My doctor says that my fibroid tumor is making me bleed heavily and giving me pain each month. He wants me to submit to surgery, but I don’t like hospitals. Could you please tell me if there are any other alternatives? —L.B. Dugway, Utah Fibroid tumors can grow in the middle of the uterine wall [...]

The early complications are those related to the surgery itself, and include infection, bleeding, accidental damage to other organs, and, because there is a time of lying around recovering, there is a risk of developing a blood clot in the leg or lungs (deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism). The rate of these complications is [...]

A woman’s image of herself is often dramatically changed by breast surgery. This may not affect some women much at all, but for many it is a significant and difficult change to come to terms with, and can be the cause of psychological distress. The impact of breast surgery can be lessened by getting explanations, [...]

When a man is sterilized, he has a small operation to block off the tubes that carry sperm, and then he cannot make a woman pregnant any more. The tubes that are blocked are called the vas deferens, though we usually just call them the vas for short. The sterilization procedure for men is called [...]

Things to think about if you are considering a Progestogen IUD • Your periods will change and you are likely to have irregular bleeding for the first three to five months after you have a Progestogen IUD inserted. If you keep the IUD for longer than this, it is common to have very few periods. [...]

It isn’t quite as effective as the combined pill so it is not used as often in Australia. The minipill is the name most people use when they are talking about the progestogen-only pill be. This type of pill contains only one hormone, progestogen, and you may also hear the minipill called the POP, which [...]