August 28, 2007
Uterine Fibroids
Three out of four women have uterine fibroids. Surprised?
The vast majority of these females don't even know that they have them.
In fact, many people still don't even know what a uterine fibroid is. Fibroids are non-cancerous growths on the uterus. You might have heard them called fibromyomas, leiomyomas or even myomas. They often first appear during a woman's childbearing years. They aren't associated with any increased risk of uterine cancer. The growths, additionally, practically never develop into a cancerous growth.
The vast majority of women who have fibroids, in fact, probably don't even realize they're affected. For most women their appearance produces no symptoms and require no treatment. In fact, many women are diagnosed "accidentally". They first learn of their fibroids when a doctor performs a routine pelvic exam or during a prenatal ultrasound.
For women who experience problems with these growths, conventional medical science can shrink these and even remove them. In the rarest of occasions some women afflicted with fibroids may undergo emergency surgery when the growths cause sharp, sudden pains in the pelvic area.
Symptoms of fibroids include heavier bleeding than normal during your menstrual period, pain or pressure in the pelvic region as well as urinary incontinence or the need to urinate frequently. Additional symptoms include constipation, backache or aches in the legs.
On rare occasions a fibroid may cause severe, acute pain when it outgrows its blood supply. Because it's deprived of nourishment, the fibroid starts to die. Then the by-products from the dying growth can seep into the surrounding issue. This not only causes the pain, but may also produce a fever. Moreover, a woman may experience pain associated with a fibroid if the growth is hanging by a stalk either inside or outside the uterus. This is caused a pedunculated fibroid. It triggers the pain when it twists on this stalk and its blood supply is cut off.
The exact location of your fibroids, moreover, is a determining factor in the types of symptoms you experience. Medical experts believe that fibroids growing in the inner cavity of the uterus cause prolonged, heavy menstrual bleeding. These are referred to as submucosal fibroids.
If the fibroid projects to the outside of the uterus, it's identified as a subserosal fibroid. This is the type that may press on your bladder, causing you to experience urinary symptoms. If these bulge from the back of your uterus, they can press on your rectum, which would cause constipation. They may also press on your spinal nerves, which would cause the symptoms of a backache.
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