Ricki-Lee Coulter: Australian singer undergoes surgery hoping to tackle her crippling endometriosis

Australian singer Ricki-Lee Coulter has issued a heartfelt health update as she reveals she’s been battling a “chronic pain that has progressively gotten worse” for the past 10 years.

The radio personality posted a series of images on Instagram on Wednesday night, revealing that she has been struggling with endometriosis.

“For over a decade, I’ve been dealing with chronic pain that has progressively gotten worse”, she said.

“Anyone with endometriosis knows it takes a long time to get to the point where you have surgery and can get any kind of diagnosis — and that you have to advocate for yourself and keep pushing for answers.”

According to the World Health Organization, endometriosis is a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus and affects roughly 10 per cent of reproductive-age women and girls worldwide.

It can cause severe pain in the pelvis and make it harder to get pregnant. It can start at a person’s first menstrual period and last until menopause.

Coulter told her 330k Instagram followers that the condition had left her “searching for answers”.

“Over the years, I have seen so many doctors and specialists and have been down so many different paths to try and figure out what was going on,” she said.

“For so long, I thought the pain was just something I had to deal with.

“But the past couple of years, it has become almost unbearable and is something I’ve been dealing with every single day.”

According to the WHO, there is currently no known cure, and treatment is usually aimed at controlling symptoms — such as pain during sex, a period or when going to the toilet.

“It’s often caused when menstrual blood containing endometrial cells flows back through the fallopian tubes and into the pelvic cavity at the time that blood is flowing out of the body through the cervix and vagina during periods,” a WHO fact sheet details.

“Which results in endometrial-like cells being deposited outside the uterus where they can implant and grow.”

Coulter said she finally met with a GP who referred her to a specialist, hoping to finally end the pain once and for all.

“We went through all the measures that have been taken to try and get to the bottom of this pain — and the only option left was surgery,” she said.

“So this week I had a laparoscopy & excision surgery — and they removed all the endometriosis they found, and I can only hope that is the end of the pain.”

She added that she’s currently at home and being taken care of by her husband, Rick: “He’s taking good care of me.”

According to the WHO, endometriosis symptoms are variable and broad, meaning that healthcare workers may not easily diagnose it.

Unfortunately, it also means individuals with symptoms may not be aware of the condition.