What Are the Treatments for Fibroids?
Fibroids
In most cases, fibroids will not show clear symptoms. However, if you suspect that you have fibroids, go and see your doctor immediately. He/she will recommend the best treatment option to counter your fibroids. Before administering any treatment, your doctor will consider the following things:
- Whether you are showing the symptoms of fibroids
- Becoming pregnant again in the future
- The size of your fibroids
- The exact location of your fibroids
- Your age, particularly if nearing to menopause
Medications
The doctor will then suggest that you take medications if you have been diagnosed with fibroids. He/she can recommend drugs, such as ibuprofen as well as acetaminophen for relieving mild pain. You can also take iron supplements to prevent anemia if you are experiencing heavy bleeding during your menstrual cycles. Other drugs that can be prescribed include:
- Birth control drugs that can help keep the symptoms in control
- Progressive-like injections like Depo-Provera
- Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRH–A)
Surgery
If the fibroid symptoms are moderate or severe, your doctor might consider surgery as the best treatment option. The following are some of the best options concerning surgery:
- Myomectomy: is a type of surgery that involves the removal of the fibroids without removing the healthy uterine tissues.
- Hysterectomy: this surgery aims at removing the uterus. This is the surest way as far as curing fibroids.
- Endometrial Ablation: this type of surgery aims at removing or destroying the uterine lining so that very heavy bleeding can be controlled. This is usually done using a laser, special wire loops, hot water, an electric current, and freezing.
- Myolysis: with this surgical procedure, a special needle is inserted into the uterus and then directed to the fibroids with the help of a laparoscope or electric current. This helps destroy the fibroids.
- Uterine Fibroid Embolization or Uterine Artery Embolization: this involves the insertion of a thin tube into the blood vessels supplying blood to the fibroids. However, it is important to note that not all women suffering from fibroids can be treated with uterine embolization. The following are the best candidates who can be treated with this surgical method:
- Women with very heavy bleeding.
- Experiences acute pain in the bladder and rectum.
- Women who don’t prefer a hysterectomy.
- Those women who are unlikely to have kids in the future.
Questions you should ask your doctor if you have fibroids
If you have fibroids, consider asking your doctor the following questions:
- Size of your fibroids
- The number of fibroids you have developed.
- The location of your fibroids: on the outer surface, the inner surface, or the uterine wall.
- Will the fibroids develop to become very large?
- How rapidly have your fibroids grown
- How to know if the fibroids are growing larger
- The effects of fibroid
- The best tests that can be conducted to keep track as far as the growth of your fibroids is concerned.
You can specifically ask your doctor about the best treatment options available for fibroids: hysterectomy or other types of treatments.
