There is a pain that cannot be seen, but that changes the life of those who carry it inside. It can paralyze, take away your breath, keep you in bed for days. And, too often, it is minimized, misunderstood or even ignored. It is that of endometriosis, a chronic disease that affects millions of people around the world, but which still today remains shrouded in a veil of silence and misinformation.

It is a complex condition : cells similar to those of the endometrium - the tissue that lines the uterus - migrate to other parts of the body, colonizing the ovaries, tubes, intestines, kidneys, bladder. Every month, responding to hormonal stimuli, these cells become inflamed and bleed, but not finding a way out, they create adhesions, lesions, often unbearable pain.

Those who suffer from it insist on the need to inform and be informed, as Simonetta Lecca recalls , who a few years ago told her experience in a video (https://youtu.be/aIDS8umOhZ8) and today explains in four points why it is very important to talk about it.

First of all, it affects many more people than you might think . Endometriosis doesn't just affect those who identify as women, but anyone with female reproductive organs. Yet, many of them don't even know they have it. Excruciating pain during your period? Unexplained intestinal problems? Chronic fatigue? Too often, these symptoms are normalized and those who suffer from them are left alone with their discomfort.

The diagnosis still arrives today with years of delay. The average time to obtain a diagnosis of endometriosis is seven to ten years. An unacceptable wait, the result of a medical system that often segments the body into watertight compartments. If you have abdominal pain, they send you to the gastroenterologist. If you have menstrual problems, to the gynecologist. But who connects the dots? Endometriosis is a systemic disease, which involves multiple organs and functions. An integrated approach would be needed, but the reality is that too many people are left at the mercy of fragmented specialist visits and answers that never arrive.

It is an invisible but devastating disease. Watching a person dance lightly or work with a smile does not mean knowing what is behind it. Endometriosis can lead to permanent damage, invasive procedures such as intestinal resection, chronic pain that affects every daily choice. Yet, those who suffer from it often hear "But you seem fine!". The invisibility of the disease becomes a double-edged sword: not only physical pain, but also the frustration of not being believed.

And then, at work, you often pay a very high price. Having a chronic disease means, for many people, facing discrimination and penalties. Days of absence due to pain, medical visits, operations: all of this is often not compatible with the world of work as it is structured today. And so, those who live with endometriosis risk being relegated to the margins, forced into increasingly less rewarding roles, to the point of being pushed to leave their job. A cruel mechanism, which consumes people's energy and then discards them.

Endometriosis is true, it is a disease, but it can also become an opportunity for awareness. For those who experience it, it can become a stimulus to rethink their choices, their relationship with their body, the way they work, eat, and manage their emotions. For society, it is a call to look with different eyes at those who live with an invisible, but real, pathology.

Raising awareness does not only mean telling, but above all listening to those who suffer . Training more attentive doctors. Creating more inclusive work environments. Stop telling girls that "painful periods are normal" and start teaching them to listen to their bodies .

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