What Are the Side Effects of Uterine Fibroids?

On the whole, women are no strangers to uterine fibroids, even though they may not even be aware of the issue. The reality is that most women develop at least one uterine fibroid during their life, and the good news is that these growths often go unnoticed. The other piece of good news is that uterine fibroids are noncancerous.

The news isn’t so great when uterine fibroids become problematic, which means you’re experiencing some noticeable side effects.

The expert women’s health team at New York City’s Bayard Street Obstetrics & Gynecology knows all too well what happens when uterine fibroids turn the corner into a gynecologic problem, and we review some of the warning signs here.

Uterine fibroids can lead to pain and discomfort

Most women develop uterine fibroids during their reproductive years. These growths in the walls of your uterus are often very small — just the size of a kernel of rice — so they typically don’t lead to any issues that you might notice. In fact, only about one-third of fibroids are even detectable during a physical exam

There are times, however, when uterine fibroids can grow very large — the size of a grapefruit or larger — and cause issues in terms of comfort. More specifically, large fibroids can lead to pain and pressure in the lower abdomen and pelvis. This pain can also travel around to the back and lead to a nagging lower backache.

As well, some women experience pain during sex because of larger fibroids or fibroids that are in sensitive locations.

Uterine fibroids and heavy bleeding

Another common side effect of symptomatic fibroids is abnormal bleeding, including heavy periods and spotting between periods.

Bladder and bowel symptoms due to fibroids

If you have large fibroids, they can press against other pelvic organs and create functional issues, such as constipation or frequent urination.

Fibroids and fertility

Fibroids can have some impact on your ability to conceive and carry a child. For example, fibroids can block your fallopian tubes and prevent fertilization, leading to infertility.

Given their location inside your uterus, it should come as no surprise that some fibroids can cause pregnancy complications, namely preterm birth and miscarriage.

Getting help for fibroids

If you suspect that you might be dealing with a problematic fibroid, we want you to make an appointment to see us. During your visit, we can quickly assess whether you have fibroids using advanced imaging, such as ultrasound.

If we find fibroids, we can discuss your options for addressing them. We can use hormone medications to shrink fibroids, but this approach isn’t great if you're trying to build a family. In this case, we would likely recommend a myomectomy, or fibroid removal surgery.

But the first step in treating troublesome fibroids is to see one of our reproductive health specialists. To do that, we invite you to contact us at one of our New York locations — in lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Flushing, Queens. You can also request an appointment using our convenient online scheduling system.