Fibroids and Your Fertility

What is a fibroid? How do you know if you have one? Will fibroids make you infertile or less fertile? If you have lower back pain and prolonged period you may have a fibroid. The quickest way to find out is to schedule an appointment with your doctor (an ob-gyn or your RE, a Reproductive Endocrinologist) where they will do an ultrasound and be able to see if there are any of these non-cancerous masses in or near the uterus. Fibroids are incredibly common, effecting over 3 million cases in the U.S. annually, and depending on their location and size, may not effect one’s fertility at all. Women in their late twenties and up through their forties may develop one at one time in their life, and many times they shrink on their own. More than half of women with fibroids will not need treatment. If there are multiple fibroids, or they are in a specific location, they are interfering with lower GI function, or causing excessive bleeding or pelvic pain, they may be treated.

Doctors usually treat fibroids with medications that have certain types of hormones in them. If medications are not effective they may move forward with a uterine artery embolization, dilation and curettage, ablation, uterine myomectomy, endometrial ablation or a laparoscopic surgery.

Some women find that if they decrease foods that have concentrated amounts of processed estrogens in them as well as processed fatty or fried foods, and processed dairy, the fibroids shrink enough so that they do not need a surgery. A holistic plan including diet, exercise, and acupuncture, used in conjunction with customized, organic herbal medicine formulas can help to shrink small fibroids and sometimes get them to disappear completely. Other women opt to do a surgical procedure right away and quickly move forward with fertility treatments. If you are trying to conceive and have a fibroid, you should see a fertility specialist as soon as possible and they will help create a plan for you to clear the fibroid and move forward in the healthiest way as possible on your path to parenthood.