Regular visits to your doctor are important for the detection of certain asymptomatic health conditions. An example of such condition is fibroids. These are actually tumor-like growths in the uterus which are actually benign or non-cancerous. Since it is normal for a woman to feel nothing, doctors usually look for symptoms of fibroids and bleeding is considered to be a major sign.
Fibroid Symptoms
Presence of uterine myomas, as mentioned earlier, do not exhibit symptoms. But in some cases, a woman with fibroids experiences the following:
- Menorrhagia or heavy and irregular vaginal bleeding with blood clots
- Sensation of a full bladder, which makes you urinate more often. Rarely, you will have difficulty urinating.
- Constipation as a result of pressure on your rectum
- Lower abdominal pain or pelvic pressure
- Increased waist line
- Infertility or difficulty getting and staying pregnant
- Presence of a pelvic mass
Diagnosing Fibroids
Sometimes, these other symptoms of fibroids and bleeding are actually indicative of another disease. For this reason, it is important that you undergo testing to confirm fibroids. Among the tests that your doctor will order include:
- Pap smear – to rule out malignancies
- Pelvic exam – to check for physical changes in your uterus as well as bleeding
- Pregnancy test – to check if the bleeding is actually caused by fetal implantation or other pregnancy-related conditions such as sub-chorionic hemorrhage.
- Ultrasound – to determine presence of tumors and pinpoint their location. This is the preferred diagnostic technique today since the tumors can be seen clearly; allowing the doctor to measure it and identify which parts of the uterus is involved.
- MRI – to rule out sarcomas. This imaging technique is preferred if there are sudden changes with the fibroids in terms of growth that will lead your doctor to suspect cancer.
Treatment options are explored if any of the symptoms mentioned earlier has progressed to an unmanageable level.