Somewhere in many Nigerian families, wahala is growing quietly inside a womb, yet nobody wants to mention it. Walk into an owambe, church programme or market and look at the women around you. Research suggests that seven to eight out of every 10 Black women may develop fibroids during their lifetime.
Fibroids are common, but the silence surrounding them remains dangerous.
When NEPA takes light, everyone complains. But when a woman’s womb develops a fibroid, nobody may notice. Sometimes, even she does not know.
What a fibroid actually is
A fibroid is a non-cancerous growth made of muscle and fibrous tissue that develops in or around the womb.
It is not cancer. It is not what your village people sent after you. It is not the work of a spiritual husband.
Many fibroids cause no symptoms and are only discovered during a scan for another condition.
Others can cause heavy or painful periods, frequent urination, constipation, pelvic pressure or a swollen stomach.
For some women, the bleeding becomes so heavy that they plan their lives around toilets and sanitary products. They sit through church services wondering whether they can make it to the end without staining their clothes.
Others develop a swollen stomach and must endure questions about pregnancy from people who should know better
The myths
Fibroids do not affect only older women. They can develop in women in their twenties and, in some cases, teenagers.
Age may increase the risk, but fibroids do not wait for marriage or motherhood. A fibroid diagnosis is also not an infertility diagnosis.
Many women with fibroids conceive and carry pregnancies without complications. However, some fibroids can affect fertility or pregnancy, depending on their size, number and location.
That conversation should happen between a woman and her doctor. It should not become a sentence whispered by relatives at a family meeting.
Fibroids are not a death sentence or a spiritual attack.
In most cases, they are not life-threatening. However, untreated heavy bleeding can cause severe anaemia. A woman may become weak, dizzy, constantly tired or short of breath because she has lost too much blood over time.
That is the real danger. It is a reason to seek medical care early, not to hide the condition or pray it away.
Agbo and massage will not cure fibroids. There is no reliable medical evidence that herbal mixtures or massage can remove them. These methods may delay proper treatment while the fibroids continue to grow or the bleeding becomes worse.
Treatment options you should know
Many women believe they have only two choices: endure the symptoms or remove the womb. That is not true.
Treatment depends on the woman’s symptoms, age, plans for pregnancy and the size, number and location of the fibroids.
Some medicines can control heavy bleeding or temporarily shrink fibroids. Myomectomy removes the fibroids while preserving the womb and may suit women who want to retain their fertility.
Less invasive procedures are also available. Uterine fibroid embolisation blocks the blood vessels supplying the fibroids, causing them to shrink over time. Radiofrequency ablation uses heat to destroy fibroid tissue without a large surgical cut.
These procedures are not available in every Nigerian hospital, and they may not suit every woman. However, women deserve to know about them before assuming open surgery is their only option.
A hysterectomy, which removes the womb, may be appropriate when symptoms are severe and future pregnancy is not a priority. But it is one option among several, not the automatic answer to every diagnosis.
Why silence remains dangerous
We do not talk openly enough about periods. Women may bleed through a sanitary pad within an hour and still believe they should endure it quietly. Some carry spare wrappers to work, church or social events because they fear staining their clothes.
Others try herbal mixtures, visit spiritual homes or ignore their symptoms until the pain becomes unbearable.
Shame does not shrink a fibroid. Silence does not stop the bleeding. Delaying care can make a manageable condition more difficult to treat.
Pay attention when your periods become heavier, longer or more painful. Do not ignore persistent pelvic pressure, frequent urination or unexplained swelling around your stomach.
Speak with a qualified health professional and get examined. Your doctor may recommend a pelvic ultrasound or another appropriate test based on your symptoms.
A fibroid should never become a secret you carry because you fear judgment.
So, sis, let me ask you plainly: have your periods changed? Have you experienced unusual bleeding, pain or swelling? When last did you speak with a doctor about your reproductive health?
Do not laugh it off in the family WhatsApp group. Do not allow shame, fear or misinformation to decide for you. Get tested today!
Dr Isioma Okolo is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, Harvard-trained global public health researcher and women’s health writer. She writes about medicine, women’s lives and the social systems shaping health across Africa and the diaspora.
