The choice of treatment for uterine disease, not only having surgery

Hysterectomy or surgery to remove the uterus is certainly a nightmare for women. This operation is widely chosen to treat various uterine diseases, especially for women who really don't want to have more children. But actually, not all uterine diseases always end in surgery to remove the uterus, really.

When is a hysterectomy needed?

Before deciding for uterine removal surgery, you should first understand the advantages and disadvantages. The reason is, once your uterus is removed, you certainly will not be able to get pregnant again or have children.

You will no longer even have menstrual periods every month, aka stop. Yes, this is because there is no longer the uterine wall to shed like in a normal menstrual period.

Not all uterine diseases will be treated immediately with a hysterectomy. There are several medical conditions that allow you to perform a hysterectomy, including:

1. Cancer that attacks the reproductive organs, both in the uterus, cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, and vagina
2. Incurable pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
3. Heavy vaginal bleeding
4. Complications after childbirth, one of which is uterine rupture (uterine tear)

Other surgery options to treat uterine diseases

Reporting from Verywell, about 90 percent of hysterectomies are performed because of the patient's personal choice, not because of an emergency to save lives. For example, you have a certain uterine disease and by chance don't want to have any more children.

As a result, you just accept it if you are advised to do surgery to remove the uterus, because after all you don't want to have any more children. In fact, a hysterectomy should be done as a last resort to save a person's life, not because of personal desire.

If the doctor recommends that you do a hysterectomy, it's good to ask first if there are other alternatives to treat your uterine disease. This is aimed at reducing the number of unnecessary hysterectomies.

If you experience severe menstrual pain accompanied by heavy bleeding, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, or other uterine diseases, you can choose other alternatives to help treat your uterine disease.

1. Excessive menstruation

Menstrual bleeding that is too heavy, prolonged, or irregular is called menorrhagia. Bleeding is said to be excessive if a woman loses more than 80 milliliters of blood in each menstrual period. Especially if this causes severe pain, mood swings, and interferes with activities.

Apart from hysterectomy, menorrhagia can be treated by:

• Contraception: Your doctor may give you birth control pills or IUDs that contain the hormone levonorgestrel to reduce bleeding.
• Endometrial ablation: Removes the abnormal uterine lining by heating techniques, balloon therapy, or radio waves. This method has an 80 to 90 percent success rate in reducing symptoms.
• NSAID drugs: NSAID drugs are useful to help reduce bleeding from the lining of the uterus.

2. Uterine fibroids

Uterine fibroids are benign lumps or tumors that grow in the uterus. This disease usually does not cause any symptoms until the fibroids are enlarged in size and cause pain.

This disease is one of the most common reasons why women undergo uterine removal surgery. In fact, there are other treatments that can still be done, namely:

• Myomectomy:Surgical removal of fibroids or benign tumors. This is done through abdominal surgery, laparoscopy (through the abdominal area), or hysteroscopy (inserting a thin instrument through the vagina). Recovery time tends to be shorter.
• Endometrial ablation: Destroy scar tissue by heating methods, fluids, balloon therapy, to microwaves. This method can reduce or even stop bleeding from the uterus.
• Uterine artery embolization: Cut blood vessels around the fibroid. If the benign tumor does not get blood supply, then the fibroids will slowly shrink until they are completely gone. As many as 85 percent of women can return to normal activities after one week after surgery.
• NSAID drugs: Symptoms of uterine fibroids can be treated with NSAIDs, for example Motrin. If still ineffective, your doctor may prescribe a drug that can inhibit the production of the hormone estrogen from the ovaries. However, this drug has side effects in the form of symptoms of early menopause and decreased bone density.

3. Endometriosis

About 18 percent of hysterectomies are performed because of endometriosis. Unfortunately, this procedure does not always cure the disease completely.

The type of endometriosis treatment depends on the symptoms and their severity. In the long term, laparoscopy may be the right choice. Laparoscopy is performed by removing cysts or scar tissue using heat or laser.

Meanwhile, in the short term, symptoms of endometriosis such as pain and heavy bleeding during menstruation can be treated with birth control pills or other hormonal drugs to reduce estrogen levels.

4. Crossbreed

Descent or uterine prolapse is a condition when the uterus appears to have dropped from its normal position and is pressing on the vaginal wall. This can be caused by many things, but mostly due to the effects of normal delivery (vaginal delivery).

The descent of the cross can be treated with an anterior or posterior colporaphy, which is a procedure to repair the protruding front and back walls of the vagina. In addition, the doctor may perform uterine suspension, which is to place the uterus back into position by reconnecting the displaced pelvic ligaments.

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