Although infertility is probably not very common in women with fibroids, in some cases a fibroid may alter the structure of the uterus, making it difficult to carry a baby. When women visit doctors for recurrent miscarriages, part of the evaluation is to rule out fibroids or other intrauterine problems. Again, most fibroids probably do not cause any symptoms at all, and usually do not require treatment. Simply having a fibroid is not cause for alarm, as they are quite common and almost always benign. But, when symptoms develop one s health care provider can usually easily diagnose fibroids and offer a number of treatment options.
Fibroids are fairly easy to diagnose.
In some cases a simple pelvic examination, using one or two fingers in the vagina along with a hand on the lower abdomen, will allow your doctor or other health care provider to gauge the size of your uterus. A normal uterus is about the size of a pear, or an orange. A fibroid uterus, however, will often measure much larger, for example the size of a large grapefruit, a soccer ball, or even a watermelon. Amazingly, despite this large size, in some cases there are no symptoms, whereas in other women with even a small fibroid there can be troublesome symptoms. This test involves either a painless probe placed on one s abdomen, or a tube, called a vaginal probe, placed in the vagina.