As any woman who has ever suffered from uterine fibroids can tell you, they can be extremely painful. In addition to symptoms like the need to urinate frequently, constipation, heavy menstrual bleeding, or prolonged menstrual periods, fibroids often cause pelvic pressure or pain, backaches, and leg pains. Sometimes this fibroid pain can become acute.
Why are Uterine Fibroids Painful?
Uterine fibroids are benign (non-cancerous) tumors that develop on the walls or lining of the uterus, most often in women aged 40 – 50. Whether a fibroid is painful, and the severity of pain will depend on its location, size, and number of fibroids present. Fibroids can be painful for many reasons:
- Sometimes fibroids become painful because they have outgrown their blood supply and begin to die. As the fibroid degenerates, its byproducts can cause abdominal pain.
- Still other fibroids are painful because they are hanging by a stalk either inside or outside the uterus. These stalks can twist, cutting off the fibroids’ blood supply.
- When fibroids are outside the uterus, they may press on your bladder, rectum or spinal nerves, causing abdominal pressure and backaches.
- Fibroids inside your uterine walls can cause the shape of your uterus to become distorted, resulting in both pressure and pain.
Can Fibroids cause Abdominal Pain?
Yes, Fibroids can cause abdominal pain, but it is not the only reason. Whether it is a mild stomach ache you are suffering from, or sharp pain and cramps, abdominal pain–as mentioned– has many causes. For instance, it might merely be indigestion or constipation. Or perhaps it is a stomach virus, or, if you are a woman, monthly menstrual cramps.
Doctors determine common causes of abdominal pain by relying on physical examinations or tests, the actual characteristics of the pain, and by surgical or endoscopic options.
Fibroid Pain Symptoms Vary
Fibroid pain may be mild or extreme, constant or just occasional. It can flare up during sexual intercourse, bowel movements, exercise, or your period. Pain often radiates down the leg. Discomfort may also result when an enlarged uterus puts pressure on adjacent organs, such as the bladder or bowel. A specific type of fibroid, called ‘pedunculated’, grows on a stalk and causes severe pain if the stalk is twisted.
The Short Term Solutions
Use a Heating Pad.
A heating pad can be a great short term relief to fibroid pain that is in the stomach, although it does not replace a more long term treatment. Fibroids cause inflammation that can completely immobilize a person, and heating the affected areas will increase mobility. This is especially important for your safety if you are driving by yourself, as some fibroid pains can be so intense as to be distracting. Invest in a mobile heating pad if you have a life that is on the go.
Over the counter drugs may also give you some relief from fibroid symptoms in the short term. So called “silent but stable” fibroids that flare up intermittently can be a huge problem in the workplace, and a quick OTC will give you temporary relief until you can find a more permanent solution or at least get some privacy.
OTC drugs for fibroids may come with a vitamin D supplement or as an extract of a natural plant. If you need something stronger, do not proceed until you have consulted with your doctor.
Take Stock of Other Pills You Are Taking.
If you have fibroids with no symptoms, you may not even find out about your own condition until you begin taking a birth control pill or another kind of conflicting medication. If you find that your fibroids flare up after you take another pill, even if it is just a dietary supplement, then stop that regimen immediately and go see your doctor.
Consider Fibroid Embolization.
Fibroid embolization is a minimally invasive procedure that is conducted by an experienced physician to get rid of the main source of fibroid pain. It does require incisions, but they are small, and there is usually only one required. You will recover much more quickly and have many less side effects and pain from this treatment than from some of the more serious treatments that you may incur if your situation goes untreated for a long time.
Embolization may sometimes be used in the place of a hysterectomy, and studies have shown that just under 90 percent of women experience at least a small amount of relief after the procedure. Embolization helps to reduce the size of fibroids in the body, and the symptoms of fibroids are almost always reduced after the embolization procedure.
The Long Term Solutions
Studies have shown that people who are under more stress are more likely to develop fibroids. Although stress reduction is a long term solution that takes a certain period of time in order to notice physically, you will reduce the overall prevalence of fibroids in your life from this lifestyle change. You will also gradually reduce the symptoms of your fibroids in the present through a healthier lifestyle. You will have less of a use for over the counter solutions and relieve yourself of the side effects of those drugs as well.
Increase Your Vitamin D Intake.
One of the main reasons that African American women are three times more likely to develop fibroids than white women is because of the genetic predisposition towards less natural vitamin D production in the body. Take a vitamin D supplement every day if recommended by your doctor.
Determine Your Fibroid Type.
There are different treatment measures available for uterine fibroids versus calcified fibroids. The tip bellow this (Visit Your Doctor Regularly), although it may seem like a no brainer, will help you with this tip and speed up your overall treatment program exponentially. For instance, if you have a degenerating fibroid, you may require surgery, and it is better to know this earlier rather than later.
Visit Your Doctor Regularly.
Many women have worse problems than they deserve with fibroids because they do not visit the doctor on a regular basis. Only a practiced physician will be able to give you a regulated schedule that is sure to reduce your short term symptoms and better your long term condition. Before you assume that your doctor cannot help you, remember that you have only dealt directly with one case of fibroids: yours. Your doctor has dealt with many cases of fibroids from the many patients that he or she has seen.
Do not give up on your doctor just because the first treatment does not work. Cases of fibroids are different in each person, and it may take a few experiments in order to determine the right mix of treatments. One thing is for sure: You will find the right solution more quickly with a doctor than you would on your own.
There are many ways to deal with fibroids, so choose the method that best fits into your lifestyle. Use the methods above to reduce pain and increase your day to day productivity until you eventually get rid of the problem altogether.
When You are Sick of Living with Uterine Fibroid Pain
Managing the symptoms of your fibroids may work for a time, but for many women, such short-term approaches are not realistic long-term solutions. When it’s time to deal with the fibroid pain once and for all, you have several fibroid treatment options, including:
Non-surgical Fibroid Embolization
Embolization is a popular non-surgical option for dealing with all types of fibroids, whether they are located inside or outside of the uterus. Essentially, embolization deals with uterine fibroids by shutting down their oxygen supply so they shrink.
After the procedure, fibroids begin to shrink immediately and any heavy bleeding is stopped soon after. Embolization also keeps new fibroids from forming after the procedure, which is a major benefit. Embolization is also a popular choice among women who wish to conceive in the future, as the procedure does not affect fertility.
The overall success rate of fibroid embolization is 94%. In fact, the Fibroid Treatment Collective actually performed the very first non-surgical fibroid embolization in the United States in 1994 and has treated thousands of women with embolization since then.
Hysterectomy
When you undergo a hysterectomy, your uterus is removed from your body. In a total hysterectomy, the entire uterine system is removed. Sometimes, a patient and her doctor may choose to remove the uterus but leave the cervix in place, which is known as a sub-total hysterectomy.
Although hysterectomies are used to treat many conditions, uterine fibroids are the most common reason for the surgery, accounting for up to half of all hysterectomies.
A hysterectomy will permanently remove uterine fibroids because the uterus itself has been removed.
Women who have hysterectomies can no longer bear children.
Most hysterectomies are performed as abdominal surgeries, although some may be handled vaginally. Regardless of how the surgery is performed, a hysterectomy is a major surgical operation requiring a lengthy recovery time, so it is important to fully understand the potential risks and benefits before deciding to go this route.
Myomectomy
A myomectomy is also a surgical procedure designed to remove fibroids from the uterus. This type of procedure may be done abdominally, laproscopically, or hysteroscopically (vaginally.)
Unlike a hysterectomy, in which the uterus is removed, a myomectomy only removes the fibroid tumors themselves. This is good news for women who want to be able to conceive after the removal of their uterine fibroids, however there are some side effects to this type of procedure that may make it a less attractive option for women in their child-bearing years.
Although the uterus itself is not removed, a myomectomy procedure can cause uterine scarring that can affect fertility. Women may also experience problems with loss of blood, especially when large fibroids are removed.
Uterine fibroids can re-develop after a myomectomy, with a regrowth potential of 30% or more, depending on a woman’s age.
Conclusion
Not everyone is a candidate for embolization, hysterectomy or myomectomy, and just as with any medical procedure, there are potential side effects with each of these options. Discuss your symptoms and the pros and cons of each possible treatment option with your doctor before making a decision on fibroid treatment.
To find out if a non-surgical fibroid embolization, a hysterectomy or a myomectomy is right for you, contact us today online, or call the Fibroid Treatment Collective at (866) 479-1523.