厙ぴ勛圖

If you experience pelvic pressure and discomfort, painful periods, pain during sex, or heavy or irregular bleeding, you do not need to live with this discomfort. Our team of specialists can help.

Several different conditions may be causing these painful symptoms. Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous tumors that grow on or within the muscle tissue of the uterus. Adenomyosis is a benign condition in which the endometrial tissue that lines the uterus cavity grows abnormally. Both these conditions may cause pelvic pressure or pain and abnormal uterine bleeding.

While their initial symptoms may be similar, fibroids and adenomyosis can affect you differently and may need to be treated differently. It is important to see a board-certified gynecologist or interventional radiologist. Preferably, seek out a team with both types of physicians who specialize in fibroids and adenomyosis to receive a thorough and effective examination for these conditions.

Uterine Fibroids

Uterine fibroids are common, non-cancerous growths that develop in the muscular wall of the uterus. You can have fibroids on the inside, outside, or in the wall of your uterus. Your doctor may call them fibroid tumors, leiomyomas, or myomas.

Fibroids are not cancerous, and they do not increase your risk for uterine cancer. You may not need to do anything about them unless they are causing difficult or painful symptoms that affect your quality of life.

Patients in their thirties and forties typically seek help for fibroids. Doctors are not sure what causes fibroids, but the hormones estrogen and progesterone seem to make them grow. Your body makes the highest levels of these hormones during the years when you have periods. Fibroids usually shrink or stop growing after menopause, and often the symptoms stop or improve.

Signs and Symptoms of Uterine Fibroids

While fibroids do not always cause symptoms, their size and location can lead to problems for some. Symptoms may be mild, like periods that are a little heavier than usual. However, if the fibroids are large or in a particular location that presses on other surrounding organs, the symptoms may include pelvic pressure and pain in addition to abnormal bleeding.

Symptoms may include:

Heavy, irregular, or prolonged menstrual bleeding

Fatigue or low energy from heavy periods and excessive bleeding

Pelvic pressure or pain

Abdominal swelling and constipation

Low back or leg pain

Pain during sexual intercourse

An urge to urinate often

Difficulty emptying the bladder

Miscarriages

Difficulty getting pregnant

Treatments for fibroids include:

Hormonal and non-hormonal therapies

Uterine fibroid embolization

Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound

Uterine fibroid radiofrequency ablation

Hysteroscopic procedures

Laparoscopic or robotic myomectomy

Laparoscopic or robotic hysterectomy

Related Treatments
Adenomyosis

Adenomyosis is a condition that occurs when the cells that normally line the uterus grow into the muscular tissue of the uterine wall. The uterine wall becomes thicker, which can cause pain. The entire uterus may also enlarge.

The cause of adenomyosis is not fully understood. Some researchers believe that it is the result of damage to the inner wall of the uterus during pregnancy and delivery or a surgical procedure. Adenomyosis symptoms are most often recognized in women in their forties and typically resolve after menopause.

Signs and Symptoms of Adenomyosis

Most women with adenomyosis do not have any symptoms. Adenomyosis is frequently found in uterine tissue biopsies that are done after pelvic surgery for other indications.

When symptoms are present, they include:

Heavy, irregular, or prolonged menstrual bleeding

Painful menstruation

Recent onset of menstrual cramping that is gradually getting worse from one period to the next

Pain during sexual intercourse

Pelvic pain

Infertility

Treatment options for adenomyosis include:

Hormonal and non-hormonal therapies

Uterine artery embolization

Hysteroscopic procedures

Laparoscopic and robotic hysterectomy

Related Treatments