Are Fibroids a Danger to My Health?

With a name like uterine fibroid, you might think the condition sounds serious. Fortunately, these growths are mostly benign and usually don’t pose any serious health risks. In fact, up to 70% of women develop uterine fibroids, and many are unaware of their existence. For the minority, however, fibroids can become problematic and require treatment.

While the name of our practice is Advanced Endometriosis Center, Dr. Ulas Bozdogan also specializes in problematic uterine fibroids, and he has extensive experience helping women with these troublesome growths.

In this blog, we explore when uterine fibroids can pose a problem and how we can help you find relief.

When uterine fibroids become problematic

As we discussed, scores of women develop uterine fibroids and are none the wiser, because the growths are mostly benign. In fact, 99% of uterine fibroids are noncancerous, and they mostly shrink down after a woman passes through menopause.

When uterine fibroids become problematic is usually tied to their size and/or location. For example, most fibroids are quite small, but some can grow very large, causing your uterus to expand up to 10 times in size. As a result, you can experience bulking symptoms, such as:

• A heaviness in your lower abdomen
• Problems with urination
• Constipation
• A visible bulge
• Pain with intercourse

While the size of your fibroid can lead to obvious side effects, the location of your fibroids can also play a role. If you have fibroids that are closer to your uterine cavity, you may experience heavy bleeding during your menstrual cycles. In fact, some women bleed to the point where they develop anemia.

Outside of size and location, in rare cases, uterine fibroids can outgrow their blood supply and degrade, which can lead to bleeding and a painful infection.

Diagnosing and treating uterine fibroids

If you’re experiencing any of the bleeding, bulking, or, less commonly, degradation symptoms we described above, it’s important that you come see us. Using advanced imaging, such as ultrasound, we can identify whether uterine fibroids are to blame.

If they are, you’re in good hands, because Dr. Bozdogan is one of the foremost experts in daVinci robotic surgery. Using this minimally invasive system, Dr. Bozdogan can perform a myomectomy, a procedure in which he removes the fibroid. In extreme cases, such as when the growths quickly return, Dr. Bozdogan can perform a hysterectomy using this same system.

When we refer to robotic surgery, rest assured that Dr. Bozdogan is watching a monitor and guiding the robotic arms the entire time. One of the many advantages of this system is that these arms can perform more maneuvers in tighter spaces than human hands, and we only need to make very small incisions to perform the work. And sometimes we can reduce the cutting even further by entering vaginally.

If you suspect that you may have problematic fibroids, book an appointment online or over the phone with Advanced Endometriosis Center today. We have offices in New York City and Hackensack, New Jersey.