It can take several years to get a diagnosis of endometriosis. This is because symptoms vary between women, symptoms can change over time and some symptoms overlap with other health conditions. Also, period pain is often accepted as normal.
It's good to know that the time taken to get a diagnosis is decreasing as awareness and medical knowledge get better.
Early diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis will help you manage the condition and improve your quality of life.
The recommended way to see if you have endometriosis is with imaging technology, such as ultrasound.
On this page, you’ll learn about how endometriosis is diagnosed and when to see your doctor.
Pelvic or abdominal examination
Ultrasound
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Laparoscopy
Stages of endometriosis
Endometriosis in teenage years
When you visit your doctor, they will ask about your symptoms and medical history. They may also suggest an internal examination to feel for things like tenderness, areas of thickening or lesions in the vagina. The examination can also help rule out other causes of symptoms.
If your doctor suspects endometriosis, you may be referred to a specialist for an ultrasound.
In Australia, an internal ultrasound is the recommended way to look for signs of endometriosis. A device that records images of the pelvic area is inserted into the vagina. This gives a more accurate result than an ultrasound on your belly.
The internal ultrasound scans are good at showing endometriosis, but they aren’t perfect. You may still have the condition, even if the scan doesn’t show signs of endometriosis.
Depending on the results, your doctor might recommend certain medicines to manage symptoms, or they may offer surgery. But the aim is to minimise surgery where possible.
If you can’t have an ultrasound, your doctor may recommend an MRI.
MRI is a technology used to take cross-sectional pictures of your body. MRI scans are best reviewed by specialists in this type of imaging. The scans show how much deep endometriosis is in your body and helps inform decisions about surgery.
A laparoscopy is keyhole surgery (via the belly) performed under general anaesthetic. A laparoscopy can confirm the presence of endometrial tissue, which can be treated during the operation.
This surgery is usually performed if your doctor thinks you may have endometriosis and other treatments haven’t worked. But surgery comes with risks, so it’s important to minimise this procedure where possible.
If you choose to have surgery, look for a surgeon who has experience managing endometriosis.
Several staging systems have been created to show different levels and forms of endometriosis. Each system has its strengths and weaknesses.
Knowing about stages can help you understand endometriosis. But it’s important for you and your doctor to focus on your symptoms, preferences and priorities when making treatment decisions.
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 and nausea with pain are common in teenage years. But these symptoms may not be due to endometriosis.
If your doctor suspects endometriosis, they may recommend an ultrasound on the abdominal area to learn more. They may suggest hormone medicines, such as the Pill or progestogen-only therapy, to help with painful periods.
If symptoms don’t get better after several months of hormone medicines, doctors may suggest surgery.
Your doctor can refer you to a gynaecologist with specialist skills in treating endometriosis in teenagers.
This content has been reviewed by a group of medical subject matter experts, in accordance with Jean Hailes policy.
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