At Nile Women’s Health Care, many women come to us after a routine exam or ultrasound that mentions “fibroids.” Your first reaction might be confusion, especially if you’re not in pain and you feel fine. Your second thought is likely, “Does this mean I need treatment?”
Let’s start by addressing both reactions. Not all fibroids cause symptoms, and not all fibroids need treatment.
Like many women, you may be asking: “Do I fix something that isn’t bothering me?”
It depends on your symptoms, your age, your goals, and how fibroids are influencing your health. In this month’s article, our experienced gynecologists explain when uterine fibroids require treatment, and when they don’t.
Fibroids are common. Up to 80% of women will have uterine fibroids at some point in their lives. Despite this high prevalence, most fibroids don’t cause symptoms significant enough to require treatment.
For many women, fibroids are discovered during imaging done for another reason, like a routine pelvic exam. If you aren’t noticing symptoms, your fibroids may not need immediate intervention.
That said, when fibroids do interfere with your quality of life, that’s when treatment becomes important.
You might need treatment if your fibroids cause one or more of the following complications.
Excessive bleeding that interferes with daily life, causes anemia, or leads to fatigue is one of the most common reasons women seek treatment.
Fibroids can press on nearby organs, leading to ongoing:
When fibroids reach a size that presses on the bladder or bowel, it can disrupt normal function.
If your fibroids are growing quickly or becoming large enough to cause noticeable changes, monitoring and possible intervention may be recommended.
If you’re trying to conceive or have a history of pregnancy loss, fibroids can interfere with implantation or pregnancy, and treatment may improve outcomes.
In these cases, delaying treatment can extend discomfort and impact your quality of life. That’s why we take symptoms seriously rather than waiting for a number on an imaging report to tell the whole story.
There’s no one-size-fits-all threshold for fibroid treatment. The decision is personal and based on:
Treatment for fibroids ranges from conservative to surgical, depending on your needs and goals.
If your fibroids are small and not bothersome, we may recommend periodic monitoring with exams and imaging. For symptoms like heavy bleeding, medications hormonal therapy can help regulate cycles and reduce bleeding.
When medication isn’t enough or when symptoms interfere with your life, it may be time to consider a minimally invasive procedure. Procedures like uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) can reduce fibroid size and bleeding without traditional surgery.
If symptoms are severe or if fibroids are interfering with fertility goals, surgical choices such as are available. These are individualized based on your reproductive goals and overall health.
No. Fibroids are benign tumors and are very rarely cancerous. That’s reassuring for most women who discover them incidentally.
Many treatments are designed with reproductive goals in mind. For example, myomectomy removes fibroids while preserving the uterus and often improves the chances of a healthy pregnancy.
They can. Fibroids develop in response to estrogen and other hormonal signals, so recurrence is possible. However, many treatments significantly reduce symptoms and improve quality.
If fibroids are affecting your daily life, let’s talk about whether treatment is right for you.
Schedule an appointment at one of our offices in Roswell or Johns Creek, Georgia, to explore your symptoms and options.
