10 Natural Treatments to Treat Uterine Fibroids

Uterine fibroids are one of those conditions that you probably don’t pay close attention to unless you have been diagnosed with them. But because approximately 75 percent of women will experience them sometime in their life, it’s important to educate yourself on what they are, how they’re treated, and what it means if you get them.

As always, preventing the condition from occurring in the first place is still the best treatment, but this can be tough if you have a family history of them.

Luckily, your diet and lifestyle habits can significantly affect your risk of getting uterine fibroids, and these factors are easily within your control. Here are ten natural treatments to fight uterine fibroids.

What Are Uterine Fibroids?

Uterine fibroids are noncancerous tumors that occur inside a female’s reproductive system. The tumors, which are firm and compact, are made out of fibrous connective tissue and smooth muscle cells. Most of the time, uterine fibroids are found within the uterine wall, which is how they get their name. Research shows that approximately 20 to 50 percent of all women have fibroids during their reproductive years, which makes them more common than you might think. Many women who have uterine fibroids don’t even know it while others are diagnosed right away based on their symptoms. This is because only approximately one-third of uterine fibroids are big enough to be detected by a doctor during a physical exam.

The good news is that in about 99 percent of all cases, uterine fibroids are benign or not cancerous. Additionally, research shows that having uterine fibroids (even big ones) doesn’t put you at an increased risk of developing uterine cancer. These tumors can vary in size from the size of a green pea to as big as a softball or grapefruit. Ouch!

According to one study, uterine fibroids are the “most frequent indication for major gynecologic surgery.”

In other words, you’ll probably need surgery to remove the big ones. Research shows that more than 200,000 hysterectomy surgeries are done every year on women with severe cases of uterine fibroids.

Researchers aren’t exactly sure what causes fibroids, but they think that each tumor occurs as a result of abnormal muscle cells in the uterus. These cells tend to divide rapidly and develop into a tumor thanks to the female sex hormone estrogen, which tends to speed up the growth of many things in the body. As stated above, not all women experience symptoms due to these tumors. Some are painful or cause menstrual problems while others have no signs at all. Because it’s not always apparent if you have uterine fibroids, it’s a good idea to make sure you have regular check-ups. Other symptoms include:

● Heavy or seemingly long menstrual periods that can lead to anemia

● Abnormal vaginal bleeding that occurs between periods

● Pain in the pelvic area that is caused by the tumor pressing on nearby organs

● Lower back pain

● The need to urinate frequently (again, due to the tumor pressing on the nearby organs)

● Pain during sex

● A firm mass that can be felt near the middle of the pelvis

Women approaching menopause are the most at risk for developing uterine fibroids, thanks to their longtime exposure to high levels of estrogen. Hormone changes are also associated with the tumors, which means that you can get fibroids anytime during puberty and childbearing years. Research shows that African American women and obese women are more likely to develop the condition. You’re also at an increased risk if you have a family history of them.

Surprisingly, some research shows that many factors can protect women from getting uterine fibroids. For example, women who have had two children have a 50 percent decreased risk of having uterine fibroids than women who have had no children at all. It’s unclear whether having children protected these women from developing the condition or the fibroids were to blame for the women being infertile.

Still, research shows that the best way to reduce your risk of getting uterine fibroids is to prevent them from occurring in the first place. One study found that treating high blood pressure in premenopausal women can help reduce the risk of getting uterine fibroids.

This can be done by making better dietary choices, such as eating higher quality meat and more detoxifying vegetables and cutting back on refined sugars and alcohol. Exercise is also an essential part of the treatment process. The idea behind most natural treatment methods is to balance your hormones naturally to prevent excessive tumor growths in the first place.

Uterine Fibroids Natural Treatments

 

If you were to go to the doctor to have your uterine fibroids treated, you might be met with some unpleasant options. Generally, treatment options for uterine fibroids include one of the following:

● Hysterectomy: the surgical removal of your entire uterus. This is the number one reason why women in the United States have hysterectomies. Once a woman has a hysterectomy, she cannot get pregnant.

● Anti-hormonal drugs: some drugs are available to counteract the effects of estrogen or progesterone in the body. Although they might be useful for treating fibroids, this type of therapy comes with some risks, such as hormonal imbalances.

● Conservative surgical therapy: this type of treatment involves a myomectomy, which removes the fibroids but leaves the uterus intact so that a woman can still get pregnant. But there are some risks involved such as damage to the pelvic tissue during the procedure, which might still impair a woman’s chance of having a baby.

● Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRH agonists): this approach triggers medical menopause by reducing your levels of estrogen in the body. The idea behind this approach is that it will help shrink the fibroids, but who wants to be put into medical menopause if you don’t have to be?

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