Lately health insurance agencies are cracking down on hysterectomy claims. This is because they believe that patients should try other forms of treatment before they opt for the hysterectomy procedure. There are not many alternatives to this procedure in existence. If you were to decide on a procedure other than a hysterectomy, chances are you would still need to have one performed in the future.
It is weird how many insurance companies consider a hysterectomy and elective surgery. If this procedure were elective, then why do so many women have a hysterectomy? Also, why would a woman electively choose to put her body under the knife unless it was truly needed? Maybe because of women in the past who would have hysterectomies performed as a precaution? Today women do not have the time unless the surgery was truly needed.
If you are told that you have to have a hysterectomy, you might want to consider your options. There are some alternatives like non-surgical procedures to support the pelvic organs. Endometrial ablation is being used now with great success. Like a hysterectomy, you may never bleed again. There are other procedures such as:
Hysteroscopy
Laparoscopy
Uterine fibroid embolization
There are also some non-surgical things a woman could to do lessen their chances of needing a hysterectomy. Some things like women should cut down on aspirin, if they take it for pain relief, or find another pain medication all together. Bleeding can be heavier for those who take aspirin because it is a blood thinner. People should also try simple dieting and exercising.
Hysterectomies are a medical procedure that could be the only option in some cases. In other cases there are alternatives. These alternatives should be discussed with your doctor, or researched on your own to find out what is the best option for your condition.
If insurance companies are refusing to pay for hysterectomy when it is not life saving that is definitely a step in the right direction. The most common reason for hysterectomy is fibroids. A hysterectomy is never needed for fibroids unless you have the wrong doctor. The only constructive method of managing fibroids that cause symptoms is myomectomy, surgical removal of fibroids leaving the uterus intact.
Other procedures and interventions being promoted by doctors and industry are destructive, such as ablation, which scars by burning the inside layer of the uterus, often causing unremitting pain that often leads to hysterectomy. Uterine artery embolization, also called uterine fibroid embolization, has resulted in several deaths, life-threatening infection, hemorrhage, death of the tissue of the labia, vagina, clitoris, bladder, bowel and kidney, all of which are well-documented in medical journals and by the FDA.
September 16th, 2007 at 2:37 pm