Treating Uterine Fibroids Without Surgery: Yes, It Is Possible!

herb chaste berryWhen dealing with uterine fibroids, or the perimenopausal state that can cause them to grow and bleed, the first question you and your practitioners have to ask is how severe your case is.

If your case is severe enough to warrant surgical intervention, then it is serious enough that you should follow your doctor’s orders.

A good rule of thumb is not actually gynecological, but hematological. If the bleeding has gone on long enough or is of sufficient quantity that you have become anemic, then herbal preparations should be tried only as an adjunct to more traditional treatments. Let your body tell you how serious the situation is.

That said here are some herbs that will help balance the hormones, particularly estrogen. The perimenopausal state, which causes most fibroids to grow to these sizes, usually involves too much estrogen and progesterone levels that are too low.

The herb chaste berry (vitex agnus castus) has been found to contain precursors to progesterone, so much so that it is classed as bioidentical progesterone.

Be warned that you cannot take a single dose of this and expect results. Plan for eight weeks of consistent use of this herbal supplement to see an increase in your progesterone levels.

Along with this, you should avoid herbs and herb products that cause an increase in estrogen. These include, but are not limited to, soy based products, licorice root (glycyrrhiza glabra), and red clover (trifolium pratense).

These boost estrogen or estrogen production—the mechanism is not clear—so it is best to avoid them any time you are experiencing extra heavy bleeding.

In addition, some authors suggest the avoidance of meat and meat products, although the literature on a direct link is unclear. However, in extreme cases of bleeding or multiple fibroids discovered after an ultrasound, the avoidance of red meat could be beneficial.

But, since anemia is the underlying actor that we are trying to deal with, an iron supplement or increasing iron bearing foods, such as leafy green vegetables, would be a good thing to do.

Fibroids are a difficult thing to treat in the best of situations because they affect so many different systems, some of which are almost antagonistic to each other. It is best to have the involvement of experience practitioners, both in traditional medicine and in alternative medicine.