Here, she tells Strong Women’s Lauren Geall about that decision – and how getting out in nature has helped her to navigate life with chronic pain. 

I was in the middle of one of the worst endometriosis flare-ups of my life when I first started hiking. It was during the pandemic – November 2020 – and I’d just been signed off work for six months because my pain was steadily getting worse. Covid-19 meant all my hospital appointments and care had been cancelled or postponed, and my endometriosis had grown to the point where even sitting down was agony. So, I just started walking.

I was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2012 at the age of 26. Heavy and painful periods were the norm for me throughout my teenage years due to my polycystic ovaries, but I’d started to experience pain that was much, much worse. 

After just one chat my GP referred me to a gynaecologist who carried out a diagnostic laparoscopy and removed the endometrial tissue (my diagnosis was very quick compared to most endometriosis patients). A few symptom-free years followed, but it came back. Between 2012 and 2020, I had four different laparoscopies carried out by four different surgeons to try and relieve my symptoms.

Despite trying various forms of pain relief of the years, much of it hasn’t worked. As a result, I still experience pain every day. By November 2020, however, my options were limited; walking was the only accessible thing that might offer any kind of relief.

My walking journey began with soul-destroying eight-mile round trips to the supermarket to buy things I didn’t need: they provided an excuse to get out of the house but quickly became fairly depressing. Walking in the middle of Manchester – most of which was closed due to Covid – meant there wasn’t much to see. And then, one day, I decided to drive to the Peak District. 

I’d never hiked on my own before and was worried about getting lost and finding somewhere to park. If I’m being honest, I didn’t really like doing anything on my own – even going to the shop. But I pushed myself to drive to the bottom of a large hill and began climbing up. 

That was a life-changing moment. It was a beautiful, crisp sunny day just before Christmas, and when I got to the top my thighs and chest were burning. For the first time in a long time, I was feeling something other than pain. It was incredible.

Since then, I’ve been hiking regularly. I’ve now moved to Edinburgh, and I live close to lots of hills, so I’ll do two or three smaller hikes during the week either before or after work and then big hikes on the weekend. 

About nine months after that first hike, I came up to Scotland on my own and climbed Ben Nevis solo. I couldn’t believe how far I’d come: I’d gone from worrying about where I was going to park in the Peak District to travelling to Scotland on my own to climb a mountain. Finding that independence was incredible.  

Sometimes the hiking helps with my pain – it’s good for the gnawing, everyday ache I have in my pelvis and back – but it’s the mental health benefits that really stand out. My mental health was in a bad place when I first started hiking: I was feeling very claustrophobic, anxious and depressed from being stuck inside in agony for so long. Getting into hiking brought some lightness back into my life.

While walking alone is a tonic (it’s difficult to be around people all the time when you’re in pain 24/7), I’ve started to get out with friends more.

Inspired by my own experience, in May, I organised for 12 people to join me for an endometriosis hike in the Lake District. I’ve never been a big fan of the typical endometriosis support groups; the idea of having to sit around a circle discussing pain feels extremely uncomfortable. But this group was totally different. It gave women the opportunity to talk about their condition if they wanted to without the pressure or need to open up. Hiking gave us all something external to focus on. 

Next month, I’m taking on the National Four Peaks charity challenge, where I’ll climb Scafell Pike, Snowdon and Ben Nevis (twice) in just 24 hours. I met the CEO of the Endometriosis Foundation through Instagram and we decided to organise the challenge to fundraise for the charity. A consultant gynaecologist is going to be hiking with me, and we’re going to have other experts joining us on some of the peaks. I know it’s going to be a toughie and that I’ll probably have an endo flare-up, but I can’t wait to get out there.  

Nicky’s National Four Peaks challenge was sponsored by Merrell as part of the Merrell Hiking Club initiative, a women-centric community that aims to empower, inform and inspire female hikers with free regular hikes all over the UK led by certified hiking guides.

Images: @nicky.walks