs block the chemicals (prostaglandins) that drive cramping. They work best started the day before your period and taken on a schedule, not only when pain peaks. They ease pain but do not shrink the disease. [3]
- Approval
- Over the counter. Licensed for period pain in general, not for either condition specifically.
- Timeline
- Same day.
- Get it
- Over the counter; higher doses by prescription.
- Caution
- Take with food. Not for people with stomach ulcers, kidney problems, or on blood thinners.
Progestin-only hormones: dienogest, norethindrone, or the hormonal IUD
Progestins thin the misplaced tissue and stop the monthly swell-and-bleed cycle. In a 2026 network analysis, dienogest cut adenomyosis pain by about 4 points out of 10 against placebo, with high-certainty evidence. The hormonal IUD (levonorgestrel) delivers the same idea straight into the uterus, so it is the go-to for adenomyosis: it cuts bleeding hard and shrinks the uterus over time. [7][31][37][55][56][57][58]
- Dienogest: 2 mg a day. Matched the GnRH drug elagolix for pain in a 2026 trial, with fewer side effects. Irregular bleeding is common in the first months.
- Hormonal IUD: Best for heavy bleeding. Head-to-head with dienogest, pooled studies show a tie on pain and bleeding at 6 months; the IUD shrinks the uterus more, dienogest edges it on pain. It lasts years.
- Norethindrone acetate: A cheap, FDA-approved daily pill with a similar effect. More bloating and mood side effects for some.
- Approval
- Dienogest is licensed for endometriosis in the EU, UK, Canada and Australia, not in the US. Norethindrone acetate is FDA approved for endometriosis. The hormonal IUD is licensed for heavy bleeding and contraception and is used off-label for both conditions.
- Timeline
- Pain improves over 2 to 3 months. Bleeding on the IUD settles over 3 to 6 months.
- Get it
- Prescription. The IUD is fitted in a clinic.
- Caution
- Irregular spotting is the main reason people stop. Mood changes, headaches and acne happen. If you are a teenager, ask about bone health monitoring on long-term progestins.
The combined pill, taken without breaks
Taking the pill continuously stops periods, which stops the monthly bleeding into the lesions. In a 2026 comparison over 3 months it eased pain about as well as dienogest. It is a reasonable first step if you also want contraception. [11][38]
- Approval
- Licensed for contraception. Used off-label for both conditions.
- Timeline
- Two to three months to judge.
- Get it
- Prescription.
- Caution
- Not for people with migraine with aura, a high clot risk, or who smoke over 35. Estrogen can in theory feed the tissue, which is one reason progestin-only options are often preferred for the long run.
GnRH antagonist pills with add-back: relugolix combination, elagolix, linzagolix
These pills switch off the ovaries so estrogen drops and the tissue starves. The "add-back" is a low dose of estrogen and progestin taken alongside to protect bone and limit hot flushes. They are the step up when progestins fail or are not tolerated. Across five placebo-controlled trials, about 3 times as many people responded for period pain, and 1.5 times as many for non-period pelvic pain. [19][31][32][33][34][35][59]
- Approval
- Relugolix combination (Myfembree in the US, Ryeqo in the EU): FDA approved for endometriosis pain in 2022, EU approved in November 2023. Elagolix (Orilissa): FDA approved in 2018, not licensed in the EU. Linzagolix (Yselty): EU approved in December 2024 for people who have already tried another treatment, not FDA approved. None is licensed for adenomyosis.
- Timeline
- Pain drops within 4 to 12 weeks.
- Get it
- Prescription, usually from a specialist.
- Caution
- Bone loss is the real risk, especially without add-back, which is why elagolix without add-back is limited to 6 to 24 months. Expect hot flushes, headaches and mood changes. Not contraception. For adenomyosis the only data are a subgroup of a fibroid trial, where 84% reached the bleeding target against 28% on placebo.
GnRH agonist injections (leuprolide) with add-back
Monthly or 3-monthly injections that do the same job as the antagonist pills, after a temporary flare in the first weeks. Older, cheaper and well understood. In adenomyosis, a course before a fresh IVF transfer raised the clinical pregnancy rate by about half in pooled studies, though it did not raise live births. [12][57][65]
- Approval
- FDA approved for endometriosis, with norethindrone add-back. Used off-label before IVF in adenomyosis.
- Timeline
- Symptoms may worsen for 2 to 3 weeks, then improve.
- Get it
- Prescription, specialist-managed.
- Caution
- Same bone and menopause-like side effects as the pills. Add-back is essential beyond 6 months.
Pelvic floor physical therapy
When tight, tender pelvic floor muscles are part of the pain (pain with sex, tampons, or bowel movements), a pelvic floor physiotherapist treats a piece of the problem that hormones and surgery do not touch. A 2026 review found physical therapy approaches reduced pain with sex and pelvic pain and improved quality of life. [4][14][43][45]
- Approval
- Not applicable.
- Timeline
- Six to twelve weekly sessions to judge.
- Get it
- Referral to a pelvic floor physiotherapist.
Treating the pain system itself
After years of pain the nervous system turns the volume up, which is called central sensitization, and hormones alone stop working for some people. Options include nerve-pain medicines such as amitriptyline or gabapentinoids, pain education with graded exercise, and a multidisciplinary pain clinic. Ask about this if hormones helped less than expected. [10][17][44][45]
- Approval
- Off-label. These are general chronic-pain tools.
- Get it
- GP or specialist; pain clinic by referral.
Excision surgery for endometriosis
Keyhole surgery to cut out the lesions relieves pain for many and can help fertility. For ovarian cysts, removing the cyst wall lowers the chance it comes back compared with burning it, but costs a little more ovarian reserve; that trade-off matters if fertility is a goal. For bowel disease, a trial followed 10 years found conservative bowel surgery and removing a segment of bowel gave similar long-term results, and 85% of those who wanted a pregnancy got one. [1][6][8][15][39][40][41]
- Approval
- Standard care. Quality varies a lot by surgeon, so ask about volume and training.
- Get it
- Specialist surgery, ideally at an endometriosis center for deep disease.
- Caution
- The disease can come back: about a third in the bowel trial needed another operation within 10 years. Bowel and bladder surgery carry real complication risks and belong in expert hands. Surgery does not treat adenomyosis.
Uterus-sparing procedures for adenomyosis
For people who want to keep their uterus. Embolization blocks the blood supply to the diseased wall. HIFU heats and destroys it from outside the body. Adenomyomectomy cuts out the worst of it. In the Dutch QUESTA study, embolization improved quality of life nearly as much as hysterectomy at one year, though hysterectomy won on pain and satisfaction. Adding hormones to HIFU works better than HIFU alone. [22][60][61][62]
- Approval
- Uterine artery embolization and focused ultrasound (HIFU) are established procedures but are not licensed specifically for adenomyosis in most countries. Availability depends on where you live.
- Timeline
- Bleeding and pain improve over 3 to 6 months.
- Get it
- Interventional radiology or specialist gynecology. HIFU is limited to certain centers.
- Caution
- Pregnancy afterwards is possible but riskier: after adenomyomectomy nearly all births are by cesarean and preterm birth is common. Symptoms can return. There are no randomized trials on fertility after these procedures.
Hysterectomy
Removing the uterus is the only cure for adenomyosis, because the disease is in the wall itself. It is a real option when you are done having children and other treatments have failed. The ovaries can usually be kept, so it does not cause menopause. In the QUESTA study, 95% of women were satisfied a year later. [22][60]
- Approval
- Standard surgery.
- Get it
- Specialist gynecology.
- Caution
- Major surgery and irreversible. It does not cure endometriosis outside the uterus, so any of that must be dealt with at the same operation.
Diet and exercise
A low-FODMAP diet helped the bloating and bowel symptoms that many people with endometriosis get, in the small number of studies that exist. Anti-inflammatory eating and regular exercise with pain education modestly improved quality of life in trials. None of these shrink the disease. Treat them as add-ons, not replacements. [23][45][46]
- Approval
- Not applicable.
- Get it
- Ideally with a dietitian, because low-FODMAP is restrictive.
Cannabis-based products
In a UK registry, 101 women prescribed cannabis products for endometriosis reported less pain and better sleep over 2 years, and their opioid doses fell. But there was no placebo group, so nobody knows how much was the drug. Two placebo-controlled trials are running now. [50]
- Approval
- Not licensed anywhere for either condition.
- Caution
- Nearly 1 in 5 reported side effects, mostly fatigue, lethargy and headache. Legal status varies.
Opioids for the pain
Because this pain becomes centrally amplified over time, opioids work poorly and carry a real risk of dependence. They are not a treatment for either condition. [5][9]
- Caution
- If you are already using them, ask for a plan to taper alongside better-targeted treatment.
Real talk
- You no longer need surgery just to get a diagnosis. Exam and trained imaging can name the condition and start treatment.
- No drug is licensed specifically for adenomyosis. Off-label use of the hormonal IUD, progestins and GnRH drugs is the norm, and the evidence for them is real.
- The pain and fertility paths differ, so be clear about your priority. If it is pregnancy, ask for specialist input early.
- Both are long-term conditions with more than one pain source. Combining hormones, pelvic floor therapy and sometimes surgery works better than any one alone.
- Surgery can help but the disease can come back. Hysterectomy cures adenomyosis, not endometriosis.
Say this to your doctor
“My period pain and bleeding are disrupting my life. I would like to be assessed for endometriosis and adenomyosis, with an ultrasound by someone trained to look for them, rather than being told to manage the pain.”
Ask
- Can the scan check the muscle wall for adenomyosis as well as looking for endometriosis, and is the person doing it trained in this?
- Could this be both conditions, and does that change which treatment we start with?
- Which of my options are licensed for this use and which are off-label, and does that matter for me?
- If I want children in the next few years, how does that change the order of treatments?
- If we consider surgery, would it be excision at an experienced center, and what would it do about adenomyosis?
Bring
- A dated symptom diary showing how long you have had pain, how it maps to your cycle, sex, bowel and bladder, and how heavy your bleeding is
- A list of treatments already tried, for how long, and how they worked
- Your fertility plans and timeline
Push for a referral if
Ask for referral to an endometriosis or pelvic pain center for deep disease, bowel or bladder symptoms, heavy bleeding that has caused anemia, fertility concerns, or pain that first-line treatment has not controlled after 3 months.
Where the science is going
A spit test for endometriosis
A saliva test that reads micro-RNA fragments correctly identified endometriosis in 97% of cases in a 2025 validation study of 971 women, and misclassified fewer people than ultrasound or MRI in the surgically confirmed group. The catch: the company that sells it funded the study, and independent groups have not yet repeated it. Blood-based tests are following the same path. If they hold up, the years-long delay could shrink to weeks. [26][27][28]
New drugs that are not hormones
Every licensed drug works by lowering estrogen, which means side effects and no pregnancy. The pipeline is finally testing other targets: an antibody that blocks the prolactin receptor (phase 3), a pill that blocks the inflammation enzyme that makes prostaglandins (phase 2), metformin as an add-on, esketamine for pain that hormones cannot reach, and cannabidiol against placebo. [47][50]
The immune system and the gut
A 2026 meta-analysis confirmed that immune cells behave differently in people with endometriosis, and a mouse study found a gut bacterium that promotes the disease through a fat-derived signal. Large genetic studies are mapping which risk genes do what. This is early science, not treatment, but it is where the non-hormonal drugs of the 2030s will come from. [47][48][49]
Getting more out of the drugs we already have
Trials now running ask practical questions: does relugolix after excision surgery stop the disease coming back, does elagolix before IVF improve pregnancy rates, how safe is relugolix combination for bone over the long term, and how does linzagolix compare with the older injections. [33][35][36]
Adenomyosis is finally getting its own research
For decades adenomyosis was an afterthought that could only be confirmed after hysterectomy. Now there are agreed ultrasound terms, accuracy studies against tissue samples, pooled data on pregnancy risks, and the first uterus-sparing outcome reviews. The relugolix subgroup result hints that the endometriosis drugs will be formally tested here next. Expect the first adenomyosis-specific drug approvals to follow. [52][53][59][63][64]
Software that reads the scans
AI models are being trained to flag lesions on ultrasound and MRI, which could make expert-level scans available outside specialist centers. A 2026 systematic review found the models promising but not yet ready for the clinic, mostly because they were built on small, single-center datasets. [30]
Sources / 65 peer-reviewed papers / tap to expand
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Educational, not medical advice. Endometriosis & Adenomyosis can have more than one cause, and treatment decisions belong with a clinician who can examine you.