A LYMM woman is on a mission to raise awareness and spread positivity after being diagnosed with a 'life-long illness'.

After being diagnosed with endometriosis following six years of suffering, Ellie Benson wanted to make sure that younger girls knew they weren’t alone.

Endometriosis is a painful condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb starts to grow in other places.

The 23-year-old expected her diagnosis in May to be ‘revolutionary’, hoping it would cause a ‘fix’ to her suffering – but this was not the case.

Ellie said: “It was devastating when I found out that the illness that I have cannot be cured and it is something I have to live with for the rest of my life. “

This upsetting news caused Ellie to feel ‘lost’, ‘alone’ and ‘down’ – so she took to the internet to try and find women in similar situations to herself.

After looking at online forums, Ellie, a bid writer, found out a lot of sufferers were ‘considerably older’ than herself.

There is no cure for endometriosis, but a full hysterectomy which includes the removal of ovaries, can get rid of it, and this is the path that a lot of the woman Ellie spoke to had decided to take.

As a 23-year-old, this wasn’t an option for Ellie – so she decided to set up an Instagram page and an online blog, Womb and Gloom, to reach out to younger sufferers of endometriosis.

Ellie uses her platform to promote endometriosis facts, statistics and new blog post releases and her tagline is: ‘What’s on the inside doesn’t always define you’.

She added: “Yes, I have endometriosis and no, there is nothing they can do about it.

“But I’m still me, and I’m still worthy of living a full and happy life.”

Ellie believes it is important to raise awareness of the condition as although it affects one in ten women, it is often categorised as a ‘bad period’ and the average diagnosis is eight years which she believes is due to a lack of understanding.

Ellie said: “One of the biggest symptoms of endo is a heavy period.

“I don’t have a heavy period so it wasn’t automatically considered.

“There are also so many other symptoms that come with endometriosis that no one considers.

“The adjustments I’ve had to make to my life could never have been anticipated.”

Ellie was diagnosed with endometriosis on her bowel, bladder and uterus.

The biggest impact endometriosis has had on Ellie is largely pain orientated – even included shooting pains down her legs and into her foot.

Ellie is also aiming to raise awareness of the mental health implications that physical illnesses can ensue, which she has discussed within her blog.

Since creating her blog, Ellie has been able to connect with many women across the world, including some from America, New Zealand and Australia.

Womb and Gloom has brought a lot of positivity into Ellie’s life, allowing her to connect with people who understand the bad days that endometriosis can bring.

You can find Ellie on Instagram here or on her blog here.