BALTIMORE —For some women, painful periods are a given, but there could also be a bigger issue: Studies show at least one in 10 women has endometriosis but has yet to be diagnosed.

“That was probably back when I was maybe like 14 or so, I was having some pretty bad periods and everything like that. At that time, you pretty much thought that that was the norm,” said patient Megan Sennett

Endometriosis occurs when tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside the uterus.

“It’s insidious. It goes in many different places. It is all-encompassing, and unfortunately, it comes back,” said Dr. Kevin Audlin, director of the endometriosis center at Mercy Medical Center.

For Sennett, the symptoms started to affect her everyday life.

“When you become kind of a hermit during those first few days, you’re like, ‘OK, something’s just not quite right,'” she said.

Audlin said the symptoms are hard to pinpoint at first.

“They are very vague, and that’s the biggest problem. We know that conservatively 10% of all pre-menopausal woman have endometriosis, but all women that are pre-menopausal have cycles for the most part, so why do only 10% get the disease?” Audlin said.

Endometriosis mainly impacts a woman during her reproductive years but can start as soon as a girl gets her period.

“The assumption is that bleeding from this causes the retrograde menstruation into the pelvis — the less you bleed, the less likelihood you’re going to have of endometriosis,” Audlin said.

Audlin said treatment starts with managing a woman’s hormones.

“Currently, I’m on birth control. I actually have the Mirena IUD. That actually helps prevent my periods and helps me prevent from any pains, discomfort, things like that,” Semmett said.

Surgery is a more advanced treatment. To help manage the disease, women can focus on living a healthy lifestyle, including diet and exercise, quit smoking and get a lot of sleep.

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