What Is The Best Treatment For Uterine Fibroids
What Are Uterine Fibroids?
Uterine fibroids are a common health concern among a major population of women. Uterine fibroids are benign, non cancerous tumours that originate within the wall of the uterus. Health care professionals call fibroids by other terms, including uterine leiomyomas, fibromyomas, fibromas, myofibromas and myomas. They can be small or quite large. Continue reading to know what is the best treatment for uterine fibroids.
Types of Uterine Fibroids
Uterine fibroids may be of various types, namely:
The Subserous Fibroid
This is the most common kind of fibroid. It develops on the outer walls of the uterus and tends to grow bigger and more painful during menstruation.
The Submusocal Fibroid
This kind of fibroid can be found very deep inside the uterus. Often, the only solution for relief from this type is surgery. It causes excessive bleeding (often leading to hemorrhage) and can cause a lot of pain.
The Intramural Fibroid
The intramural fibroid grows exactly on the walls of the uterus. It displays the characteristics and symptoms of both subserous and submusocal fibroids.
The Pedunculated Fibroid
These fibroids are attached to the uterine walls by a stalk like growth referred to as the peduncle. They don’t usually display any symptoms, but can be felt during internal examinations.
What Causes Uterine Fibroids?
What actually causes fibroids to form isn’t clear, but genetics and hormones are thought to play a big role. There are various factors that underlie the real cause of uterine fibroids. There are primary causes that contribute to the development of the fibroids in the uterus, and then there are secondary causes that contribute to the aggravation of these present fibroids. There might even be external factors like, emotional upheavals, which disrupt the normal balance of the body and make you vulnerable to such diseases.
Some of the primary factors that can be said to be the real causes of uterine fibroids are listed below:
1. Genetic Predisposition
The genetic construction in certain women makes them predisposed to abnormal metabolic cell activity. Women suffering from dysfunctional metabolisms are therefore more susceptible to conditions like uterine fibroids than others. Fortunately, such genetic predisposition can be changed. Genetic research shows that genetic constructions can be altered and influenced to one’s advantage. By taking control of the internal and external environments that affect your body, you can reform your actual
genetic tendencies and thereby overcome the disease.
2. Poor Dietary Practices
A healthy, complete diet is essential for a fit and active life. This is especially vital for women, as the slightest negligence can greatly affect the body’s internal balance. Thus, low intake of fruits and vegetables and excessive intake of refined carbohydrates and toxic foods create problems like hormonal imbalance, lowered immunity and poor digestion. Under such conditions, uterine fibroids can develop more easily.
3. Weakened Immune System
Poor diet, inadequate rest, stress, toxic accumulation, excessive use of medications- all contribute in lowering the immunity of the body. This makes the body highly vulnerable to the condition as the body cannot work towards balancing the hormones or eliminating the toxic waste within the body.
4. Accumulation of Toxins
In our daily life, we are constantly exposed to toxins- in the food we eat, the water we drink or even the air we breathe. This leads to the accretion of toxins in our blood, lymph, kidneys and colon. These toxins then cause ovary damage, infertility and dysfunctional hormones. Some environmental toxins can even lower one’s progesterone levels. All of these factors greatly increase the body’s susceptibility and make one prone to uterine fibroids.
5. Insulin Resistance
When the cells in one’s body are less responsive towards the insulin hormone, insulin resistance is caused. This negatively impacts the insulin dependent mechanisms in the body. To counter the impassivity of the cells, the pancreas starts producing more and more insulin. Chronically high levels of insulin in the body cause production of male hormones like testosterone and thus stimulate the development of uterine fibroids.
6. Hormones
Uterine fibroids have been known to thrive on hormones like estrogen and progesterone. In fact, the fibroids contain higher levels of estrogen than their surroundings. During pregnancy and menstruation, estrogen levels are at their highest. This is usually the time when the fibroid condition is at its worst. A lot of women have discovered that upon reaching menopause, the fibroids shrink, or sometimes, even disappear.
Uterine Fibroids Symptoms
While fibroids can cause a variety of symptoms, they may not cause any symptoms at all—so you may not even know you have one. Recognizing the symptoms of a disease is the first step towards a proper diagnosis and timely cure. Thus, understanding the underlying signs and symptoms of uterine fibroids, can go a long way in getting timely help and thus stopping further growth and development of the fibroids. Usually, the presence of one or two small fibroids in the uterus is hardly noticeable. It is when larger fibroids begin to develop, or the fibroids grow in number within the uterus, that it becomes immensely uncomfortable and problematic. This is when your body starts displaying certain uterine fibroid symptoms that you must be able to identify.
Uterine fibroids symptoms tend to be painful and distressing. Some of these symptoms are:
Bleeding
Heavy bleeding is the most common symptom associated with fibroids. This is the most obvious sign to show the presence of fibroids in your uterus. Conspicuous fibroids in the uterus tend to cause a uterine congestion. This leads to blockage of normal menstrual flow, which in turn causes the blood to flow heavily when released. Fibroids can also cause prolonged bleeding, bleeding in between menstrual cycles, heavy clotting and spotting. The bleeding can even be extremely painful. If excessive and prolonged bleeding remains unchecked, it can cause anemia.
Pain
One in every three women affected with fibroids claim to feel a pain associated with their condition. Since fibroids are foreign to your body, the uterus will often try to expel them from within. This causes excruciating cramps. Again, if a fibroid happens to degenerate because it couldn’t get enough blood, the uterus painfully reacts to the dead cells. Many a times, the stalk like growth, with which the fibroid attaches itself to the uterus, might twist, causing severe pain in and around the pelvic region. Fibroids even cause pain during sexual intercourse. In some cases, the fibroids are so large that they start to press against the muscles of the lower back region causing pain in the back and in the legs.
Pelvic Pressure
As fibroids grow in size, you may experience pressure in the pelvic region Large fibroids also put pressure on the urinary bladder as a result of which one feels the urge to urinate frequently. This is a very bothersome uterine fibroid symptom. To make matters worse, many a times, there’s a possibility of the fibroids pressing the uterus against the pelvic bones. This leads to a drastic decline in the flow of urine and subsequently causes serious kidney problems.
Infertility and Pregnancy Related Problems
Fibroids also are associated with a handful of reproductive problems depending on the number of fibroids present in the uterus and on their size and specific location. These risks include a higher risk of miscarriage, infertility, premature labor and labor complications. Due to an increase in estrogen and progesterone levels in the body during pregnancy, there’s a high chance of the fibroids developing further and causing severe discomfort and pain.
Emotional Upheavals
Very often, the emotional or mental symptoms are completely ignored while only the physical or bodily symptoms are paid attention to. The hormonal imbalances, the painful cramps and the prolonged periods of menstruation very often cause stress, depression and “mood swings”.
If you feel frequent emotional upheavals, do not underestimate them as they may very well be signaling the presence of fibroids.
If you are facing any of these major uterine fibroids symptoms, you must consult your gynecologist or any other health care professional immediately. While there are a wide variety of treatments to choose from, it is best to approach the problem in a holistic fashion. Holistic treatments are safe, and can be surely considered as an option. For example, complementing herbal therapy with a proper diet and therapeutic meditation helps to tackle fibroid causing factors like hormonal imbalance, lowered immunity and stress.
Who Is at Risk for Fibroids?
Your risk for developing fibroids increases with age. African-American women are more likely than Caucasian women to have them, and they are more likely to develop fibroids at a younger age. If women in your family have already been diagnosed with fibroids, you have an increased risk of developing them. You may also be at an increased risk if you are obese or have high blood pressure.
Prevention
Fibroids can’t be prevented. If you are experiencing symptoms, such as heavy bleeding and pelvic pressure, contact your health care professional for an evaluation. If you have a family history of fibroids or have been treated for them in the past, you may want to be examined more frequently or investigate the various management strategies available to treat fibroids.
Facts to Know About Fibroids
- Fibroids are rarely cancerous. They are balls of muscular tissue that grow inside the uterus, on the surface of the uterus or in the muscular wall of the uterus.
- An estimated 80 percent of women have fibroids, but not all of these women have symptoms. They are most commonly found in women in their 30s and 40s.
- African-American women are more likely to have fibroids than Caucasian women.
- If there are women in your family who already have been diagnosed with fibroids, you have an increased risk for developing them.
- Fibroid growth is believed to be related to estrogen levels. They usually grow slowly during the reproductive years, but may increase in size with pregnancy. At menopause, fibroids usually shrink, because estrogen levels decline. Estrogen replacement therapy may interfere with this shrinkage after menopause.
- More than half of the women who have fibroids never experience symptoms and require no treatment. In general, the severity of symptoms varies based on the number, size and location of the fibroids.
- The two most common symptoms of fibroids are heavy menstrual bleeding and pelvic pressure. Normal menstrual periods last four to seven days, but if you have fibroids, your periods are likely to last longer. The bleeding might be so heavy that you may need to change your sanitary pads or tampons as often as every hour.
- Fibroids may be associated with a handful of reproductive problems, such as miscarriage, infertility, premature labor and labor complications. These problems may occur when fibroids physically alter the uterine cavity. But having fibroids doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have problems during a pregnancy.
- Oral contraceptives (estrogen and progestin and progestin-only) are sometimes recommended to manage heavy bleeding caused by fibroids, but they aren’t used to treat fibroids.
Medical Treatment Options for Fibroids
The need for treatment and the type of treatment you choose depends on the size and position of the fibroids, as well as any symptoms they’re causing, your age and whether or not you want to have children in the future. If bleeding is your major symptom, some women opt for managing this symptom with medication before surgery or as a way to delay surgery if they’re close to menopause (because fibroids generally shrink and cause few or no problems after menopause). In the medical world, the only successful treatment for fibroids is surgery. The two main types of surgery used for treating uterine fibroids are a myomectomy, which only removes the existing fibroids, and a hysterectomy, which removes the entire uterus.
Natural Home Remedies For Uterine Fibroids
Despite a long standing faith in the power of allopathic medication and other conventional forms of treatment, more and more people are now opting for natural forms of remedy. Natural remedies to treat fibroids offer a less expensive and less invasive method of treating these benign uterine growths. Natural remedies for uterine fibroids are an alternative form of treatment that is both safe and reliable. Natural treatments for fibroids tend to be much safer compared to conventional medication as they cause little or no side effects. This is because, unlike conventional medication, natural treatments do not interfere with your body’s internal mechanism. If you are looking for natural remedies for your uterine fibroids, these are some of the options available to you:
Herbal Treatment For Uterine Fibroids
Herbs are useful to counter the symptoms of uterine fibroids and shrink or eliminate them. Consult your healthcare provider before starting herbal treatment to cure uterine fibroids. Using herbal treatment for your fibroids helps in balancing the hormonal activity and strengthening the liver, thereby reducing estrogen levels in the uterus. Herbs also help in dealing with difficulties like heavy bleeding and excruciating cramps. Herbs like vitex, help in lowering estrogen level, while herbs like dandelion root and milk thistle, help in improving liver function. Other herbs like nettle and yellow dock work towards detoxification of the body and help to regulate the heavy bleeding caused due to fibroids.
Proper Diet For Uterine Fibroids
This is possibly the most fundamental treatment among all the natural remedies for uterine fibroids. Proper Diet plays an important role in reducing or eliminating fibroids. A diet rich in saturated fats will cause your liver to be dysfunctional and subsequently increase estrogen levels and cause hormonal imbalances. A recommended diet would be one which is low fat and high fiber. Therefore, foods like oats, millet and brown rice, fish, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and soy are advisable. It is safe to avoid dairy products in general. The key factors to ensure are that firstly, your diet is mainly alkaline-forming so as to balance the acidic content in your body and secondly, the food you eat does not overwork your digestive system. Furthermore, avoid excessive sweets, caffeine, alcohol and nicotine and increase your daily water intake. Drink eight to ten glasses of water per day. Water flushes out toxins in the body and assists liver function while balancing out hormone levels. This prevents increases in estrogen production and reduces fibroid growth.
Vitamins and Supplements
Taking daily vitamins and supplements may also help improve your reproductive health, reduce heavy bleeding from fibroids and prevent fibroid growth. Vitamin A, vitamin C and iron may help reduce heavy bleeding and replace blood loss. Calcium and magnesium may help reduce pain and cramping while B vitamins and DIM may improve your body’s ability to reduce excess estrogens in your body. Take omega 3 oils, such as fish oil, to help reduce inflammation associated with uterine fibroids.
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy uses essential oils to increase circulation in and around the pelvic region. This helps in relaxing the uterine muscles and subsequently reduces abdominal cramps. The essential oils of ginger, rose and marjoram are greatly beneficial for relaxing the body, stimulating circulation and balancing the hormones. These essential oils may also be used in therapies like abdominal compresses.
Manage Stress
Stress has become a part and parcel of our daily lives. For women, stress can prove to be a catalyst for uterine fibroids. Stress increases blood pressure and causes hormone levels to be erratic, thus aggravating the growth of uterine fibroids. Meditation can go a long way in relaxing the body and calming the mind. It also helps you to deal better with the complications that fibroids entail. While meditating, it is important to inhale and exhale slowly through your nostrils only.
Exercises For Uterine Fibroids
Exercises like aerobic dancing, brisk walking, cycling and running help to reduce stress and blood pressure. Exercises also help in stimulating a healthy blood circulation and relieving muscle tension. This greatly relieves sufferers from abdominal pain associated with menstruation and fibroids. It is advisable to avoid participating in sports like basketball and tennis as they tend to increase the stress levels and, thus, enhance the growth of fibroids.
Holistic Treatments For Uterine Fibroids
There are a number of holistic treatments that may also help reduce uterine fibroids. You may consider trying acupuncture, which can help increase your blood circulation and reduce fibroid pain. Other holistic therapies that may be effective for reducing fibroids include homeopathy, natural hormone therapy and acupressure.
What Is The Best Treatment For Uterine Fibroids
Most of the time the best treatment for uterine fibroids is the waiting game. Most doctors will leave the fibroid tumors alone if they are not bothersome and are not causing any symptoms for the woman. Most women can still conceive with a fibroid tumor and will find that it shrinks as they get older. Shrinking uterine fibroids naturally takes time but herbs, diet and reducing stress are three common ways to naturally reduce the size of a fibroid. These remedies may not only shrink fibroids, but can prevent them from growing bigger.
When using herbal or natural remedies for uterine fibroids, it is advisable to utilize a combination of remedies for a wholesome approach to the problem. Thus complementing a proper diet with meditation and exercise will help in dealing with the condition holistically. Holistic treatments work towards strengthening your body from within and thereby equipping your body with the force it needs to fight diseases in general and fibroids in particular.
Natural and home remedies require some dedication and patience. It is important to remember, however, that persistently following these treatments will help in curing the fibroids permanently and prevent the condition from occurring in future.