If You Have Fibroids

If you are visiting this website, it is likely that you or someone close to you has uterine fibroids...

Recent developments in gynecology have changed the treatment alternatives now available to women with fibroids. This website has been designed to provide women with comprehensive and easy - to - understand information about fibroids and state-of-the-art treatments available.

I am a practicing gynecologist in Santa Monica, California, Clinical Professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the UCLA School of Medicine, and chairman of the Gynecology and Obstetrics Department of St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica. Most importantly, I have been performing and teaching all the available surgical techniques covered in this website for many years, and this experience has allowed me to stay in the forefront of the field.

The medical information available to women about fibroids in books, on the internet or from doctors is often contradictory and confusing. In my own efforts to understand all the issues related to fibroids, I undertook a year-long review of more than 300 papers from the medical literature. The result of that review was published as a two-part article in the renowned international journal Fertility and Sterility. Much of the information on this website is adapted from those articles: Etiology, symptomatology, and diagnosis of uterine myomas
and Uterine myomas: management. This is information you will want to know before choosing the path to take for any fibroid-associated problems.

Despite many truly effective fibroid treatments that have been developed as a result of research in our field, the present pressures in healthcare today leave many doctors little time or incentive to learn new medical developments, and they have even less time to explain treatment alternatives to patients.

Most women with uterine fibroids have no symptoms or just mild symptoms and for these women "watchful waiting" will allow treatment to be avoided, perhaps indefinitely. For women who need treatment, many treatment options exist and you may need to search out a doctor who both understands all the available options and who is also skilled at performing the treatment you want (or a doctor who will refer you to another physician who does have the necessary skill and experience).

Therefore, it has become more important for patients to educate themselves about available treatment options, about what questions to ask the doctor, about when to seek out another opinion. This website and the book I have written, A Gynecologist's Second Opinion (Penguin/Plume 2003) are intended to help you become an educated consumer.

I view my role not only as a doctor, but also as an educator. The approach I take in my practice is to offer each woman all of the medical information available regarding her problem, to be available for questions and concerns, and to allow the patient to make her own decision as to the best course to follow. While "watchful waiting" will suffice for many women with fibroids, others with more bothersome symptoms may wish treatment.

I have many years of experience in performing laparoscopic myomectomy, abdominal myomectomy for large fibroids and hysteroscopic myomectomy. I believe uterine artery embolization to be an appropriate form of treatment for certain women with fibroids and, after evaluation, I will refer women to well-trained Interventional Radiologists in the Los Angeles area who are very experienced with this procedure. For women who need or desire hysterectomy as treatment for their fibroids, I also have a great deal of experience in laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy and total laparoscopic hysterectomy and frequently teach other gynecologists these difficult surgical techniques. If a woman wishes a hysterectomy, I encourage her to retain her ovaries unless family history or personal issues dictate otherwise.

I hope that this website will have the answers you've been looking for and will provide you with a trusted reference to turn to. And, I wish you good health.

Gynecologist in Private Practice in Santa Monica, California
Clinical Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, UCLA School of Medicine
Chair, Gynecology and Obstetrics, St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica

The ideas, procedures and suggestions contained on this web site are not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician. All matters regarding your health require medical supervision.