• Irregular, painful or heavy periods
• Pain while having sex, or after having sex
• Fertility problems (difficulties getting pregnant)
• Pain or bleeding while going to the toilet
• Fatigue, tiredness and/or depression

These symptoms don't always mean you have endometriosis, but they should still be addressed. If you are living with ongoing pain or discomfort, our endometriosis specialists are here to help you find definitive answers and effective relief.

Advanced ultrasound is a highly effective endometriosis test. At Benenden Hospital, our expert sonographers use the state-of-the-art Siemens ACUSON Sequoia ultrasound scanner to capture high-definition imaging of deep tissue and cysts.

Endometriosis ultrasound scans offer a less invasive pathway to diagnosis compared to traditional methods.

To ensure the most accurate mapping of your condition before planning surgery, an MRI scan may also be recommended. Endometriosis diagnosis is usually confirmed by a gynaecological laparoscopy.

At Benenden Hospital, we offer several endometriosis treatment options for easing symptoms and improving your quality of life.

Hormone therapy

Hormonal therapy for endometriosis aims to suppress or regulate the menstrual cycle, which in turn reduces the stimulation and growth of endometriosis tissue. Options include the combined oral contraceptive pill, as well as progestin (a synthetic version of progesterone, the female sex hormone) tablets or intrauterine devices.

Another hormone treatment is a GnRH (gonadotrophin-releasing hormone) analogue. GnRH analogues work by suppressing the production of the reproductive hormones oestrogen and progesterone, causing a temporary menopause. This can reduce symptoms.

Surgical treatment

If your symptoms are severe, persistent or haven’t responded to hormonal or pain-based therapies, your clinician may recommend endometriosis surgery. The type of surgery will depend on the extent of your endometriosis, the severity of your symptoms and whether you plan to have children or not.

Gynaecological laparoscopy

Laparoscopy, or keyhole surgery, is the most frequently used procedure. It involves inserting a small camera through the abdomen to both diagnose and treat endometriosis.

During this endometriosis surgery, your surgeon can either destroy (ablate) or excise visible endometrial-like lesions, which may help reduce pain and improve function.

Excision, where endometriosis tissue is carefully cut out rather than destroyed, is often performed by surgeons with advanced expertise in endometriosis and is associated with more thorough removal of disease, particularly in deeper or more complex cases. It may provide longer-lasting symptom relief for some people.

In some cases, endometriosis affects organs such as the bowel, bladder or ovaries. When this occurs, more complex surgery may be required, sometimes involving a multidisciplinary surgical team at a specialist endometriosis centre. Procedures may include removing ovarian cysts or addressing deep infiltrating endometriosis affecting surrounding organs.

Hysterectomy and oophorectomy

In severe cases, your consultant may recommend a hysterectomy, which involves removal of the uterus and, sometimes, an oophorectomy to remove one or both ovaries. Where both ovaries are removed, you’ll experience immediate and irreversible menopause.

These options aren’t suitable for everyone, especially if you’re planning to have children, and doesn’t guarantee that your symptoms will fully resolve, particularly if lesions remain outside the uterus.

Although a hysterectomy can put an end to the pain caused by your periods or a uterine condition such as adenomyosis, it’s not guaranteed to alleviate all endometriosis-related symptoms. This is because endometriosis is outside of the uterus and having the uterus removed won’t resolve these symptoms.

It’s possible that endometriosis may recur after a hysterectomy, but this will depend on whether you’ve had your ovaries removed, whether any endometriomas remain and how severe your endometriosis is.

Endometriosis is one of the causes of female infertility, but a diagnosis does not mean you cannot become pregnant. Strong clinical evidence shows that surgical excision of early-stage endometriosis improves fertility. However, in advanced cases the role of surgery in fertility is less clear.

Endometriosis may return within months for some people, while others can remain symptom free for many years. This will depend on the same factors as mentioned above.

An ultrasound can sometimes detect endometriosis, particularly deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE), where the disease extends beyond the surface tissues and involves structures within the pelvis, such as the bowel, bladder, or the tissues behind the uterus.

Traditionally, pelvic ultrasound has focused on assessing the uterus, the endometrium and the ovaries. However, advances in ultrasound techniques now allow specially trained clinicians, including sonographers at our hospital, to examine the deeper areas of the pelvis.

By applying gentle pressure during a transvaginal ultrasound, they can assess the spaces behind the uterus and identify signs of deep infiltrating endometriosis with greater accuracy. Improved imaging quality and specialist scanning methods have significantly enhanced the ability to detect deep disease that may previously have been missed.

It’s important to note that while ultrasound can identify some forms of endometriosis, particularly ovarian endometriomas and deep infiltrating disease, a normal ultrasound can’t exclude endometriosis, as smaller or superficial lesions may not be visible on imaging.

Most people find that a laparoscopy for endometriosis is more uncomfortable than painful, but recovery can vary depending on how much endometriosis is removed during the procedure. Immediately after surgery, you might experience:

• Abdominal soreness and cramping
• Pain around the incision sites
• Shoulder-tip pain caused by the gas used to inflate the abdomen during surgery
• Bloating and fatigue
• Mild vaginal bleeding or spotting

How long your laparoscopy takes will depend on what your surgeon has discussed with you and how extensive the endometriosis is.

• Diagnostic laparoscopy (looking for endometriosis) often takes around 30–60 minutes
• Laparoscopic excision or removal of endometriosis commonly takes one to three hours
• Extensive surgery for deep infiltrating endometriosis involving the bowel, bladder or multiple pelvic organs can take several hours

Many laparoscopic procedures for endometriosis are performed as day surgery, meaning you go home the same day, though some patients stay overnight, particularly after more complex surgery.

The first 24–72 hours are usually the most uncomfortable period. One to two weeks after your procedure, you should be able to move around comfortably and gradually return to normal daily activities.

You might find it takes between two and six weeks to recover after your procedure, especially if extensive endometriosis excision was performed. If you've had extensive surgery involving the bowel, bladder, or multiple areas of deep infiltrating endometriosis, recovery can take longer than after a simple diagnostic laparoscopy.

To find out more about pricing, visit the Gynaecology section of our pricing page, request a quotation by completing our online form.

If you’re worried about the signs of endometriosis or if endometriosis is affecting your life or work, help is available from our endometriosis specialists and is delivered in a discreet environment.

Self-pay patients

If you need help now, and don’t want to wait, paying for your own treatment at our hospital is a smart way to get back on the road to recovery, fast. Contact our Private Patient team via Livechat, by completing our online enquiry form or by calling 01580 363158.

Privately insured patients

Private medical insurance can offer a faster route to a consultation, diagnosis and treatment for a range of women’s health conditions. We welcome patients with private medical insurance, whether you have individual cover or a policy through your job as part of your employee benefit package.

NHS patients

The NHS Choice Framework allows you to choose where you receive medical care. This means you can book an initial consultation via your GP for selected treatments at our hospital, and the cost will be covered by the NHS. Find out how to get a referral for NHS treatment at our hospital.

Benenden Health members

Your Benenden Health membership may cover you for an initial consultation, diagnostics and selected treatments (subject to limitations and exclusions) You’ll need a referral to our hospital from your NHS GP, including an indication of NHS waiting times.