Does Endometrial Ablation Cure Heavy Bleeding?
Heavy bleeding can interrupt your career, relationships and quality of life. With abnormal bleeding, you schedule your life around your periods. You don’t leave the house without tampons AND pads. You always know where the closest restroom is. You even carry an extra change of underwear and pants. If you’re living with heavy menstrual bleeding, you probably want to know if endometrial ablation is a cure for heavy bleeding.
Hysterectomy is commonly recommended for women living with heavy or abnormal bleeding, but there’s another alternative for women who aren’t ready for such a major surgery — endometrial ablation.It’s a common medical procedure that has a quick recovery time, no hospital stay and high rates of success. In fact, a recent study in Germany found that over 90 percent of women who underwent endometrial ablation found relief from their symptoms and had no need for additional surgery.
What Is Endometrial Ablation?
The first thing you should know about endometrial ablation is that it is a procedure that should only be considered if you don’t wish to have more children. The procedure utilizes a tool called a hysteroscope, a thin tube that illuminates and examines the uterus, along with another device that removes the endometrial lining. Without the lining of your uterus, an embryo is not able to implant and you will not be able to carry a pregnancy. Since the lining of your uterus is what you shed during your period, and that lining is removed during this procedure, your monthly bleeding will be significantly reduced.
Endometrial Ablation Recovery
Endometrial ablation is usually performed in an outpatient setting, meaning you can return home to recover in the comfort of your own home on the same day as your procedure. You should be able to return to work in just a few days. With no hospital stay and faster recovery time, the cost of endometrial ablation is significantly less than that of hysterectomy. The results of an endometrial ablation may be seen immediately, but most often it may take a few months. While you can’t carry a pregnancy following endometrial ablation, it is possible for an embryo to implant in your fallopian tubes (also called a tubal pregnancy). For this reason, you will still need to use a form of birth control following this procedure.
Content Sponsored by: MIRI Women – The Minimally Invasive Reproductive Surgery Institute (MIRI) brings together highly skilled, board-certified specialists who are focused on women’s health. Our team of professionals is trained in advanced gynecology, specifically hysterectomy surgery. Philosophically, our partner physicians take a “less is more” approach to health care, by first treating patients with the most conservative therapies. MIRI focuses on physical healing, while emphasizing that a patient’s emotional well-being is just as important.
