If your doctor thinks you might have fibroids, he or she will probably ask you about your symptoms and how they affect you. You may be asked about your periods and your sex life.

Your doctor may also want to feel your womb by putting a finger in your vagina and a hand on your lower belly. If you have fibroids, your womb may feel large and lumpy.

You may need to have one or more other tests to check whether you have fibroids.

If you've been having heavy periods, your doctor may want to do a blood test to make sure you're not

 

 

 

 

 

anemia
Anemia is when you have too few red blood cells. Anemia can make you get tired and breathless easily. It can also make you look pale. Anemia can be caused by a number of different things, including problems with your diet, blood loss and some diseases.

 

 

 

 

 

anemic. If you're anemic, you have too few

 

 

 

 

 

red blood cells
Red blood cells are the part of your blood that makes it red. Their main job is to carry oxygen from your heart and lungs out to the tissues of your body. Once these cells unload oxygen, they pick up carbon dioxide. They take carbon dioxide back to your lungs so you can breathe it out of your body.

 

 

 

 

 

red blood cells. You may look pale and get tired easily.

An

 

 

 

 

 

MRI scan
The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine uses a magnetic field to create detailed pictures of the inside of the body. These pictures allow doctors to look at parts of the body in three-dimensional images.

 

 

 

 

 

MRI scan gives pictures of the inside of your body. In this case, it shows all the organs in your

 

 

 

 

 

pelvis
Your pelvis is the area between your hips.

 

 

 

 

 

pelvis, including your womb and any fibroids in it.

An ultrasound scan uses sound waves to make a picture of the inside of your womb. There are two kinds of ultrasound scan:

The scan through your vagina is better for telling if you have fibroids.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Dueholm M, Lundorf E, Hansen ES, et al.
Accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging and transvaginal ultrasonography in the diagnosis, mapping, and measurement of uterine myomas.
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2002; 186: 409-415.

 

 

 

 

 

¹ It's as good as an MRI scan for finding fibroids and telling how big they are.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Dueholm M, Lundorf E, Hansen ES, et al.
Accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging and transvaginal ultrasonography in the diagnosis, mapping, and measurement of uterine myomas.
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2002; 186: 409-415.

 

 

 

 

 

¹

Your doctor puts a

 

 

 

 

 

ultrasound probe
Ultrasound is a tool doctors use to create images of the inside of your body. An ultrasound machine sends out high-frequency sound waves, which are directed at an area of your body. The waves reflect off parts of your body to create a picture. Ultrasound is often used to see a developing baby inside a woman's womb.

 

 

 

 

 

probe into your vagina. It's shaped like a tiny flashlight with a round end. It sends out sound waves that bounce off the organs in your

 

 

 

 

 

pelvis
Your pelvis is the area between your hips.

 

 

 

 

 

pelvis to give a picture.

Many women find out they have fibroids when they have routine ultrasound scans because they're pregnant. Doctors are less worried than they used to be about the effects of fibroids in pregnancy.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Lumsden MA, Wallace EM.
Clinical presentation of uterine fibroids.
Baillieres Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 1998; 12: 177-195.

 

 

 

 

 

² In 4 in 5 women who are pregnant, fibroids stay the same size or shrink.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Lumsden MA, Wallace EM.
Clinical presentation of uterine fibroids.
Baillieres Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 1998; 12: 177-195.

 

 

 

 

 

² The ones that do grow usually grow only a little.

To learn more, see Fibroids and pregnancy.

You might find out you have fibroids when you have a test for another reason. For example, you may have a test called a laparoscopy to try to find out why you can't get pregnant. During this test, your doctor looks inside your pelvis with a tiny camera and a light. You'll be given a

 

 

 

 

 

general anesthetic
You may have a type of medication called a general anesthetic when you have surgery. It's given to make you unconscious so you don't feel pain.

 

 

 

 

 

general anesthetic, so you'll sleep through it. Your doctor puts the instruments through small cuts in your lower belly. He or she can see your womb and the other organs around it.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Uterine fibroids.
Available at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/fibroids.cfm (accessed on 27 June 2008).

 

 

 

 

 

³

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Varma TA.
Operative gynecology.
In: Varma TA. Clinical gynecology. Edward Arnold, London, UK; 1991.

 

 

 

 

 

⁴

Another test is called a hysteroscopy. In this test, your doctor puts the camera and light into your womb through your vagina. You can have a general anesthetic or a

 

 

 

 

 

local anesthetic
Local anesthetic is a painkiller for one area of your body. You usually get it as a shot. It makes that area numb. An example is the novocaine you get when your dentist fills a cavity.

 

 

 

 

 

local anesthetic (shots to make you numb) so that this test won't hurt.

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