The endometrium is the lining of the womb that builds up every month in preparation for pregnancy. If there is no pregnancy the lining is shed (your period) and the process starts again.
Adenomyosis is where the endometrial cells grow in the muscle of the womb, again leading to a lot of pain around the time of the period.
Bacterial vaginosis or BV for short is when the natural balance of the friendly bacteria in the vagina is altered and they overgrow. This typically leads to a foul smelling or fishy discharge. Women with BV have higher numbers of undesirable bacteria and correspondingly fewer of other normal protective bacteria.
When the yeast Candida, which is naturally found in small amounts in your vagina, overgrows it produces a white vaginal discharge that can be intensely itchy. Like Bacterial vaginosis, this is not a foreign infection, simply your own friendly bugs taking advantage of a change in circumstances in the vagina (time of cycle, air travel, sex, change in diet or lifestyle, stress). It can be treated with anifungal pessaries and cream, and also by a tablet (Diflucan).
Cancer of the neck of the womb can affect women at an earlier age. It presents when it is quite advanced with irregular or unpredictable vaginal bleeding. Cells go through precancerous change before becoming cancerous. A cervical smear can look at the cells from your cervix and pick up precancerous change. At this stage you can be cured with a colposcopy, avoiding the need for surgery or radiotherapy later.
If you have very minor changes to the cells of your cervix you may be monitored with repeat colposcopies until the body returns the cells to normal. Where there are more advanced precancerous changes you will require removal or treatment of the cells, with laser, diathermy or a process called cold coagulation If you are in the early stages of cancer you may require a radical hysterectomy, and for later stages of cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy is usually recommended.
This is a term we use to describe heavy or unacceptable menstrual loss, where the diagnosis is unclear. It can be caused by failing to ovulate (produce an egg) or simply be a consequence of the uterus being unable to control bleeding as it gets older.
The glands that produce hormones in our body comprise the endocrine system. Too much or too little hormone production can cause problems with weight gain or loss as well as skin changes including excessive hair growth. For instance, excess production of the thyroid hormone, can lead to a loss of periods as well as weight loss. Too little thyroid hormone (hypothyroidism) can lead to weight gain and heavy periods.
There are many other less common causes for weight change. If the problems persists, you should seek medical advice.
This cancer usually affects a woman after the menopause. The classic symptom is bleeding after the menopause (post menopausal bleeding, PMB). If you suffer PMB your doctor will arrange an ultrasound scan to check on the lining of your womb. You will also probably require a hysteroscopy and biopsy of the womb lining (the endometrium).
Above: Ultrasound image of increased endometrial thickness
A polyp is a growth of the lining of the uterus (the endometrium). It can bleed irregularly or make your periods heavy.
An ultrasound scan uses echoes from a transducer (probe) to create an ultrasound picture. By using many echo pulses many times a second and processing the information through a powerful computer we can produce a real time image of internal organs. With ultrasound the nearer you are to the object you want to examine, the better the quality of the picture that can be obtained. By using a transvaginal probe we can visualise the uterus and ovaries in great detail.
Above: Ultrasound image of a normal uterus, with pointers to myometrium and endometrium. This allows us to diagnose problems in early pregnancy, including the investigation of threatened miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy.
A polyp can be easily removed by performing a hysteroscopy (see hysteroscopy), which allows us to see inside the uterus. The cavity and lining of the uterus may also be disturbed by the presence of fibroids. It is important to know both the size and location of fibroids when contemplating removal of these tumours. A small sub mucous fibroid (in the middle of the womb, distorting the lining) can be removed with an operative hysteroscopy.
Above: Ultrasound image of increased endometrial thickness.
The endometrium is the lining of the womb that builds up every month in preparation for pregnancy. If there is no pregnancy the lining is shed (your period) and the process starts again. Endometriosis is a condition where, for reasons that we do not know, the endometrial cells start growing outside the womb, typically in the pelvis. When they bleed internally they can lead to a lot of pain, especially during sex and around the time of the period. An endometrioma (often called a chocolate cyst as the contents look like liquid chocolate) is a cyst on the ovary caused by endometriosis. In addition to pain and bleeding, endometriosis can lead to problems with fertility.
Fibroids are very common benign, non-cancerous growths (tumour) of the muscle and fibre of the womb (uterus). They may cause no difficulty, but can cause problems with pain, bleeding and fertility. The location of the fibroid is more important than the size of the fibroid. For instance a 5cm fibroid growing out of the top of the uterus (the fundus) is much less likely to cause problems with bleeding or fertility when compared to a 2cm fibroid growing in the middle (subendometrial or submucous) of the womb.
An ultrasound scan uses echoes from a transducer (probe) to create an ultrasound picture. By using many echo pulses many times a second and processing the information through a powerful computer we can produce a real time image of internal organs. With ultrasound the nearer you are to the object you want to examine, the better the quality of the picture that can be obtained. By using a transvaginal probe we can visualise the uterus and ovaries in great detail.
Above: Ultrasound image of a normal uterus, with pointers to myometrium and endometrium. This allows us to diagnose problems in early pregnancy, including the investigation of threatened miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy.
Alternately sub serous fibroids (on the outside surface of the womb) can be removed laparoscopically (Laparoscopy) or if multiple and large, by open myomectomy, or even hysterectomy (hysterectomy), if a woman’s family is complete and she does not want to have problems with new fibroids in the future.
Above: Ultrasound image of a fibroid uterus.