When you live with endometriosis or persistent pelvic pain, it’s easy to feel like your body is working against you- especially when people don’t often discuss the pelvic area. And then you get referred to Pelvic Physiotherapy, and have no idea what to expect!

Many clients arrive at their first Pelvic Physiotherapy session feeling anxious. Some are scared it’s going to hurt and others are worried that something about their vulva, labia, or vagina isn’t “normal.” I’ve lost count of how many people have nervously asked: “Is it okay down there?” or whispered, “Sorry, I haven’t waxed…”

So let’s discuss this and clear things up- with kindness, facts, and zero shame.

It’s one of the most common- yet least talked about- challenges of living with endometriosis: bowel symptoms.

Many people with endometriosis experience bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, pain with bowel movements, or a sensation of incomplete emptying. These symptoms can occur even without endometriosis directly affecting the bowel, because of the condition’s links with inflammation, nerve sensitisation, and pelvic floor dysfunction.