A dedicated treatment clinic for women with endometriosis has been launched today in Dublin.

The clinic, which is the Coombe Women and Infant University Hospital, will take a "holistic approach" to treating the condition, which affects one in ten Irish women.

Master of the Coombe, Professor Michael O'Connell, said it takes on average nine years to get a diagnosis of endometriosis and promises the clinic will provide timely care to its patients.

The debilitating condition occurs when endometrial-like tissue grows beyond the uterus. (Mistakenly, medics once thought that this tissue was the same as the endometrium shed each month in menstruation.)

The abnormal tissue secretes substances that irritate the surrounding tissues, causing them to bleed. The body’s inflammatory response to it can cause severe pelvic pain. Scar tissue can form and cause pelvic organs to adhere together, distorting the pelvic anatomy.

The opening of the new clinic is timely as March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. 

Main image: The Coombe Women and Infants Hospital in Dublin. Photo: Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland