An Endometriosis Cure?

Delayed diagnoses and ineffective treatments mean many women live in needless pain. But thanks to a little-known but promising procedure, there's hope.

- By Meryl Davids Landau

Tremendously painful periods. Pain during sex or while going to the bathroom. There are, of course, different possible causes for these symptoms. But when endometriosis is to blame, women endure all this for an average of seven to 10 years before being correctly diagnosed.

That's because endometriosis - one in 10 of us is thought to have it-gets little attention, and a lot of what doctors believe about it is incorrect, says Nancy Petersen, a retired registered nurse who runs the wildly popular endo social media education group Nancy's Nook (Petersen herself suffered from endometriosis for years). "With endometriosis, there's a body of knowledge that has been accepted as science but is actually myth," she says. Now, thanks to patient advocates and specialists, accurate info is finally getting out.