About one of four American women will be diagnosed with uterine fibroids, benign growths in the uterus. Diagnosis is most likely to occur between the ages of 30 and 40.
The fibroid service addresses conditions or symptoms that include:
- Changes in menstruation, including more bleeding, longer or more frequent periods, cramps
- Vaginal bleeding at times other than menstruation
- Anemia (caused by blood loss)
- Pain or pressure in the abdomen or lower back
- Pain during intercourse
- Difficulty urinating or frequent urination, constipation, rectal pain or abdominal cramps
- Recurrent miscarriages
The fibroid service is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of health care professionals who evaluate your symptoms, diagnose your condition and determine which treatment option is best for you. Among those options are:
- Medical therapy, which may involve the use of birth control pills or other hormone therapy or the use of anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen or naproxen to shrink fibroids
- Surgical options such as traditional hysterectomy surgery and myomectomy, a minimally invasive surgery that removes the fibroid while leaving the uterus in place, preserving the ability to have children
- Uterine fibroid embolization, which is a minimally invasive treatment that blocks the blood supply to the fibroid and shrinks it
- A hysterectomy removes the uterus and may be recommended when the pain and abnormal bleeding persists, the fibroids are very large, childbearing is completed or other treatments are not possible