"It makes you feel helpless": why patients and doctors are questioning standard endometriosis care

What happened

Women with endometriosis and the doctors who treat them are raising doubts about the standard approach to care. The Guardian reported on 15 September 2026 on research co-led by Dr Jasmine Hearn at Manchester Metropolitan University. The usual treatment path for endometriosis and long-term pelvic pain has two main parts. There is hormonal medication, and there is surgery. The research found that women living with pelvic pain reported a better quality of life when psychological support was part of their treatment, rather than surgery and hormone medicines alone. Patients in the reporting described frustration with the current approach. One said it makes you feel helpless. Several said the relief they got from surgery was real but brief, and that the pain returned. None of this says the standard treatments do not work. It says they are often not enough on their own.

Why this matters

Endometriosis is common. It happens when tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, such as around the ovaries or the bowel. It can cause severe period pain, pain during sex, pain when going to the toilet, tiredness and difficulty getting pregnant. In the UK, women often wait years for a diagnosis. By the time treatment starts, many have already spent a long time being told the pain is normal. That history matters here. When somebody has been dismissed repeatedly, being offered psychological support can land badly. It can sound like being told the pain is in your head. That is not what this research is saying, and the distinction is important. The pain is real and physical. Chronic pain also changes the nervous system over time, and support for that is treatment, not doubt.

What the evidence actually says

Let us be careful about what this research does and does not show. What it shows is an association. Women who had psychological support alongside medical treatment reported better quality of life than those who did not. Quality of life is not the same as pain disappearing. It covers sleep, mood, the ability to work, and how much the condition dominates daily life. Those things genuinely matter, but they are a different measure from the size of a lesion on a scan. This fits with what is already well established in pain medicine more widely. For long-term pain of many kinds, the best results usually come from combining approaches rather than relying on one. The finding about surgery is also worth reading carefully. Patients described relief that was real but short-lived. That is not the same as surgery being useless. For some women it helps a great deal, and for some it is necessary. But repeated operations carry their own risks. NICE, which sets treatment guidance for the NHS in England, already recommends that care for endometriosis should be delivered by a team and should consider the whole person. The gap this research points to is between what is recommended and what many women are actually offered.

Qurexa perspective

A lot of endometriosis care happens through repeat prescriptions, month after month, year after year. We deliver prescriptions and support people to keep taking their medicines as intended. From that vantage point, one thing is very clear. Long-term conditions are exhausting in a way that is easy to underestimate, and the admin of staying on treatment is part of that exhaustion. If a reliable delivery takes one recurring worry off someone's list, that is a small but genuine help. It is not treatment, and we would never present it as such. But when you are managing pain every day, fewer things to chase is worth something.

Practical advice

If you are living with endometriosis or ongoing pelvic pain, here are some steps that may help. **Keep a simple record.** Note when pain is worst, what you were doing, and what helped. A few weeks of notes gives a clinician far more to work with than memory alone. **Ask directly about a pain management service.** These exist on the NHS and often include psychological support, physiotherapy and medication review together. You can ask your GP for a referral. **Ask what the aim of each treatment is.** Is this meant to reduce pain, protect fertility, or slow the condition down? Knowing the goal makes it much easier to tell whether it is working. **Review your medicines.** If you have been on the same hormonal treatment for a long time without much benefit, that is worth raising. Your pharmacist can talk through side effects and interactions. **Do not accept being dismissed.** If you feel you are not being heard, you can ask for a second opinion. Endometriosis UK offers a free helpline and support groups. **Be wary of expensive private promises.** Anything claiming to cure endometriosis is overstating what any current treatment can do.

What to know

Research co-led by Dr Jasmine Hearn at Manchester Metropolitan University found that women with pelvic pain reported better quality of life when psychological support was included in their care, not just hormonal medication and surgery. Patients described surgery as giving real but short-lived relief, and expressed frustration with the standard approach. This does not mean the pain is imaginary. It means long-term pain usually responds best to several approaches used together. NHS pain management services and a referral discussion with your GP are reasonable next steps if current treatment is not working for you. Sources: The Guardian, "'It makes you feel helpless': patients and doctors cast doubt on standard treatment for endometriosis", 15 September 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/15/patients-health-doctors-doubt-on-nhs-streatment-endometriosis; NICE, 'Endometriosis: diagnosis and management (NG73)', https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73; NHS, 'Endometriosis', https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/endometriosis/. This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.