Uterine Fibroid Treatment
Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous tumors where fibroids grow within the uterus. A difficult condition to diagnose, the symptoms are often similar to those experienced with other maladies. While you may not even notice there is something amiss, in the long term if left untreated there could be a more significant trouble.
The good news is that there are a variety of treatment options available that can take care of uterine fibroids safely and easily. Your doctor will perform a pelvic exam to confirm that you have fibroids.
What causes uterine fibroids?
While the cause of fibroids isn’t well understood, there are a variety of risk factors that include early onset of puberty, obesity, and a family history of fibroids.
If you have any of these or other conditions you discuss with your doctor, you should keep an eye out for the early warning signs, including heavy menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain, and prolonged menstrual cycles.
What treatment options are available for uterine fibroids?
For women who only experienced mild symptoms resulting from their uterine fibroids, it is often possible to manage them by making simple changes in your daily routine or diet. You can use over-the-counter pain relievers to reduce inflammation and pressure and applying a hot compress to the lower abdominal area can provide relief.
Cutting out processed foods and foods that are high in estrogen levels can also be helpful. If these prove unsuccessful, there are also some prescription medications that are effective in regulating your period, like birth control pills. There are also new and emerging medications that are designed specifically to treat uterine fibroids.
If medications and lifestyle changes proved unsuccessful at treating your uterine fibroids, you may need to consider a surgical procedure. A myomectomy is a procedure used to surgically remove the fibroids. If any are implanted too deeply within the wall of the uterus you’ll likely need to consider a different procedure to take care of the problem completely.
Abdominal myomectomy is generally performed as laparoscopic surgery. In these kinds of procedures, a power morcellator is used to make small incisions so that your surgeon can use small tools to access your uterine cavity and remove the fibroids.
A new procedure available is focused ultrasound surgery. A non-invasive treatment option, it uses sound waves to remove fibroids using endometrial ablation. The sound waves to heat and destroy only the small areas where the fibroids have formed.
Should I talk to my doctor if I’m worried about uterine fibroids?
You must contact us right away if you think you have symptoms of uterine fibroids. Similar symptoms can also be indicators of other conditions, so we must perform an exam and conduct the appropriate tests to fully understand your health.
Send us an email or call the office right away so we can schedule an appointment for you.