Uterine Fibroid Symptoms

Women with the condition known as uterine fibroids are often reassured that theirs is not a “serious” condition. By serious, most physicians mean life-threatening. However, the standard uterine fibroid symptoms make it easy to see that it can be a life-limiting condition because of the discomfort and pain it causes. Consider the most common uterine fibroid symptoms:

• Persistent leg and back pain or aches
• Constipation
• Pain or difficulty emptying the bladder
• Persistent sense of pelvic pressure and pain
• Longer than average menstrual periods with over a week of menstrual bleeding
• Heavy and painful menstrual periods

In addition to these uterine fibroid symptoms, many women mention such issues as bloating, painful intercourse, spotting between periods, and more. Obviously, this makes it plain that uterine fibroid symptoms will tend to drive a woman to seek out help from medical professionals.

Different Types, Different Remedies

When visiting a physician to discuss your uterine fibroid symptoms, you may not even realize that this is the problem. Pelvic pain can be difficult to diagnose properly, and so you may go to a back doctor, your traditional doctor, and then a gynecologist to uncover the cause of the symptoms. When you are properly diagnosed, there are still a few things to uncover. Specifically, what sort of fibroids do you have?

There are:

Submucosal – These grow into the uterus and will be the cause for the heavy menstrual periods and can cause infertility issues.

Subserosal – These are outside of the uterus and are the common cause for issues with the bladder and/or urinary tract. They can also interfere with the rectum and spine, causing pain and constipation.

Intrafural – These are in the muscular wall of the uterus and can lead to difficult periods and ongoing pain and pressure in the entire pelvic area.

Your doctor will take the time to diagnose your particular type of fibroids and will discuss the uterine fibroid symptoms you suffer to be certain that the appropriate treatment is selected.

And what are the treatments? Currently, treatments vary, and the experts say that there is “no single best approach to uterine fibroid treatment,” (MayoClinic.org). The most common approaches are:

• Watchful waiting – Based on your symptoms, a physician may indicate that there is no actual course of action other than waiting to see if the symptoms lessen over time.
• Medication – Because fibroids are known to be related to hormones, the medications are often hormone related. They include drugs that block the production of hormones, which can interfere with normal menstruation. IUDs are used to help with heavy bleeding, and standard birth control pills have been known to reduce symptoms. NSAIDs are given for pain, and vitamins are often recommended for heavy menstrual bleeding.
• Surgery – There are non-invasive and minimally invasive options that include ultrasound surgeries, myolysis (a laser removal surgery), laparoscopic surgeries, uterine artery embolization (a treatment that ends the blood supply to the tumor and causes it to shrink), endometrial ablation along with resection of submucosal fibroids, and hysteroscopic myometcomy. There are also standard surgical option meant to treat symptoms, including removal of the fibroids or hysterectomy.

Even with some of the most comprehensive treatments, there may be a risk of new fibroid formation. Additionally, it is of the utmost importance that anyone at risk for uterine cancer be fully screened before receiving any sort of fibroid treatment. Recent legal cases have emerged out of flawed diagnosis resulting in the spread of cancer in a patient who may have been safely treated for uterine cancer but mistakenly treated for fibroids. If you feel you have been misdiagnosed and mistreated, get in touch with an attorney immediately.

Source

MayoClinic.org. Uterine Fibroids. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/uterine-fibroids/basics/treatment/con-20037901