When I woke up to the news circulating through the endometriosis community this week, my heart sank. That familiar, heavy feeling settled in my chest, the one that takes me right back to the hardest moments of my own journey. The confusion. The isolation. The feeling that my health wasn't a priority to the people who were supposed to help me.

The words we use in endometriosis care can either build trust or cause harm. In this blog, clinician Jo shares how subtle shifts in language can help avoid medical gaslighting, validate lived experience, and foster safer, more compassionate care for people with endometriosis.