Uterine fibroids are benign lumps that grow on patients’ uteri. Typically, there are no noticeable signs and symptoms of fibroids, but something they can cause serious problems. Some of the more invasive symptoms include cramping, the urge to urinate, heavy periods, and pain during intercourse.
Luckily, there are treatments for uterine fibroids available. Here are just a few.
Medicinal Fibroid Treatments.
There are medicinal fibroid treatments availble, which target the hormones that regulate women’s menstrual cycles, thusly alleviating such symptoms as pelvic pressure and menstrual bleeding. On the down side, medicinal fibroid treatments don’t eliminate the cysts, but could shrink them.
Noninvasive Fibroid Treatments.
An MRI-guided focused ultrasound surgery is a noninvasive way to deal with fibroids, requiring no incision and preserving the uterus. Using an MRI scanner equipped with a high-energy ultrasound transducer, doctors can see the precise locations of the uterine fibroids, and then target them with sound waves from the ultrasound transducer.
Minimally Invasive Fibroid Treatments.
There are also other, minor surgical fibroid treatments that can remove the fibroids safely, and effectively. Myolysis, for example, is a laparoscopic procedure that uses an electric current or laser to destroy the fibroid and shrink the blood vessels that feed them, though this is not frequently used as a treatment. Another version of myolysis, called radiofrequency ablation, is currently being studied as well, and has shown that it can effectively remove fibroids as well. Other minor surgical fibroid treatments include: uterine artery embolization, laparoscopic or robotic myomectomy, hysteroscopic myomectomy, endometrial ablation and resection of submucosal fibroids.
If you think you’re suffering from uterine fibroids, you need to see your primary care physicians as soon as possible and discuss your uterine fibroid removal options. If you have any general questions about the treatment of uterine fibroids, feel free to ask in the comments.
