Uterine Fibroids: What Women Should Know

What’s a Uterine Fibroid?
While it may sound like some sort of menstruating robot (how nice would it be to have a robot that menstruated so you didn’t have to?!), a uterine fibroid is simply an abnormal growth of (usually) normal womb (aka ‘uterine’) tissue.
Depending on how deep within the womb’s walls the growth is, it may be further classified with a second name. The most superficial fibroids, i.e., closest to the inner cavity of the womb, answer to ‘Horace’ – kidding, it’s ‘submucosal’ fibroid. The ones right in the middle of the muscular womb wall are ‘intramural’. These are the most common type. And those poking out the outside of the uterus are ‘subserosal’.
And different websites/doctors/friends/strangers giving you unwanted advice may call them by other names entirely such as leiomyoma or uterine myoma. They are all talking about the same thing.
What causes them?
Good question! We don’t know exactly. We do know that they are incredibly common – probably over half of women will have at least one fibroid at some point in her life. And we know that you are more likely to have fibroids if any of the following apply to you:
- Being of an age where you are menstruating (where’s that robot when we need it!), especially if you’re over 30.
- Having African-Caribbean ethnicity.
- Having someone in your family with them.
- Carrying extra weight (as in, on yourself, not in a rucksack).
What symptoms do you get from them?
Possibly not any! This mainly depends on the size and the location of the fibroid. Small ones may not cause any trouble. Larger ones may cause issues such as a change in your bleeding pattern (typically heavier, longer or more painful periods, or bleeding in between periods), painful sex, pain in the pelvis or lower back, constipation and bladder issues, or even reduced fertility.
Are they dangerous?
Generally they are no more dangerous than a kangaroo with a water pistol – something you should like twice at but is unlikely to cause you serious harm [edit: according to Living with kangaroos, they can actually be very dangerous when provoked so perhaps not the best analogy…]. The vast majority of fibroids do not ever become cancerous. Saying that, like the water-weapon wielding marsupial, they still have the ability to unleash a lot of chaos. The impact on quality of life from the symptoms alone can absolutely be very severe indeed. In fact, they are the number one reason for hysterectomies, according to patient.info.
However, because they are so, so unlikely to become cancerous, if they aren’t causing chaos they usually can just be monitored. NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the UK guidelines-writing body), advises annual monitoring of size and growth of symptomless fibroids, provided there hasn’t been rapid growth or some other reason to suspect something more sinister.
Are they treatable?
You betcha. Very much so. Treatment options are many and will be influenced by the number of fibroids, the location, the symptoms you’re getting and of course your preference as well! Ranging from medication taken only during periods to reduce bleeding and pain, to hormonal contraception (some studies suggest a progesterone coil fitted inside the uterus may reduce bleeding and shrink a fibroid), to Uterine Artery Embolisation (cutting off the fibroid’s blood supply), and to more invasive surgical procedures such as myomectomy (cutting out the fibroid), and of course, hysterectomy.
To read more about treatment options, check out: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/fibroids/treatment/ and https://patient.info/womens-health/periods-and-period-problems/fibroids#nav-3
Summary
I hope you found this article helpful. If you do have any questions or concerns about fibroids or symptoms you think may be due to fibroids, please get in touch!
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