LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Fibroids: Doctors
built 480 days ago
Fibroids always shrink at menopause, but the most common course of action a doctor takes when a patient comes in with a fibroid is to remove the uterus. The explanation given is that a fibroid is too difficult to remove without irreversibly damaging the uterus. But in most cases this is no longer true. If you do end up needing to have a fibroid surgically removed, find a doctor who can do it without removing your uterus with it. If you have many small fibroids, it may be more difficult to remove them. On the other hand, their smaller size may make it easier to treat them without surgery.
Source:
Fibroids sometimes grow larger during pregnancy, due in part to pregnancy hormones. For reasons that are not well understood, a fibroid may ... get smaller during pregnancy. Your doctor may recommend ultrasound examinations to see whether your fibroid is growing or likely to cause complications.
Source:
Most women with leiomyomas have an enlarged uterus; in fact, doctors describe the size of a uterus with fibroids as they would a pregnant uterus, for example, as a 12 week-size fibroid uterus. It is not unusual for a uterus with leiomyomas to reach the size of a four to five month pregnancy. In addition to vague feelings of pressure because a fibroid uterus is usually irregularly shaped (having many lumps and bumps), women can experience pressure on specific adjacent pelvic structures including the bowel and/or bladder. Pressure on these structures can result in difficulty with bowel movements and constipation or urinary frequency and incontinence. Rarely, fibroids can press on the ureters (which carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder) which can lead to kidney dysfunction.
Source:
Doctors can often detect fibroids during a pelvic examination. Several procedures that enable doctors to examine the uterus can confirm the diagnosis. For transvaginal ultrasonography, an ultrasound device is inserted into the vagina. For saline infusion sonohysterography, ultrasonography is performed after a small amount of fluid is infused into the uterus to outline its interior. For hysteroscopy, a flexible viewing tube is inserted through the vagina and cervix into the uterus. A local, regional, or general anesthetic is used.
Source:
Sometimes after UFE, the particles that are put into the fibroids to cut off their blood supply have traveled to the ovaries. In a few women, the ovaries then stop working for a short time or permanently. Although researchers know that UFE may affect how ovaries function, they are unsure of how exactly UFE affects fertility. If you want to have children in the future, you should talk with your doctors about the small, but definite risk of UFE causing you to go into early menopause. Too few women have gotten pregnant after UFE for researchers to know if there is an increased risk of pregnancy complications.
Source:
Just as fibroids can affect pregnancy, pregnancy can affect fibroids. It is thought that fibroids grow during pregnancy because of higher levels of oestrogen, but there is little evidence to support this. Another effect of pregnancy on fibroids is something called 'red degeneration.' This is when a fibroid’s blood supply is cut off, causing it to turn red and die. It can ... happen outside of pregnancy but it usually occurs in the middle weeks of a pregnancy. Red degeneration can cause intense abdominal pains and contractions of the womb, which could lead to early labour or miscarriage. If you feel these symptoms, tell your doctor.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Doctors