Lupita Nyong’o reveals fibroids diagnosis - what are the signs and treatments?
"We must reject the normalisation of female pain”
Actress Lupita Nyong’o has shared that she was diagnosed with uterine fibroids in 2014 and is pushing for more awareness of the experience after feeling “dismissed” and alone.
The Oscar winner said she’d had surgery to remove 30 fibroids, which are non-cancerous growths in or around the womb that affect up to 80% of women during their lives.
They can cause debilitating effects, though many women have no symptoms. Nyong’o was dismayed to be told after her surgery that it was “only a matter of time until they grow again”.
In a post on Instagram on Tuesday, she said: “I’m speaking up about uterine fibroids. This is my story… I hope my experience will resonate with anyone else who has ever felt dismissed, confused or alone.
“I hope to seek answers for the far too many women dealing with uterine fibroids”.
Nyong’o said she’d decided to speak out because from puberty, girls are told that “pain is simply part of being a woman”.
“We need to stop treating this massive issue like a series of unfortunate coincidences… We must reject the normalisation of female pain”.
She said she was launching a fibroids research grant with the Foundation for Women’s Health and had met with US senators and representatives to introduce a package of uterine fibroid bills into Congress, to “expand research funding, increase early detection and interventions” and study the causes of uterine cancer, and increase public awareness”.
What are uterine fibroids?
Fibroids are non-cancerous growths that develop in or around your womb, made of muscle and fibrous tissue, according to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).
They can vary from the size of a pea to the size of a melon. The most common type are called intramural fibroids and develop in the muscle wall of the womb.
What are the signs of uterine fibroids?
Around two thirds of women who have fibroids do not have any symptoms.
If fibroids aren’t causing you any pain, the NHS says they don’t need to be treated and sometimes shrink on their own.
For those who have symptoms, these can include painful or heavy periods, abdominal or lower back pain, needing to urinate a lot, constipation and pain during sex.
Complications caused by fibroids can affect pregnancy or cause infertility, but this is rare.
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Who gets uterine fibroids?
Fibroids are common, affecting around two thirds of women during their lifetime, according to the NHS. Women aged between 30 and 50 are the most likely to get fibroids and they are also thought to be more common in black women and women with obesity.
What are the treatments for uterine fibroids?
If they aren’t causing symptoms, the NHS says fibroids don’t need to be treated.
Speak to your doctor in your country if you think you have fibroids or are experiencing pain. In the UK, medicine to help relieve the symptoms is usually recommended first, following by medication to shrink the fibroids. If this still doesn’t work, surgery and other treatments can be considered.
I had fibroids and had to go through a period of 6 months of recovery after removal of fibroids. The pain before/during/after the process definitely cannot be discounted