Leiomyomata ,or uterine fibroids, or fibroids, for short, are non-cancerous tumors that can develop inside the uterus. Research indicates that at some point in their lives, about 70% of women will develop fibroids. A lot of times, fibroids can be asymptomatic, although for some women, this condition can lead to heavy bleeding, pain, and other symptoms. Talk to your doctor first before trying any treatment regimen if your fibroids are causing side effects and/or pain.
Treating Fibroids Using Natural Methods
1. The “watch and wait” technique: Before, physicians took a proactive approach to fibroids, oftentimes utilizing invasive procedures even when it’s totally unnecessary. Now, several doctors recommend “watchful waiting” particularly when the fibroids are small and can’t cause severe symptoms such as painful periods, infertility, or abnormal bleeding. Most fibroids tend to shrink naturally over time.
Fibroids usually develop during a woman’s reproductive age. During pregnancy, they tend to grow larger, and after menopause, shrink. Most sufferers prefer several years waiting for the fibroids to shrink on their own than undergoing surgery or taking medications with nasty side effects.
It’s perfectly safe to leave those fibroids in the body so long as they don’t contribute to other health issues since their chances of becoming cancerous is very low. You might not want to have them removed unless you absolutely have to even if you have those fibroids in your stomach region that you can actually feel them when you press your stomach.
Talk to a doctor first to make sure that what you have is definitely fibroids if you want to try the watch and wait technique. Immediate medical intervention may be needed for other types of growths.
2. Drink green tea or green tea extract: EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) or green tea extract has a proven ability to reduce the degree of the fibroid symptoms, clinical trials reveal. When taken by women with severe fibroid symptoms, green tea extract led to 32.6% shrinkage of the fibroids and less severe symptoms.
It should be noted note that those studies were small scale and did not use randomized trials to determine the effectiveness of the treatment.
Patients who took green tea extract to treat their fibroids did not manifest serious severe side effects. For people with caffeine sensitivity, it is best to monitor the consumption of this tea. Green tea has caffeine which can lead to nausea, jitteriness, and irritability in some women.
Research shows that green tea assists in reducing the fibroids size in rats. The results may still -not yet be conclusive but this study showed that green tea can prevent the rise of new fibroids.
3. Chinese herbal medicine: Studies have indicated that herbal medicine can help relieve symptom and reduce fibroid size. Talk to your doctor before taking any herbal remedies since some herbs have the tendency to interact with other medical conditions and drugs.
You should know that Chinese medicinal treatments are usually not subjected to the randomized controlled trials that FDA-approved medication go through. Problems with dosing can also increase the risks and affect the effectiveness of the treatment.
A study showed that there was a 60% reduction in the size of fibroids among the participants who took an herbal remedy known as Kuei-chih-fu-ling.
The Tripterygium wilfordii extract has a better ability to reduce fibroid than the medication mifepristone several clinical trials have noted
A combination of mifepristone and an herbal formula called Guizhi Fuling (made up of Cortex Moutan , Radix Paeoniae Alba or Radix Paeoniae Rubra, Semen Persicae, and Ramulus Cinnamomiled) showed promise in the decrease of the size of the fibroids .
4. Physical Therapist: For some women, fibroid symptoms can be relieved and the size of the fibroids shrunk using physical therapy. Talk to your doctor to see whether physical therapy may be the right treatment for you.
It’s important to note that physical therapy can help address the symptoms and pain but never the fibroids’ underlying problem.
5. Acupuncture: A study showed that acupuncture was able to improve fibroid symptoms in some women. It may be worth considering acupuncture if you find other treatments have not worked. Acupuncture is safe because it has very few side effects.
It’s very important to choose a qualified and licensed acupuncturist in Bellingham to prevent infections, injuries, side effects, and accidents during the treatment.