Endometriosis is a long-term condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other parts of the body. For people living with endometriosis, this can cause chronic pain in the pelvic and abdominal areas, and pain during or after sex, impacting quality of life. People with endometriosis may be prescribed hormones or painkillers to ease symptoms. However, these don’t always relieve the pain and can have side effects, particularly if taken over a long time.

Exercise has been shown to help manage pain in people with certain chronic conditions, but how effective this is can vary by condition. Some people will feel better after exercising, while others find exercise makes their pain worse.

This edition of Tap into Research looks at a study exploring how daily exercise and pain symptoms are linked in people with endometriosis.

How were smartphones used in the study?

The study used a smartphone app to track both pain and exercise every day. Participants were asked each day if they were in pain (and if yes, where), and whether they had exercised, with details on activity types.

Participants living with endometriosis helped choose which measurements to use, to make sure the results would be relevant and an accurate representation of endometriosis.

What did the study find?

The study included 1,009 participants with endometriosis from across 38 countries.

The most common sources of pain reported were pelvic, back, and gastrointestinal pain. In terms of exercise, 21.3% of participants exercised at least three times per week, 40% exercised one to two times per week, and 38.5% of participants did not regularly exercise. Walking made up around half of all exercise reported.

The amount of pain participants reported the day after exercise changed depending on how much exercise they did in a typical week. Participants who usually exercised at least three times per week reported less pain the day after exercise, compared with their average pain score. On the other hand, participants who usually exercised less than twice a week were more likely to report more pain the day after they exercised, compared with days when they had not exercised the day before.

Why does this matter?

Pain can be very hard to recall, so this study shows how smartphones can help capture pain and activity data from participants in real time.

As there are currently no specific exercise guidelines for people with endometriosis, the results from this study could help shape advice. As this study found that people who didn’t regularly exercise might feel more pain after exercising, supporting people to exercise regularly and consistently could help manage pain for some individuals.

This study did not explore how the duration or intensity of exercise impacted pain, so future work could explore this.

Read the paper: Associations between physical exercise patterns and pain symptoms in individuals with endometriosis: a cross-sectional mHealth-based investigation

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