Even though you may not have heard of it, endimetriosis is a very common medical condition that affects around 89 million women around the world. I had certainly never been aware of it, that is until I was diagnosed with the condition. With endimetriosis, the tissue that lines the uterus (normally shed during the menstrual flow) begins to grow on the outside of the womb. As a result, the tissues still detach and bleed but isn't able to exit the body as it normally would. Internal bleeding, pain, inflammation and scar tissue can all be caused by endimetriosis. Sometimes, these can interfere with normal bowel and bladder function. Also, endimetriosis has been known to spread to other parts of the body, sometimes even to the lungs and the brain.

The biggest symptom of endimetriosis is severe and recurring pain. There are four different stages (numbered 1 through 4) of the condition, and the level of pain is not necessarily related to the stage of the condition. Endimetriosis has many other symptoms, including pain during sex, nausea, disabling menstrual cramps and heavy periods. It is most commonly diagnosed when couples have trouble conceiving a child, as in many other cases it would have gone unnoticed.

Indeed, subfertility and infertility are the two main reasons why endimetriosis gets diagnosed. Endimetriosis doesn't discriminate against age, race or socioeconomic status. Even if you've had children, you are no more or less likely to suffer from the condition over the course of your lifetime. In fact, current estimates show that between 5 and 20 percent of females worldwide have endimetriosis. Moreover, there is no cure and treating the condition is sometimes more painful that the endimetriosis itself. Additionally, while there are many people who have speculated as the what causes it, there is no definitive proof that one or the other is right. To be honest, the cause of endimetriosis largely remains a mystery.