Call me crazy but actually, don’t.

Endometriosis is not just a menstrual health problem. It’s a full-body disease. And it’s time we stop shrinking it into “bad periods” or something women are expected to endure quietly.

Just like cancer, autoimmune diseases, or other chronic inflammatory conditions, endometriosis affects far more than one organ system. It doesn’t stay neatly in the uterus. It doesn’t follow a calendar. And it doesn’t politely show up only during menstruation.

Endometriosis affects about 1 in 10 women and girls of reproductive age worldwide (nearly 190 million people). Yet it takes an average of 7 to 10 years to get diagnosed and that delay alone tells you everything you need to know about how seriously women’s pain is ignored.

For many, the pain is debilitating, life-altering, and constant. Not just cramps during a period, but chronic pelvic pain, pain during sex, bowel and bladder pain, fatigue, nerve pain, and symptoms that disrupt daily life. School, work, relationships, mental health; nothing is untouched.

And no, removing the uterus does not magically fix it.

Endometriosis has been found to persist even after hysterectomy because it doesn’t live only in the uterus. It has been documented on the bowels, bladder, lungs, nerves, and even in areas affecting the brain. This is not a localized condition. It is systemic.

What makes this even more frustrating is how under-researched and underfunded endometriosis remains, despite how common and severe it is. And let’s be honest about why. It primarily affects women.

If 1 in 10 men experienced this level of chronic pain, infertility risk, and reduced quality of life, we would already have better diagnostic tools, more treatment options, and clearer answers. Instead, women are told to “wait it out,” “manage stress,” or that pain is just part of being a woman. So dear lord, please let men evolve to share in this pain and have a slice of the pie, Amen.

Also, to completely dismantle one of the most persistent myths: endometriosis has been found even in babies. That fact alone should end the narrative that this condition is caused by lifestyle choices, sexual activity, or “bad periods.” It isn’t.

Endometriosis is not:

• “Just cramps”
• A sign of weakness
• Something to be endured quietly

It is a SERIOUS, WHOLE-BODY DISEASE!

Women deserve to be believed, properly studied, and treated with the urgency and respect this condition demands. Until that happens, the problem isn’t women’s pain, it’s how comfortable society has become with ignoring it.