Uterine Fibroids Specialist

Midwest Institute for Non-Surgical Therapy

Vascular and Endovascular Specialist located in St. Louis, MO; Evergreen Park, IL; Chicago, IL; Swansea, IL.

Small uterine fibroids may not cause problems, but as they get larger, women can experience intense pelvic pain and heavy menstrual bleeding. Goke Akinwande, MD, and the team at Midwest Institute for Non-surgical Therapy (MINT) offer the first and only dedicated uterine fibroid center in St. Louis. They specialize in eliminating fibroids using uterine fibroid embolization, a minimally invasive option that preserves your uterus and delivers dramatic pain relief for at least 90% of women. If you need help for uterine fibroids, call one of the offices in St. Louis, MO, and Wentzville MO, Evergreen Park, IL, Swansea, IL, or book an appointment online today.

Uterine Fibroids Q&A

What are uterine fibroids?

Uterine fibroids are noncancerous tumors that grow in the muscular layer of the uterine wall, inside the uterine cavity, and on the outside wall of the uterus. You can have just one fibroid or multiple fibroids, and they can be located in the same or different areas of the uterus.

Uterine fibroids can be so small they’re not detected during a uterine exam. They can also get so large that they cause intense symptoms. If you have multiple fibroids, they can all grow at different rates.

What symptoms develop if I have uterine fibroids?

Once a uterine fibroid grows large enough to cause symptoms, you may experience:

Pelvic pain that’s often severe
Heavy menstrual bleeding
Long menstrual periods
Bleeding between periods
Menstrual cramps
Abdominal bloating
Urinary frequency
Constipation
Lower back pain
Pain during intercourse

These same symptoms may signal other gynecologic problems. If you haven’t already seen your gynecologist, consider scheduling an exam to determine the source of your symptoms.

How are uterine fibroids treated?

If your fibroids don’t cause symptoms or you’re close to menopause, you may not need to get treatment. When the fibroid is large or causes symptoms, your treatment options include:

Hormonal medications, which may relieve your symptoms but don’t treat the fibroids
Myomectomy, which is surgery to cut away the fibroids
Hysterectomy, which is surgery to remove part or all of your uterus
Uterine fibroid embolization, which effectively treats fibroids without surgery

MINT offers uterine fibroid embolization as an option to surgery, especially a hysterectomy. More than 90% of women who choose uterine fibroid embolization achieve significant or complete symptom relief. And they get relief while preserving a healthy uterus.

What happens during uterine fibroid embolization?

Your provider at MINT begins your uterine fibroid embolization by making a pinhole cut and inserting a catheter into a blood vessel. Using real-time imaging, they guide the catheter to the artery providing blood to the fibroid.

Your provider releases tiny particles into the artery, where they stick together and stop blood from getting to the fibroid. Without blood, the fibroid shrinks and dies. If you have multiple uterine fibroids, the same procedure is repeated for the arteries delivering oxygenated blood to each fibroid.

The benefits of uterine fibroid embolization over surgery include:

No scarring
Less invasive and safer than surgery
Significant or complete pain relief
Significant reduction of menstrual bleeding
Back to your usual activities in one week
Lower risk of complications

If you need treatment for uterine fibroids, call Midwest Institute for Non-surgical Therapy or schedule an appointment online today.