Some women feel like the sky is falling when they see the words “uterine fibroids” on the result after an ultrasound.
How serious is this “tumor”? Will it become cancerous?
Uterine fibroids are the most common benign pelvic tumor in women, and are formed by the proliferation of smooth muscle cells and connective tissue in the myometrium.
For women of childbearing age, there are generally about 12%-25% of women with clinical manifestations of uterine fibroids.
It can be mainly divided into submucosal fibroids, subserosal fibroids, intramural fibroids and fibroids in special parts, such as cervical fibroids.
Under normal circumstances, most uterine fibroids are relatively small and do not have any symptoms. Many people will not be able to detect that they have uterine fibroids without an ultrasound examination.
However, there are also a small number of uterine fibroids that will grow larger, more numerous, or not in a good location, causing patients to experience some symptoms, such as:
Impacts Fertility: Increases the chance of difficulty conceiving, or more than one unintended miscarriage that may be related to fibroids.
Mstrual changes: Heavy menstrual flow, prolonged periods, or non-menstrual bleeding.
Pelvic compression symptoms: Such as dysmenorrhea, frequent urination, constipation, pain in married life, etc.
Local irritation symptoms: Such as abdominal pain and bloating, abdominal mass can be felt, etc.
Currently, no research has found the exact cause of uterine fibroids, but studies have found that the disease is more common in women of childbearing age and generally shrinks by menopause.
In terms of treatment, there are two types of fibroids:
Asymptomatic Fibroids: No Treatment
Most uterine fibroids are asymptomatic and are usually discovered accidentally by women during routine examinations such as physical examinations.
This type of uterine fibroids are mostly benign tumors that may grow or shrink, so if a woman has no fertility requirements, no special treatment is required. After menopause, most uterine Fibroids shrink naturally.
Only need to follow the doctor’s advice and do a B-ultrasound review every 3 to 6 months to observe the changes in the size of the fibroids.
However, there are also studies showing that eating a lot of beef or other red meats and cured ham may increase the risk of fibroids, and eating more green vegetables and fruits can reduce the risk of fibroids. Therefore, in daily life, pay attention to a balanced diet, eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, and eat meat in moderation.
If women have reproductive needs, in principle, uterine fibroids larger than 4cm can be removed by surgery. However, the specific situation still needs to go to the hospital, and a professional doctor will make a comprehensive judgment based on the woman’s reproductive age, specific location, ovarian function, urgency, etc.
Symptomatic Uterine Fibroids: Treatment Recommended
Generally speaking, it is rare for benign uterine fibroids to progress to malignant uterine sarcomas, but if during the review process, the uterine fibroids increase too rapidly in a short period of time, or are accompanied by Pain and bleeding symptoms affect normal life and should be treated in time.
Surgical treatment may be considered if any of the following conditions occur:
Large or numerous fibroids may cause bladder and rectal compression symptoms, such as frequent urination and constipation.
Anemia is caused by excessive menstrual flow. Conservative treatment such as drugs is not effective.
Women are fertile and have significant submucosal fibroids found.
Severe abdominal pain, marital pain, or acute abdominal pain due to torsion of a fibroid.
Uterine fibroids cause infertility or frequent miscarriages.
Suspected sarcoid lesions.
As mentioned earlier, uterine fibroids will have an impact on pregnancy, but the specific impact results will be different from the location, size, and number of fibroids.
In most cases, asymptomatic uterine fibroids generally do not affect pregnancy, so don’t worry too much, just relax and prepare for pregnancy.
However, there are still a small number of fibroids that may increase the risk of infertility, such as:
Uterine fibroids with a huge volume that cause severe deformation of the uterus (mostly uterine fibroids with a diameter of more than 5cm);
Submucosal fibroids (referring to fibroids that protrude into the endometrial layer);
A small number of uterine fibroids in special locations (such as larger cervical fibroids);
If a woman has these conditions and has had difficulty trying to conceive, and other reasons have been ruled out through professional examination, surgical removal of the uterine fibroids may be considered before planning for pregnancy.
If women without these conditions have normal menstrual periods, then routine pregnancy preparations are fine.