Heavy Bleeding or Irregular Menstrual Cycles

Heavy bleeding is usually defined as bleeding that is disruptive to your life. If you are soaking pads and changing them often, usually in less than an hour, or you are having embarrassing bleeding accidents you may have an underlying condition causing these heavy periods. 

Heavy or irregular menses can be caused by uterine polyps, uterine fibroids (benign smooth muscle tumors of the uterus), and hormonal imbalance. 

At Santa Fe OBGYN we offer the latest and most advanced technologies for diagnosisng and treating the causes of heavy bleeding.

Hysteroscopy

Hysteroscopy is the inspection of the uterine cavity to identify uterine polyps or fibroids.  The hysteroscope is a small thin flexible scope introduced into the uterus.  Saline is instilled into the uterus to distend the uterus and visualize the cavity with a camera attached to the hysteroscope.  We utilize a small flexible endoscope called Endosee to do minor diagnostic hysteroscopy in the office to identify uterine polyps or fibroids within the uterine cavity.  In office hysteroscopy is performed in our procedure room with a hysteroscope that has an operating channel that allows us to remove small polyps or take biopsies.  Larger polyps or fibroids would need to be removed in the operating room as a day surgery procedure.  Read More About Hysterectomy

Endometrial Biopsy

Endometrial biopsy is a diagnostic test to evaluate the endometrium (lining of the uterus) for cellular abnormalities that might be causing irregular or heavy bleeding.  A small thin (3mm) catheter is introduced into the uterine cavity to obtain a biopsy of the lining.  This procedure can be uncomfortable so you will be offered pain medication, if desired, for the procedure.

Endometrial Ablation

When the lining of the uterus is excessive, or when hormonal irregularities cause more build up of uterine lining, it can result in heavy menstrual bleeding or irregular periods. An endometrial ablation is a procedure that cauterizes or removes all or part of this lining, which reduces bleeding since less tissue develops. Read More About Endometrial Ablation