Your uterus is a pretty flexible organ that has strong muscles. Sometimes, some little clumps of muscles start growing inside it. And these extra clumps are known as Fibroids. They are not always the reason for cancer. They are just extra tissue. You can think that they are harmless knots in the muscle of your womb.
These extra tissues can be of any size; sometimes, they can be super tiny, like a pea, or big, like a grapefruit. You may have one little fibroid or several fibroids, it varies a lot from woman to woman.
Where do Uterine Fibroids Grow?
Now let’s think that your uterus is a pear-shaped bag in which fibroids are growing in different parts.
- They can grow inside the thick wall of a pear. Those are called intramural fibroids.
- Now, imagine a marble pushing into the space inside the pear where a baby would grow. Those are called submucosal fibroids.
- They also stick out from the outside of the pear. Those are called subserosal fibroids.
- Now you can imagine that marble is growing on a little stem, like a cherry on a twig, either inside or outside the pear. Those are pedunculated fibroids.
So, they can grow any part of your uterus such as inside the muscle, pushing inwards, sticking outwards or on a little stem.
Uterine Fibroids Symptoms
Many women have fibroids, but they don’t feel anything. But for others, they cause some real discomfort.
1. The heavy bleeding blues:
- You already know the normal amount of flow and the days of periods, but in the case of fibroids, it goes beyond the limit.
- These can cause a super heavy flow of bleeding. Usually, you change pads or tampons a few times a day, but in this case, people have to change them every hour. It’s like your period is on override.
- Period will last forever means your period just won’t end. What used to be a few days of bleeding turns into a whole week, or even longer.
- Sometimes, you may notice that there are clots in your bleeding. Clots are little globs of blood that come out with your period. These can be big and scary-looking, and they are a sign of heavy bleeding.
- Anaemia is what happens when you lose too much blood. This can make you tired, lazy, and low. Sometimes, you may even feel short of breath.
2. The Pressure and Pain Game:
- You can think that fibroids are growing inside your belly, so they need space. As they start growing up, they even start to push on everything around them.
- Pelvic pressure is like feeling a constant weight or heaviness in your lower belly. It’s not necessarily painful, but it’s uncomfortable, like there’s something extra sitting there that should not be.
- Pain can vary from woman to woman. Some of them feel dull, constant aches like the kind you get with bad cramps, and others get sharp, stabbing pains that come and go. It makes you feel like your insides are just not happy.
- You may face back pain as fibroids are pushing on nerves and muscles in your back. The pain spreads from your belly to your back and makes your back ache.
- You may feel pain during sex because fibroids can make your uterus and surrounding areas tender and sensitive. When something touches your sensitive area, then it will be hurt.
3. Mess with your bathroom habits:
- Imagine your bladder and bowels are like squishy tubes near your uterus. When fibroids grow, they can press on these tubes, causing problems.
- You may feel frequent urination; it happens when fibroids push on your bladder. Your bladder gets squeezed and makes you feel full even if it’s not.
- Constipation happens when a fibroids pressure on your intestines. It’s like having a roadblock in your digestive system. This can lead to hard, dry stools and difficulty having a bowel movement.
4. The Belly Bump:
- You can imagine that your belly is like a balloon. When we try to inflate the balloon, it sticks out, right? Sometimes it happens in the case of fibroids. If the fibroids grow large enough, they can make your belly look and feel swollen.
- It can look like you have put some weight in that specific area or fibroids grow in such a way that your body starts to look similar to pregnancy.
- It is not about your stomach goes bigger, as it also comes with discomfort, like your clothes are too tight around your waist.
What causes Uterine Fibroids?
It is going to be difficult to say exactly why fibroids show up, but there are a few reasons:
- Hormones: You can think of estrogen and progesterone as fertilizers for fibroids. These hormones which are used for your periods, seem to make fibroids grow bigger.
- Genetic changes: Sometimes, the cells that make up the fibroid are different from the normal cells in your uterus. It is like a little misfire that helps them to grow abnormally.
- Growth Factors: By default, your body has some chemicals to help tissues grow and repair. Sometimes these chemicals may accidentally encourage fibroids to grow.
Basically, this is the combination of hormones, genetic changes in the cells of your body and natural growth chemicals, all that lead to fibroids.
How are Uterine Fibroids diagnosed?
1. Pelvic Exam:
- The doctor gently feels your belly and inside your vagina.
- Sometimes, they can feel the fibroids if they are big enough. It’s like feeling for lumps or bumps.
2. Ultrasound:
- This is the most common, easiest way to diagnose fibroids.
- In this test, they use a wand that sends sound waves to your uterus to make pictures.
- This will help show the size and location of the fibroids clearly.
3. MRI:
- If your ultrasound is not clear enough, or if you need more detailed information, you can use an MRI.
4. Hysteroscopy/Laparoscopy:
- In this procedure, a small camera is inserted to look inside your uterus.
- Hysteroscopy is when the camera goes through the vagina and into the uterus.
- Laparoscopy is when the camera goes through small cuts in the abdomen.
- This is used when a doctor needs to examine the inside of your uterus or to remove fibroids.
In short, doctors use a mix of feelings, sound waves, and sometimes cameras to see and measure fibroids.
How are Uterine Fibroids treated?
It all depends on how much the fibroids are bothering you, how big they are, where they are, and if you want to have kids in the future.
1. Keep an eye on them:
- In case your fibroids are not troubling you, then the doctor used to see them; let’s keep an eye on them.
- This means regular check-ups to see if they’re growing or causing new problems.
2. Medication:
- You can take painkiller medicine like ibuprofen or acetaminophen to help with cramps or other pain.
- These medicines can help shrink the fibroids or make your periods lighter. They work by changing the levels of hormones in your body.
- In case you feel tired or dull, you can have iron pills. It will help build up your blood count again.
3. Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE):
- You can simply think of cutting off the food supply of fibroids.
- In this procedure, doctors used to block the blood vessels that feed the fibroids, so they shrink and die.
4. Myomectomy:
- In this surgery, unwanted growths of fibroids are removed from your uterus.
5. High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU):
- This uses powerful ultrasound waves to heat and destroy the fibroids.
6. Hysterectomy:
- This is a major surgery where the entire uterus is removed.
- This surgery happens if other treatments are not able to work properly or if the fibroids are very severe.
- This procedure is the last resort.
In essence, these procedures range from cutting off the fibroids’ blood supply to removing them surgically, to destroying them with sound waves, and, as a final option, removing the uterus itself.
What is the best medicine for uterine fibroids?
- You can have regular pain pills like ibuprofen to relieve your pain.
- There are some hormone pills, like GnRH agonists, used to shrink fibroids that can make them smaller, but they can cause side effects and aren’t for long-term use.
- Tranexamic acid is a non-hormonal medicine that is used to reduce heavy menstrual bleeding.
- You can also take iron pills, which are used to boost your energy.
Conclusion
Uterine fibroids are common, non-cancerous growths in the womb. They’re like little muscle knots. Many women have them and never know. If they do cause problems, it’s usually heavy bleeding, pain, or pressure.
If you are worried about fibroids, talk to your doctor. They can help you figure out what’s going on and find the best way to manage it.