The Pain We Were Told to Endure: Breaking the Silence on Endometriosis.

The Pain We Were Told to Endure: Breaking the Silence on Endometriosis.

March arrives draped in yellow.

Across the world, people wear yellow ribbons, post yellow hearts, and light up buildings in the same hopeful color. It is the color chosen for Endometriosis Awareness Month, a quiet but powerful reminder that millions of women carry a kind of pain that the world is only beginning to understand.

Pain that was once dismissed.

Pain that was once normalized.

Pain that many were told to simply endure.

For years, the story of endometriosis has lived in whispers between women, in bedrooms, in clinic waiting rooms, in late night conversations with friends who finally say, “I thought it was just me.”

It often begins when a girl is still young.

Her period arrives, and with it comes a pain that feels deeper than the cramps people warned her about. A pain that folds her body in half. A pain that makes classrooms, offices, and daily routines suddenly feel impossible. She misses school sometimes. She cancels plans. She learns to carry painkillers the way others carry lip balm, always nearby, always necessary.

But when she speaks about it, the response is familiar.

“Periods are supposed to hurt.”

So she learns the quiet art of enduring.

Years pass like this. For some women, it takes five years before someone connects the dots. For others, it takes ten. In that time, they are told many things, that their pain tolerance is low, that stress is the cause, that they are exaggerating. Yet their bodies continue to tell a different story.

That story has a name.

Endometriosis.

It is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of it, sometimes on the ovaries, the fallopian tubes, the bladder, or the intestines. Each month, as the body prepares for menstruation, this misplaced tissue behaves the same way the uterine lining does. It thickens. It breaks down. It bleeds.

But unlike menstrual blood, this blood has nowhere to go.

Inside the body it lingers, creating inflammation, scar tissue, and a cycle of chronic pain that can touch nearly every part of a woman’s life. Painful periods become only one part of the story. There may be pain during intimacy, pain when using the bathroom during menstruation, persistent pelvic pain, or the heartbreaking realization that getting pregnant may be more difficult than expected.

And still, for a long time, many women suffer in silence.

In parts of the world where conversations about reproductive health are open, the silence around endometriosis is already heavy. But in many African communities, that silence can feel even deeper. Discussions about menstrual health are often tucked behind cultural discomfort. Young girls are taught resilience before they are taught awareness. Pain is something to be survived, not questioned.

So the stories go untold.

A girl who faints during her period is told to be strong.

A young woman who cannot get out of bed during menstruation is told she is exaggerating.

A wife struggling with infertility quietly carries the weight of blame.

Yet the truth is that nearly 200 million people worldwide live with endometriosis. It is one of the most common gynecological conditions, and still one of the most misunderstood.

For decades, women have been fighting to be heard.

Organizations like the Endometriosis Association, advocating since 1993, have helped push these conversations into the light. Researchers continue to study the disease, doctors are learning to recognize it earlier, and communities around the world are slowly breaking the stigma that once kept these stories hidden.

But awareness does not only live in hospitals or research labs.

It lives in the courage of women telling their stories.

In the friend who finally says, “That pain is not normal.”

In the sister who encourages another to seek medical help.

In the mother who teaches her daughter to listen to her body.

That is why March matters.

The yellow ribbons are not just decoration. They are a signal, a small but powerful declaration that the world is beginning to understand that endometriosis is more than painful periods. It is a chronic, inflammatory condition that can shape a woman’s life in ways many people cannot see.

And yet, despite the pain it brings, the women living with it continue to show extraordinary resilience.

They go to work while hurting.

They show up for their families.

They continue to dream, love, create, and hope.

Their strength deserves recognition, but more than that, it deserves support.

Because no woman should have to fight this battle alone. No girl should grow up believing unbearable pain is simply part of becoming a woman. And no voice speaking about their suffering should ever be dismissed again.

So this March, as the world steps into yellow, perhaps the most important thing we can do is listen.

Listen to the stories that were once ignored.

Listen to the pain that was once minimized.

Listen to the women who are finally being heard.

Because awareness begins with a conversation.

And sometimes, that conversation can change a life. 💛