I have been postmenopausal for at least 8 or 9 years. I have a past history of uterine tumors however they have not bothered me since I went off of Estrogen 6 years ago. The past two days I started vaginal bleeding - fairly heavy. I will be going to doctor next week, however just wondered if this has happened to others and what was the outcome.
2006-11-04 05:50:35 · 1 answers · asked by SusieDarling 2 in Health ➔ Women's Health
Postmenopausal bleeding is always taken very seriously by physicians. This is because (unfortunately), 1 out of 10 women with this problem prove to have endometrial cancer.
Which means (good news), 90% of the time it is not!
The vast majority of the time it is due to what is called "atrophy" of the vaginal mucosa or endometrium...or from polyps...or fibroids. All of these can be treated appropriately and (of course) are not concerning compared to the 10% chance of having cancer.
In any event, your doctor will do a thorough history (asking a lot of questions to assess your risk of cancer) and exam. In the end, though...an ultrasound or endometrial biopsy (small collection of tissue taken from your endometrium, the lining of the uterus) is a must to make sure it isn't endometrial cancer.
Hopefully, it is just a fibroid in your case!
2006-11-05 08:05:55 · answer #1 · answered by yachadhoo 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋