Health A-Z

Medical Content Created by the Faculty of the
Harvard Medical School

Endometriosis

Symptoms

Many women with endometriosis do not have any symptoms. Those who have symptoms may experience any of the following:

• Severe menstrual discomfort, usually with heavy menstrual flow

• Periodic pain in the pelvis or abdomen, usually either just before or during menstruation

• Backache

• Pain during or immediately after sexual intercourse

• Vaginal spotting before menstruation begins

• Bowel symptoms, such as painful bowel movements, diarrhea, constipation or, rarely, blood in the stool

• Painful urination, or, rarely, blood in the urine

• Infertility or repeated miscarriages

In general, the severity of symptoms depends on the location of a woman's endometriosis rather than its size. A woman who has only a few small patches of misplaced endometrial tissue may have severe pelvic pain, while a woman with larger areas of endometriosis may feel no symptoms at all.