Understanding Your Body
To better understand fibroids, it helps to know
how your body works. Fibroids grow in and on the
uterus, or womb, which is the upside-down, pear
shaped, hollow organ located in the pelvis between
the bladder and the rectum. Extending from the
top of the uterus are the fallopian tubes, which
serve as the passageway for a woman's eggs. At
the end of each fallopian tube is an ovary. Each
month, the ovaries take turns releasing an egg.
After release, the egg travels through the fallopian
tubes, where it can be fertilized by the sperm.
If conception occurs, the fertilized egg continues
travelling into the uterus where it embeds itself
into the lining of the uterus. For the next nine
months, the blood supply of the uterus provides
the fetus with the necessary nutrients. In most
instances, the uterus contracts at the end of
pregnancy to begin labor and delivery of a baby.
If the egg is not fertilized, menstruation occurs.
During menstruation, the lining of the uterus
passes through the cervix -- the connection between
the upper uterus and the vagina -- then into the
vagina, where it is discharged from the body.
Depending on their location, fibroids can be
problematic at any point in the monthly cycle.
|
