Uterine Fibroids Specialists

Uterine fibroids, also known as uterine leiomyomas, are growths of tumour like fibrous tissue (non-cancerous) inside the uterine tissue. Fibroids affect 20-25 percent of women aged over 35. The incidence of fibroids tend to increase as we age, and for some women they don’t cause a significant problem.

You can have small fibroid, larger fibroids and and even fibroids big enough to fill the uterine cavity and to cause you to look like you’re pregnant. When large you can have serious complications and issues with bowel and issues like frequent urination from bladder involvement.

They impair fertility by interfering with the ability of the ova to implant in the uterine wall, and can increase the risk of miscarriage.

Fibroids are usually diagnosed after a women presents to her doctor with pelvic pain and/or heavy menstrual bleeding/heavy periods. An focused ultrasound is used to look at the pelvic cavity and reproductive organs. The ultrasound probe can pick up most fibroids in the uterine cavity.

Uterine fibroids can occur in a number of ways. Submucosal fibroids happen on the endometrium and uterine wall. Intramural fibroids are in the middle of your uterine wall. Subserosal fibroids are on the outside of the uterus and pedunculated fibroids mean that they are on a stem. Pedunculated fibroids often cause issues when the stems get pinched or bent, leading to pain and sometimes surgery being required.

The cause of all fibroids remains the same, so naturopathic treatment can theoretically help with all of them. The location, size and type will depend on how much symptom relief can be obtained.

Our naturopaths look at addressing the driving factors of fibroid production. Imbalances and excesses in oestrogen and/or progesterone may drive fibroid growth and doing testing to look at your hormones is one of the first places we start. We also look at herbs and nutrients that help with the other factors that drive the growth of uterine fibroids. Addressing healthy cellular turnover, inflammatory mediators and the other factors that help fibroids change, prevent fibroids and herbs to restrict the blood supply to fibroids can greatly help.

We also want to address the other issue that happen with uterine fibroids – abnormal uterine bleeding, heavy bleeding, an irregular menstrual cycle and menstrual cramps are all issues that can be worked on using naturopathic treatment.

The aim is to help fibroids shrink if we can, improve symptoms and use the best scientific evidence that we have to treat uterine fibroids that we have.

Uterine fibroids diagnosed by your doctor will vary in presentation and size. In some instances, minimally invasive keyhole surgery or intrauterine surgery may be able to remove fibroids. Large fibroids can be more problematic, as removal may mean a larger incision and sometimes hysteroscopic resection and removal of parts of the uterus. When the uterine fibroids are smaller or there are multiple fibroids, surgery may not be recommended. it really depends on how many fibroids and their location and size.

For women that have heavy vaginal bleeding uterine ablations are also recommended medically – this involves uterine artery embolisation by burning the endometrium off the inside of the uterus. Endometrial ablation is not an option for women want to get pregnant at some stage of their life. Similarly, hysterectomy is a routinely recommended solution but if you want to get pregnant this is off the table too.

We have seen patients with small fibroids have them undetected on ultrasounds after treatment, and cases of shrinking fibroids after some months of treatment. Treating fibroids is something that we do at Shift as part of a broader treatment plan, and for some women naturopathic treatment can greatly help.

There is quite a lot of research on the use of herbs supplements for uterine fibroids, but there needs to be much more. There is evidence that turmeric and green tea may help, and various Chinese herbal medicines shown promise to treat fibroids. We can also look to diet and help you switch to foods that support better hormonal health and blood flow.

It is not know why fibroids first develop, but it has been established that their growth is dependent on the presence of the hormone oestrogen. Fibroids seldom develop before the first period and usually come about once we enter our 30s.

Women with other conditions in which oestrogen plays a role, like endometriosis or endometrial hyperplasia are more likely to develop fibroids. There are also many environmental toxins that are xenoestrogenic – we will teach you what you need to look out for and avoid to work on your uterine fibroids at your first appointment.

Uterine fibroids treated using naturopathic medicine involves using herbs and nutrients which help reduce excess oestrogen levels and improve uterine tone.

Herbal medicines can also help reduce symptoms like heavy periods and help to prepare your reproductive system for pregnancy.

You don’t need a referral to see one of our women’s health naturopaths to help you with your fibroids. All you need to do is book your initial appointment (Discovery and Diagnosis) and we can get started in helping you.

Call us on 07 3367 0337 or book your appointment online now.