Are Fibroids Causing My Back Pain?
Women suffering from back pain will see a doctor at some point in their workup. They may get a scan, either a CT scan or an ultrasound, and someone sees a fibroid. And then they come to my office saying, “I have a fibroid and it's causing my back pain.”
And then when I review the scans, I actually find out that it's a tiny fibroid or it's in front of the uterus, not in the back. And then I have to tell the patient, “hey, the fibroid is actually not causing your back pain.”
So let's talk about that.
When do fibroids actually cause back pain?
Now, fibroids can certainly cause back pain if they are extremely large. 9-10 cm in size for example. That's like the size of a grapefruit. Or if they're sitting right by the sacrum,which is a triangular bone in the lower back.
So if it's sitting right there and putting pressure on your back, it can certainly cause back pain.
Or if you're a very petite person and you even have a smaller fibroid, maybe 7 cm and it's sitting right behind the uterus, right by your lower back that can also cause back pain.
Many times however, our fibroids are not that big, and they're not sitting right there by the sacrum or the lower back. They're sitting inside the wall of the uterus. They're sitting on top. They may be sitting by the bladder, or they're just small. They're one or 2 CM in size, which is tiny.
So that is not causing your back pain. So before you chalk up your back pain fibroids, make sure you're talking to your doctor about other causes of back pain.
The number one cause of back pain in women, actually, in all comers, is muscle sprains and strains, especially in women in your thirties and forties, you're in awkward positions. You may have kids. You're carrying them in weird contorted positions. You're feeding them, you're running around doing a ton of work. Perhaps you are working from home in front of a computer and have bad posture. Your body takes a toll, as does your lower back.
So that's actually the number one cause of back pain.
And there can certainly be other causes of back pain. But make sure that you first rule all those out before just thinking that it’s your fibroid that’s causing the back pain.
So definitely talk to your gynecologist about it.
If you have fibroids and you're concerned and you're wondering if it's causing your back pain, your gynecologist can go over the size, the location, and go through the pros and the cons of removing it, etc.
Now, if you're in California, you have fibroids, and you want to talk to an expert about what to do about it,
come and see me for a consultation!
Call my office 925-744-7473 to set up an appointment.
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