Self-Care Strategies for Uterine Fibroids

Improve Pelvic Blood Flow

Like we talked about earlier, Chinese medicine views poor blood flow as one of the main causes behind fibroids. The impaired flow eventually leads to blockages and ultimately the growth of fibrous tissues. In such situations try:

• Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine: both can promote blood flow to the uterus and help to reduce fibroid sizes.

• Apply heat packs with castor oil to the lower abdomen: heat helps to promote movement of blood and improve circulation. Castor oil can break down inflammation and scar tissue. This is especially effective for women who get menstrual cramp relief from heating pads.

Keep your Liver Happy

Like we talked about, your liver is responsible for metabolizing and inactivating excess estrogen in the body. If your liver is not happy, you will be holding on to more than you need and this can encourage fibroid growth.

In Chinese medicine, when we treat gynecological issues, one of the most important organs we look at and treat is the liver.

Things you can do to keep your liver happy are:

• Avoid alcohol: alcohol keeps your liver from functioning optimally. Sub-optimal liver performance puts you at risk for estrogen excess and fibroid growth.

• Avoid excessive medication usage: Some medications are necessary to manage health issues but be mindful of what you are consuming. This ranges from pharmaceuticals to over-the-counter pain killers, cold medicines, acid blockers and even supplements. Most drugs need to be metabolized by the liver and over time, excessive usage can lead to liver injury.

• Eat REAL food: fermented foods, fruits, nuts, seeds, cruciferous vegetables, dark leafy greens, good quality protein, wild caught fatty fish are all great foods that support a healthy liver.

Exercise

Excess body fat can cause your body to produce too much estrogen. If you have fibroids this can be an issue because that extra estrogen can be fueling their growth.

Exercise also helps improve insulin sensitivity. When insulin sensitivity improves, your body properly uses the sugar in your blood as energy instead of storing it as more fat in the body. So this helps decrease excess body fat and hence, excess estrogen production.

Say NO to Xenoestrogens

Xenoestrogens are foreign estrogens – meaning they come from outside the body through our food and environment. Their name is derived in that they mimic estrogen because of certain similarities, and as a result, are able to trigger similar hormonal responses in the body. This can lead to an over-dominance of estrogen in the body. Xenoestrogens are considered endocrine disruptors, which means they mess with the normal functioning of your body’s hormones.

Here are some simple ways to reducing your exposure:

• Switch your plastic containers to glass

• Avoid foods sprayed with pesticides. Eat organic when possible.

• Check your beauty and household cleaning products for phthalates and parabens (two notorious endocrine disrupting chemicals).

• Hormonal contraceptives: if you’re not using the pill for contraceptive purposes, but for menstrual issues, consider holistic methods of treatment first.

• Eat grass-fed, organic meat: this has more to do with what the animal you’re eating has been fed and exposed to. Animals that aren’t grass-fed, and organically raised tend to be fed with pesticide ridden grains and injected with growth hormones. When we eat these animals, those very toxins are transferred into our bodies.

Maintain Gut Health

Your gut plays an integral role in estrogen metabolism. If your body isn’t pooping out that extra estrogen then your body ends up accumulating too much in the body.

How to keep your gut healthy:

• Avoid antibiotics when possible: antibiotics destroy your gut bacteria and this can compromise its ability to properly metabolize estrogen.

• Eat resistant starches: these are starchy foods that resist digestion in the small intestine and ferment in the large intestine. This fermentation feeds the good bacteria in your intestines. Examples of resistance starches are:

  • Legumes such as beans, lentils, chickpeas

  • Green bananas (unripe bananas)

  • Whole grains such as oats

  • White rice that is cooked and cooled

Reduce Inflammation

Inflammation becomes a problem when it lingers long-term in your body. Short bursts of inflammation to manage acute situations like injuries or infections are normal, but when it keeps going on and on it’s going to wreak havoc. For a person with fibroids, this is important because chronic inflammation can make your body’s estrogen receptors more sensitive to estrogen. This hypersensitivity causes your body to have an extra-strong reaction to even normal amounts of estrogen in the body. This can fuel fibroid growth.

Ways to reduce inflammation are:

• Reduce dairy consumption: for some people, dairy can create inflammation because of their body’s sensitivity to a protein called A1 casein. Consuming dairy on a daily basis can then perpetuate these daily bouts of inflammation in the body.

• Eat those veggies: vegetables are rich in phytonutrients that help lower inflammation. The one caveat are nightshade vegetables. These are tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and potatoes. They are said to aggravate inflammation in some people.

• Ditch the vegetable oils: cooking oils such as canola, corn, and cottonseed oil contain an abnormally high amount of omega-6 fatty acids. High amounts of this fatty acid can encourage inflammation. Try cooking with olive oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil instead.

Be Honest with your Emotions

In Chinese medicine, emotional health can be a big contributing factor in the formation of fibroids. Holding on to strong emotions long term (like anger or sadness) will slowly start to compromise the physical functioning of the body. It’s important to acknowledge and explore all emotions, even if it can be uncomfortable.

Get Help: Schedule Your Consult with Dr. Aylee Today

If you feel you may have an issue with your reproductive system, or you’ve recently received a diagnosis from your care provider and are interested in finding out more about alternative methods, we can help! We routinely treat, with a high degree of success, women with fertility issues, homonal imbalances, and uterine fibroids. You don’t have to just live with it, or go into surgery. Remember, no surgery is a minor surgery, there is always a recovery period, often times complications or pain and the possibility of recurrence. We can and do heal women naturally on a routine basis and we can help you too!