GETTING ANSWERS

Victoria’s Secret Model Gets Diagnosis After ‘Years’ of Mystery Pain

Barbara Palvin posted a candid hospital selfie, captioning it with details on her struggle with severe pain and bleeding.

Supermodel Barbara Palvin is sharing her longtime struggle with mysterious menstrual symptoms, which culminated in a long-awaited diagnosis and treatment. “I had laparoscopic surgery for both adenomyosis and endometriosis,” she wrote in a reply to a fan who commented on her Instagram post. Both conditions stem from an overgrowth of endometrial tissue: for endometriosis, tissue grows outside the uterus, whereas the tissue is embedded into the uterine wall with adenomyosis. The 31-year-old, known for her Victoria’s Secret runway struts, opened up about the “difficulties” she’d experienced in the previous years with her period, citing “fatigue, severe pain, heavy and irregular flow,” and dreaded “sleepless nights on the bathroom floor.” Palvin believed her regular check-ups at the gynecologist’s would have caught her endometriosis long ago, but she soon learned general examinations couldn’t diagnose the disease. Now, she’s advising her followers to seek endometriosis specialists if they have any inklings they might be struggling with the disease. “I thought this was just how it works for me,” she wrote, but has since learned the importance of acting fast about her body if needed. Post-surgery, Palvin has devoted “the past 3 months to rest and fully heal,” but says she’s now ready to dive back into work.