What Are the Symptoms of Fibroids?

Fibroids are benign growths that contain material similar to the myometrium layer of the uterus, which includes muscles. Fibroids that occur inside the myometrial layer of the uterus are called intramural fibroids. Submucosal fibroids occur inside the cavity of the uterus, while cervical fibroids are on the cervix. Fibroids can also happen outside the womb, and this type of fibroids are called subserosal fibroids.

Fibroids that have a long stalk are called pedunculated fibroids, and this stalk may sometimes twist, causing severe pain. Fibroids affect women in their reproductive age when the levels of estrogen are high. Treatment of fibroids can involve medications, laparoscopic surgery by the best Napa, CA advanced robotic and laparoscopic surgeon, or uterine fibroids embolization. Most women who have fibroids show no symptoms, and therefore the diagnosis of fibroids can be made accidentally when having a pelvic ultrasound.

Who Is at Risk of Getting Fibroids?

It is estimated that about 30% of women who are younger than 35 years will have fibroids at some point in their life. If you have a first degree relative with fibroids, your risk of getting fibroids also increases. Because fibroids occur due to high estrogen, having a long reproductive period increases your risk of fibroids. Women who started menstruation at an early age and had late menopause are likely to have fibroids.

Fibroids are also common in women who have never conceived. Fibroids are more common in black women than in Caucasian women. Some factors are thought to increase the risk of fibroids like drinking alcohol and having a diet that has a lot of red meat and food with low levels of vitamin D. Being obese also increases your risk of fibroids.

What Are the Symptoms of Fibroids?

Most women who have fibroids don’t show any symptoms and, therefore, do not require any treatment. For those women who show signs, the symptoms depend on the fibroid’s location and size. Fibroids that are inside the myometrial layer of the uterus may cause pain during the contraction of the muscular layer compared to the fibroids which are in the uterine cavity. Larger fibroids are likely to cause more symptoms than smaller ones.

Fibroids present with heavy bleeding during menses, especially those that are inside the myometrial layer. This is because they may limit the contraction of the myometrium, which stops bleeding, and some fibroids may grow into blood vessels causing them to bleed. Women with fibroids may suffer after the menses are over. Heavy menstrual bleeding can cause anemia making you feel dizzy, experience headaches or fainting episodes.

Fibroids may also present with pain because of compression of nerves. Fibroids also change red degeneration, which also causes pain. Torsion of a pedunculated fibroid may cause discomfort because of reduced blood supply to the fibroid, causing ischemia. Having large fibroids or a lot of fibroids can make the uterus become bulky and to press on the bladder causing frequent urination. The bulky uterus may also touch on the rectum, causing constipation.

Fibroids in the uterine cavity can inhibit the implantation of the zygote, thus increasing the risk of infertility. Fibroids in the uterine cavity may also cause the fetus to be in an abnormal position or the implantation to occur in unusual places, and this causes labor to be complicated. Backache is another symptom of fibroids. 

Conclusion

Fibroids are benign growths in the uterus, common in women who have had a long reproductive period and in women with a family history of fibroids. If you have fibroids, you may have symptoms like heavy menstrual bleeding and pelvic pain. Treatment of fibroids is offered to those who have symptoms.