1ON1 with Dr. Alexandra Kidd of HonorHealth at Gynecology Today
By Terrance Thornton | Digital Free Press
It’s a fact of life all of us endure and none of us can escape — our health will likely evolve as we enter adulthood and continue this constant change into our golden years.
The anatomy of men and women is different and as we age new ailments emerge meanwhile attention and care for ourselves becomes much more a part of cognizant thought.
One inescapable truth of many women is the development of uterine fibroids.
Uterine fibroids develop when muscle fibers from the uterus grow and form a mass. They can be located on the inside, outside or in the wall of the uterus. They are almost always benign, and you may not even realize that you have them. In fact, more than 50% of all women have fibroids or will develop them in their lifetime.
“Uterine fibroids are the cause of heavy menstrual periods, they can cause anemia and typically exhaustion and fatigue,” Dr. Alexandra Kidd, who is chair of the department of OBGYN at HonorHealth, and the president of Gynecology Today, told the Digital Free Press. “They are often a cause of pelvic pain and pressure in that area. They can be as small as a pea or as large as a watermelon.”
Dr. Kidd received her medical degree in 2000 and moved to Arizona in 2004 to provide OBGYN care to Native American Women with the Indian Health Service and continues to provide care on the weekend at the Phoenix Indian Medical Center.
“The prevalence of fibroids are the most common growth in a women’s pelvis,” she said. “They are benign tumors that we generally start seeing with women in their 20s, 30s and 40s as a lot of people don’t have symptoms but having them undiagnosed can put pressure and create blood clots in your leg — You can get a blood clot in your leg because of fibroids.”
Dr. Kidd performs laparoscopic and robotic hysterectomy, myomectomy (fibroid removal), and surgical evaluation of pelvic pain, endometriosis, and abnormal bleeding. Dr. Kidd offers endometrial ablation to stop heavy periods.
But Dr. Kidd reminds there are treatment options that are minimally invasive.
“If there are concerns and if you have heavy menstrual cycles — if you are bleeding more than seven days in a month or if you are changing pads or tampon every two hours — this is too much blood loss,” she explained. “The other thing that wold prompt a trip to the doctor other than the heavy bleeding, the pelvic pressure or pelvic pain or all indications to see your healthcare provider.”
Dr. Kidd explains it is estimated that 70% of all women have some form of fibroid.
“It is very common with one woman telling me, ‘Oh I am having a heavy period and I have to call out of work.’ If you are a woman who can’t leave the house when you are on your period, you should speak with your healthcare provider.”
Dr. Kidd and her team specialize in menopause management. Hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, fatigue, decreased concentration, low sex drive, dry vagina, and painful intercourse can be treated with hormone therapy.
“I have seen fibroids in patients grow from 3 centimeters to 6 centimeters over a year — I have taken out fibroids as large as a watermelon,” she said. “For treatment options we have hormone treatment and no incision treatments.”
