by Julie Dohr, MD

You don’t always need a hysterectomy for fibroids

If you have pain or abnormal or heavy bleeding, you could have fibroids.

Fibroids are tumors that grow in the muscle part of the uterus.  They are seen best on a pelvic ultrasound, which can be performed in our offices.  They are usually benign and rarely are cancerous.

How do you know?

If a fibroid is growing rapidly, there can be concern that it is cancerous.  They can cause problems in pregnancy – miscarriage and preterm labor.

There are many options for treatment:

• Some new medications help stop heavy bleeding caused by fibroids.
• A myomectomy is a surgical procedure that removes the fibroid, this can be done as a minimally invasive procedure.
• Radiofrequency ablation of fibroids can be performed using the Acessa® procedure – it causes it to shrink over time.
• A partial hysterectomy removes the uterus and the fibroids altogether, but you can keep your ovaries so there is no disruption of hormonal function.

There is no one treatment that is the best. Talk to your provider about the treatment that is the right one for you.