Graphic Pictures Show The Reality Of Endometriosis
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Featured Image Credit: Emma Wilson Photography
A make-up artist has used her skills to create what she thinks the pain of endometriosis would look like - and it is horrifying.
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Andrea Baines, 34, says endometriosis pain is "traumatic" and wanted to use make-up to create wounds on the stomach area to raise awareness for the condition which you cannot see but affects one in ten women.
The snaps she created are shocking and really highlight the pain women are in regularly because of the condition that has no cure. It can cause difficulties conceiving, pain during sex, nausea, constipation and severe pain in the stomach.
The idea came to her whilst training at a make-up academy that asked her to design a special effects shoot as part of her course.
She told Tyla: "After a rough few months with my endometriosis, I decided I wanted to try and show people how it feels inside."
So Andrea from Liverpool, enlisted the help of fellow sufferer, Rachel Berwick to model for her, creating wounds on her stomach she felt reflected the pain accurately, asking her pal Emma Wilson to snap the images.
The idea was to show people who know nothing about endometriosis, that just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not real.
She's concerned that women like herself feel isolated from the condition, because nobody understands it.
She said: "I wanted to make an invisible illness visible and get people talking."
Andrea was diagnosed with the condition, that is caused by tissue growing in places it shouldn't, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes when she was in her late teens. By the time she was 21, the pain became unbearable, prompting her first surgery.
She described the pain as "stabbing and twisting pains" and added it's like her "insides are being squeezed".
She's now had three surgeries in total, but the scar tissue caused by them has meant her internal organs have fused, creating further pain.
"Sometimes the pain leaves me bed bound," she added.
Physically, it also makes her tired all the time, but it harms her emotionally too.
She commented: "Emotionally it's affected me because I feel guilty when I'm so tired and it's also embarrassing to bleed so heavily.
"The fact it's invisible can be really hard to deal with as people assume you're well."
Andrea hopes that people being able to see the physical images will leave them more sympathetic with sufferers.
Adding: "I wanted the image to be quite shocking to gain interest and really connect with women who also suffer."
We're just glad she chose to use her talent to help others.
Topics: Endometriosis, wellbeing, Make-Up, Real Life, Health
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