8 Symptoms of Uterine Fibroids

The 4 types of uterine fibroids: Intramural, submucosal, subserosal, and pedunculated

Uterine fibroids are benign tumors in the uterus that develop during a woman’s reproductive years. Fibroids are quite common: As many as 75 percent of women grow them sometime during their lives. However, most women are unaware they have them because most fibroids cause no symptoms and they rarely interfere with pregnancy.

Also called fibromyomas, leiomyomas, myomas, or fibroid tumors, uterine fibroids are not associated with an increased risk of uterine cancer and almost never develop into cancer. According to Dr. Jacques Moritz, a Contributing Editor at ABC News, the majority of fibroids are discovered in routine gynecological exams using a sonogram or ultrasound. They begin developing in women’s teens and twenties, but don’t usually create severe symptoms until a woman reaches her thirties, before the onset of menopause.

8 Symptoms of Uterine Fibroids

1. Unusually heavy menstrual bleeding
2. Longer than normal menstrual periods — seven days or more of menstrual bleeding is not uncommon.
3. Pain and feelings of pressure in the pelvis — Often, the larger the size of the fibroids, the more pain is felt.
4. Unusually frequent urination
5. Difficulty emptying your bladder
6. Constipation
7. Backache or leg pains
8. Pain during sexual activity

According to Dr. Moritz, the most important signs to look for are unusually heavy and long periods and pelvic pain and pressure. If you experience these symptoms, you should talk with your doctor.

Treatments for Uterine Fibroids

If a woman has been diagnosed with fibroids but doesn’t have any symptoms, doctors usually recommend doing nothing. If they grow in size or begin to cause bothersome symptoms, a number of treatment options are available.

Medications for shrinking the size of fibroids include gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) agonists such as Lupron and Synarel, progestin-releasing intrauterine devices (IUDs), and anrogens such as Danazol.

Two relatively new non-surgical treatments for fibroids are uterine artery embolization (UAE) and focused ultrasound. UAE is a procedure that uses a small pellet to physically block the arteries that nourish the tumors causing them to shrink. UAE has shown promise in stopping bleeding associated with fibroids. Focused ultrasound (also called focused ultrasound ablation) is a newer treatment that uses sound waves from a sonogram inside an MRI machine to heat and destroy the fibroid tissue.

The only cure for fibroids is a hysterectomy, the surgical removal of the uterus. In the US, about 600,000 hysterectomies are performed each year, and fibroids are the most common reason for performing them.

Video: Understanding Uterine Fibroids

In this video, Dr. Alison Jacoby and Dr. Bruce Kerlin of UCLA Medical School provide background information on fibroids and discuss treatment options.