ALMOST EVERY YOUNG WOMAN in this part of the world had heard of uterine fibroids at least once.
If you haven’t, biko raise your hands lemme see you 😂.
More importantly, it’s believed that at least one in every four or five black women has uterine fibroids. It’s that common.
Most of the time, the fibroids are small and are not causing the woman any problems. Some of them are so “quiet” they are even only picked up on abdominal scan for something else, say pregnancy scan. They are referred to as the ASYMPTOMATIC uterine fibroids.
Such fibroids are the “nice” ones and no one bothers about them. You just let them be cos they can coexist with pregnancy and the baby will do just fine. If they are not disturbing you, why go after them?
I’ve written about this extensively in the past shaa.
However, in some young women, the fibroids can get so large they begin to cause the woman a lot of issues. These are the SYMPTOMATIC uterine fibroids, because they now cause symptoms, serious ones oo!
😒😒😒😒
The symptoms complex usually comes as:
~ Heavy menses
~ Swollen tummy (like say the woman get belle)
If they are large enough, they can cause pressure symptoms like:
~ Increased frequency of urination
~ Urgency to urinate
~ Constipation
Because of the heavy menses, the woman can lose a lot of blood every time she’s menstruating, and over time, she can begin to have:
~ Whiteness of the palms, eyes (pallor)
~ Dizziness
~ Easy tiredness
~ Palpitations (feeling of your heart beating very fast)
Symptomatic fibroids aburo moi-moi. 😮😮😮
Fibroids are commoner in young women of 25-35 years as they say. Though the exact cause is not known, we have what we call risk factors which could predispose a woman to having fibroids, such as:
~ Being a black woman
~ Not having been delivered of a baby before
~ Family history of fibroids
~ Obesity
Below (fist two) are pics of the huge uterine fibroids removed from a woman a few weeks ago. They were so huge they had to be held by more than one surgeon.
It tells you a lot about their size. 😱 😱
Fibroids can be found in different parts of the womb as you can see in the third and fourth pics here: and because they feed on the female hormone known as oestrogen, they often keep growing in size.
Therefore, those times you hear that a certain XYZ woman had been pregnant (with swollen tummy) for years without putting to bed, she most likely had uterine fibroids.
The surgical removal of fibroids is called MYOMECTOMY and it’s one of the commonest gynaecological operations anywhere in Nigeria.
So as a young black woman, whenever you notice heavy menses with or without swollen tummy, please try and see a doc.
There are so many causes of heavy menses or swollen tummy, but you can’t be sure what is causing yours until you see a doctor.
As a co-founder of XDIFY as well as your favorite sexual, reproductive and mental health doctor, I’ll keep ensuring you’re sexually edified. If you missed my previous posts on fibroids, go down my timeline and read it, but is far down the line shaa. 😂
However, don’t worry yourself if you can’t find them:
Starting next weekend, I’ll be teaching a lot of sexual and reproductive health topics for ONE WEEK on WhatsApp.
It’s gonna be a paid class and the price is just 3k for the entire one week.
You’ll LEARN and SEE more fibroids and a whole lot of things you never thought possible in your sexual and reproductive health.
The class is just for 30 persons cos I want to concentrate and take them on an entertaining and educating journey. You all know how entertaining my classes can be.
The class starts next Friday 5th July to 11 July. It’ll be an unforgettable one week. If you like, miss it. Once I get to the thirtieth person, I stop taking more persons. Teaching is fun but stressful and I have enough stress on my hands like this. I want to give the thirty people the very best of lectures for a full week.
The topics are:
Day 1: Vaginal Discharge: how can it be treated?
Day 2: Squirting: myth or reality?
Day 3: Cervical cancer: a common killer
Day 4: Fibroids: the black woman’s enemy
Day 5: Premature ejaculation: the terror of men
Day 6: Erectile dysfunction: a man’s biggest nightmare
Day 7: Oral sex: the pros and cons
BONUS
Day 8: Anal sex and its many challenges
Time: 8pm daily
To participate, just send 3k to:
Kingsley Amaefule
GTB
0123184707
Then send me your proof of payment via WhatsApp to: 08032599959
And you’re on:
As a doctor working towards the Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG3 (Good health and well-being) I’ll never leave you behind.
Remember: +++Impossibility is nothing: Just believe+++
SDGs
SDG3
ChukwuGozieUnuNiile
~ Caséy Amaefule©