Being told that a biopsy shows atypical hyperplasia or endometrial cancer is hard news, and a hysterectomy is often mentioned in the same conversation. Endometrial cancer starts in the lining of the uterus (the endometrium). It is the most common type of uterine cancer, and most cases are found after menopause.[1][18] Atypical hyperplasia is not…
Adenomyosis happens when the tissue that lines the uterus grows into the muscle of the uterine wall. It can cause very painful, heavy periods, and for many women it takes years to get a name for the problem.[1][3] Because adenomyosis lives inside the uterus, removing the uterus is the only treatment that cures it for…
Fibroids are the most common reason for a hysterectomy in the United States.[1][2] Removing the uterus is the only treatment that cures fibroids for good: there are no more periods, the fibroids cannot grow back in the uterus, and the pressure from a large uterus goes away.[1][2] It is also major surgery that ends any…
Almost every hysterectomy for a non-cancer condition is “elective” in the medical sense: it is planned ahead rather than done as an emergency. What most people mean when they search for an elective hysterectomy, though, is something narrower: can you have your uterus removed because you want it out, even if a doctor does not…
A hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus (womb). It is one of the most common operations in women, but it is rarely the only option. Most hysterectomies are done for conditions that are not cancer: fibroids, heavy periods, endometriosis, adenomyosis and prolapse. For these, the NHS describes hysterectomy as something to consider when…
If you live with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and years of irregular or heavy periods, acne, unwanted hair or fertility treatment have worn you down, it is natural to wonder whether a hysterectomy would end it all. The short answer is no: a hysterectomy does not cure PCOS. PCOS is a hormonal and metabolic condition…
Being told you have “abnormal cells” on your cervix and need a LEEP can be unsettling, especially if someone has also mentioned the word hysterectomy. The reassuring part is that LEEP is a short, common procedure that removes the problem in most people with one treatment. Hysterectomy is rarely needed for cervical dysplasia, and guidelines…
Hysterectomy is one of the main treatments for early cervical cancer, but it is not the only one, and it is not always the best one. Whether surgery is offered, and which kind, depends mostly on the stage of the cancer: how big the tumor is and whether it has spread. For some small tumors…
Many women with endometriosis are told, at some point, that a hysterectomy will “fix it.” The truth is more complicated. Removing the uterus can help some people a great deal, but endometriosis grows mostly outside the uterus, so a hysterectomy on its own does not remove the disease.[1][2] What matters most is what else is…