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Fibroids are a common benign growth that affects anywhere between 40 to 80% of women of childbearing age. The team at Roswell ObGyn, LLC, in Alpharetta, Atlanta, Canton, and Cumming, Georgia, offers a wide range of treatment options for fibroids, from medical management to surgery. Call the office nearest you today or schedule an appointment online to learn more about fibroids and treat them.
Fibroids Q&A
What are fibroids?
Fibroids are muscular noncancerous tumors that are commonly found in a woman's uterus, varying in size and number. Fibroids can be as small as a strawberry seed or as large as a cantaloupe, and you can have one single fibroid or multiple fibroids.
Fibroids may grow on the inside or outside of the uterus. Because they vary in size and number, many women have fibroids and don’t know it. Fibroids can come and go without you even being aware you ever had one.
What are the common symptoms of fibroids?
Fibroid symptoms vary depending on your size, location, and the number of fibroids. It’s possible to have no symptoms at all.
However, women with symptoms from their fibroid may find them disruptive to their daily life. Common symptoms of fibroids include:
- Pelvic pain
- Heavy feeling in the lower abdominal area
- Heavy menstrual bleeding
- Pain when urinating
- Pain during a bowel movement
- Increase in size of abdominal girth
Fibroids may also affect a woman's fertility, making it harder to get pregnant.
What tests do I need to diagnose fibroids?
You may not realize you have a fibroid until your provider at Roswell ObGyn, LLC discovers the tumor during a routine well-woman exam. Your provider may feel the tumor when palpating your lower abdominal area or during your pelvic exam.
To diagnose fibroids, your provider performs an in-office ultrasound test. Your provider may request an MRI of the lower abdominal area to determine the location, size, and number of fibroids you have.
What are the treatments for fibroids?
Treatment for fibroids depends on the severity of your symptoms and how they affect your daily life.
For women with small asymptomatic fibroids, the team at Roswell ObGyn, LLC may not recommend any treatment at all. Instead, the team may simply monitor the fibroids with regular ultrasound tests and act when they cause problems.
If your fibroids cause pain or heavy bleeding, your provider may recommend hormonal birth control pills to manage symptoms. For larger fibroids, the team may perform minimally invasive surgery to remove the benign tumors.
Though surgery can remove fibroids from your uterus, it can't prevent new fibroids from growing. For women with no plans for pregnancy, the team may recommend a hysterectomy to prevent future fibroids.
Call Roswell ObGyn, LLC today or schedule your fibroid consultation using the online booking button.