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New Options for Women with Excessive or Painful Periods: Endometrial Ablation Offers Freedom from the Constance of the Menstrual Cycle

Dr. Michael Benjamin, Ob/Gyn

One in five women in Florida and across the country suffers from a condition few have even heard about. Heavy and prolonged periods, known as menorrhagia, affect 10 million women in the U.S. Women with excessive menstrual bleeding face a number of effects, ranging from chronic fatigue and anemia to embarrassing accidents and restricted activity that may wreak havoc on a woman’s personal and professional life.

While the clinical definition of menorrhagia is 80 milliliters of blood loss per cycle, it isn’t necessary to measure exact blood loss before determining if a woman is suffering. Women may not understand what the condition is, but those suffering from menorrhagia know that their periods place limitations on their normal day-to-day activities. Many women can’t leave the house for days each month because the blood loss makes them extremely tired, they experience painful cramping or for fear of embarrassment. Other women feel that their job performance is diminished due to constant anxiety and worry about having enough protection. Sometimes vacations are scheduled around their unpredictable menstrual calendars, causing vacations to be ruined or even cancelled.

Some of the signs that you might have menorrhagia are:

  • Your period lasts for more than 7 days;
  • You use twenty or more sanitary napkins or tampons in a single day during your period;
  • You have to change your sanitary napkin or tampon approximately every hour or less;
  • You experience spotting or bleeding between menstrual periods.

Many women suffering from menorrhagia don’t recognize that their symptoms may be a result of a known and treatable condition, others are too embarrassed to bring up the subject with their friends, family or even their physicians, and still others see their prolonged and excessively heavy bleeding as an inconvenience rather than a health risk. Many women are suffering unnecessarily when minimally invasive and effective treatments are locally available.

In the past, women suffering from menorrhagia were typically offered treatments ranging from drug therapy to hysterectomy. However, for many women these treatments proved ineffective or unnecessarily invasive. Hormone therapy is usually effective only 50 percent of the time, dilation and curettage (D&C) is usually effective for only fifteen percent of women and is only a temporary solution.

The most invasive treatment, hysterectomy, remains the single most common option. There are 200,000 hysterectomies performed each year to alleviate excessive menstrual bleeding. While hysterectomy is an effective treatment option that may be best for some women suffering from a variety of gynecological issues, the surgery is also associated with risks and complications, including sexual dysfunction, long recovery times and chronic pain. For women suffering from excessive menstrual bleeding due to benign causes, there are less invasive options available today.

Locally, physicians now offer safe, effective and fast alternatives for women who have completed their families and no longer want to suffer from debilitating symptoms. Treatments such as endometrial ablation, which use a variety of techniques to remove the lining of the uterus, are changing women’s lives by reducing or altogether eliminating their periods.

Specifically, one alternative treatment option includes an endometrial ablation procedure called the NovaSure System®, which uses precisely measured radio frequency energy delivered via a slender, hand-held tube to destroy the uterine lining. The system reduces or eliminates excessive bleeding, requiring no incisions, and minimal recovery time. The treatment is non-invasive, takes 90-seconds, and is an out-patient procedure.

Studies have found NovaSure to be 97 percent effective in reducing or eliminating heavy periods. Additional benefits with NovaSure include that it is a one-time treatment that can be performed in the office environment and does not require any pre or post treatment with hormones.

If you experience any of these symptoms on a regular basis, talk to your gynecologist or visit www.novasure.com for more information.

Dr. Michael Benjamin is a practicing physician in Tamarac, Fla. who performs the NovaSure procedure in his office. For an appointment, please call (954) 726-7770.