Uterine Fibroids: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment Options

Learn what uterine fibroids are, common symptoms like heavy painful periods, how fibroids are diagnosed, and available management options.

Fibroids are growths within the walls of the uterine muscles, also referred to as benign tumors. Benign means non-cancerous.

Fibroids develop spontaneously, sometimes as only one while many times as clusters of fibroids.

Fibroids are common in familial lines, meaning your sisters, mom, and grandmother may all have fibroids. They are also more common in Black patients.

Symptoms of Fibroids

Fibroids cause heavy periods with clots and very painful periods. Some patients with fibroids bleed so heavily during their period that they may need a blood transfusion.

Diagnosis

Fibroids are diagnosed with an ultrasound of the pelvis.

Treatment and Management

Management of fibroids includes birth control, IUD, or possible surgery to remove the fibroids. Management is especially important if you’re bleeding so much that you need a blood transfusion.

Some patients are found to have fibroids during routine exams and do not have symptoms. Not all fibroids require management.

There is still much we do not know about fibroids, their cause, and long-term management. More research is needed to fully understand fibroids.

Fibroid Evaluation and Care in Greensboro and Across North Carolina

Haven Health provides evaluation and management for fibroids in Greensboro, North Carolina and helps coordinate care for patients across the state through telehealth and local imaging centers.

Patients from Greensboro, High Point, Jamestown, Oak Ridge, Summerfield, Kernersville, and surrounding Guilford County communities trust Haven Health for compassionate, evidence-based reproductive care.

If you live anywhere in Winston-Salem, Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Asheville, Wilmington, or anywhere in NC, Haven Health can send orders for pelvic ultrasounds to a facility near you and help guide next steps in care.

Haven Health is committed to helping patients understand heavy painful periods and ensuring appropriate evaluation and treatment when fibroids are suspected.

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