General Herbal Care

Cleanse your blood. Ayurvedic medicine views fibroids as raktaja gulma-that is, tumors resulting from the impurity of your blood. How your fibroids are treated depends on your constitutional type, or dosha, explains Alakananda Devi, M.B., of Boulder, Colorado. In general, Dr. Devi advises patients with fibroids to exercise more and to reduce their intakes of dietary fat and alcohol. Dr. Devi also prescribes several Ayurvedic herbs, including chitrak and ashoka. Chitrak helps eliminate tumors, while ashoka relaxes the uterus, reduces menstrual flow, and shrinks fibroids.

Medical Measures

“In general, if your fibroids are not causing much discomfort, you might decide to just live with them until menopause shrinks them naturally,” Dr. Simons says. “If you have heavy periods, you can take iron supplements to reduce your risk of iron-deficiency anemia.”

For more troublesome fibroids, mainstream medicine offers two treatment options: drugs and surgery. Drug therapy aims to suppress estrogen, which makes fibroids grow. Two of the most commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals are leuprolide (Lupron) and nafarelin (Synarel). Both reduce estrogen by stimulating the secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone, or GnRH.

Surgery is usually reserved for the most severe fibroids. The most conservative procedure, called myomectomy, removes just the fibroids and leaves your uterus intact. But myomectomy may not be possible if you have lots of fibroids or if they’re hard to reach.