Fibroids Specialist

What are uterine fibroids?

Uterine fibroids are benign (noncancerous) growths that develop in the muscular wall of your uterus. They can also grow in the uterine lining or outside your uterus, but those aren’t common locations for fibroids.

Fibroids are a diverse group. They can be so small they’re not detected during a routine exam, or they can become very large. Some fibroids grow quickly, while others develop slowly over many years. You can even have several fibroids, with each one growing at a different rate.

What symptoms occur when I have fibroids?

You probably won’t have any symptoms when your fibroids are small. As they grow larger, however, you may experience:

• Pelvic pain
• Heavy menstrual bleeding
• Long menstrual periods
• Bleeding between periods
• Frequent urination
• Lower back pain

Any time you develop abnormal bleeding or ongoing pelvic pain, it’s time to schedule an appointment at The Ob-Gyn Center. Your doctor can determine the cause of your symptoms and start treatment to give you relief.

How are fibroids treated?

Your treatment is based on the severity of your symptoms, the size of your fibroids, and your overall health. If your symptoms are mild and you’re healthy, your doctor at The Ob-Gyn Center may suggest watchful waiting. It’s safe to monitor fibroids rather than immediately starting treatment because small fibroids don’t cause cancer and they won’t affect your ability to get pregnant.

Your doctor may prescribe medications like ORILISSA™ to relieve pain or hormone-containing contraceptives such as low-dose birth control pills or a progestin-containing IUD to help control heavy bleeding.

You may also be a good candidate for an in-office Acessa™ procedure. This is a minimally invasive treatment that delivers radiofrequency (RF) waves using a small needle array. The needles precisely direct the RF energy into the fibroid. As a result, the fibroid is destroyed while surrounding tissues aren’t harmed and your uterus stays intact. The destroyed tissue is then naturally eliminated by your body.

When conservative treatment doesn’t relieve your symptoms, your doctor may recommend surgical interventions such as:

Myomectomy

This is a minimally invasive procedure to remove fibroids while leaving your uterus intact. Prior to myomectomy, you may receive Lupron DepotⓇ to shrink your fibroids.

Uterine fibroid embolization

Your doctor threads a flexible tube through an artery to the blood vessels supplying the fibroids, then injects a medication that stops blood flow and makes the fibroids shrink.

Endometrial ablation

Heated fluids are injected into the uterus where they stop heavy bleeding by ablating (removing) the uterine lining.

Hysterectomy

If you don’t want to have more babies and your fibroid symptoms are severe, your doctor may recommend a hysterectomy.

To get relief from pelvic pain and heavy bleeding, call The Ob-Gyn Center or book an appointment online.