Fibroids frequently come back after they are surgically removed. This is not a failure of the surgery — myomectomy removes the growths that are there, and does not alter whatever conditions in the body allowed them to form. At Nature’s Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture Clinic in Belmont (Perth) and Geraldton, Dr. Yang assesses that underlying pattern, working alongside the gynaecologist managing your care.
The recurrence figures are worth knowing
Many women are surprised by how common recurrence is, because it is not always discussed in detail before surgery.
Two different things get called “recurrence”, and separating them matters.
Fibroids detected again on imaging is the higher number. Reported rates vary widely depending on follow-up length and how closely women are scanned — figures cited across the literature include roughly 12–15% at one year, 31–43% at three years, 51–62% at five years, and up to 84% at eight years. Many of these are ultrasound findings in women who have no symptoms.
Needing another operation is a much lower number, and it is the one most women actually care about. A 2021 study following 592 women after abdominal myomectomy for large fibroids found that 12% went on to have further uterine surgery. The authors note this sits below the average, with other studies citing figures around 23% after open myomectomy and somewhat higher after laparoscopic procedures.
Age and fibroid number both influence the risk, and women who have a child after myomectomy show lower recurrence.
None of this is an argument against surgery. Myomectomy relieves symptoms, and for many women it is the right decision. The point is narrower: the operation addresses what has already grown. The question of why it grew is a separate one, and it is usually left unasked.
What surgery does and does not change
Think of it the way you would think about a damp problem in a house.
If mould keeps appearing in the same corner, you can clean it off. The wall looks fine again. Whether it comes back depends entirely on whether anything changed about the moisture reaching that wall. Cleaning is necessary — nobody suggests living with mould — but cleaning is not the same as addressing why that corner stays damp.
Fibroid surgery is the cleaning step. It is often necessary and it works for what it does. Classical Chinese Medicine is interested in the second question.
What the classical assessment looks at
We assess across three mechanisms. In women with fibroids, two come up repeatedly.
Heart Drive — the warmth and movement that keeps pelvic circulation from stagnating. Where it runs low, the classic picture is cold hands and feet, period pain that eases with a heat pack, darker clotted menstrual blood, and fatigue that worsens around the period. Our Endometriosis & Period Pain page describes this as the cold uterus pattern, and it presents similarly here.
Fluid Flow — circulation and drainage. Where drainage is sluggish, women describe abdominal heaviness or a bearing-down sensation, bloating that worsens through the day and through the cycle, and a sense of fullness low in the pelvis that imaging does not fully account for.
Most women with fibroids show some combination of both, in proportions that differ from person to person. That proportion is what the assessment establishes, and it is why two women with fibroids of similar size are not managed identically.
Related: PMS, Adenomyosis, and our approach.
Being straight about what this can and cannot do
We are not going to tell you that a herbal formula dissolves fibroids.
What we assess and work with is the constitutional pattern and the symptom burden that sits alongside the fibroids — the period pain, the heaviness, the cold, the fatigue, the cycle irregularity. Many women find that burden is what actually shapes their month, and that it is treated as secondary once a fibroid has been identified on a scan.
Fibroid size and growth are monitored by your gynaecologist through imaging. That monitoring continues unchanged. If your fibroids are growing, or your bleeding is heavy enough to affect your iron levels, that is a medical question and it needs a medical answer.
When to seek medical care
Please see your GP or gynaecologist rather than waiting for an appointment with us if you have:
- Heavy bleeding — soaking through a pad or tampon hourly, passing large clots, or bleeding that is affecting your energy and iron levels. Fibroid-related bleeding is a common cause of iron-deficiency anaemia and needs proper management.
- Sudden severe pelvic pain, which can indicate a fibroid outgrowing its blood supply
- Rapid abdominal enlargement, or a noticeable change in the size or firmness of your abdomen
- Any bleeding after menopause — this always requires investigation
- Difficulty passing urine or opening your bowels, which can indicate pressure on adjacent structures
- Fertility concerns, where the position of a fibroid relative to the cavity is the clinically relevant question and needs specialist assessment
Helpful Habits
- ✓ Keep the lower abdomen and lower back warm, particularly in the week before your period
- ✓ Eat warm cooked meals; a heat pack low on the abdomen during the period is often welcome
- ✓ Consistent gentle movement — walking, swimming in warm water, gentle yoga
- ✓ Keep a simple cycle diary: bleeding days, heaviness, pain, clots. This is genuinely useful at consultation and at your gynaecology reviews
- ✓ Keep your imaging and iron studies up to date with your GP
Best Avoided
- ✗ Iced drinks and cold raw foods, especially during the period
- ✗ Sitting on cold surfaces or staying in wet swimwear
- ✗ Skipping monitoring appointments because symptoms feel manageable
- ✗ Unverified herbal or supplement products bought online for fibroids
- ✗ Delaying investigation of heavy bleeding — anaemia builds quietly
Working alongside your gynaecologist
If you are booked for surgery, keep the appointment. If you are under surveillance, keep the scans.
What we offer sits alongside that: an assessment of the pattern that the imaging does not describe, and work on the symptom burden that the scan does not measure. If you are considering surgery and want to understand what could be addressed constitutionally beforehand, that is a reasonable conversation to have — and it is one we would have with your gynaecologist’s management plan in front of us, not instead of it.
Sources for the recurrence figures cited above:
- Predictors of fibroid tumor recurrence after myomectomy — Fertility and Sterility
- Reoperation rates for recurrence of fibroids after abdominal myomectomy in women with large uterus — PLOS One
- Reintervention Rates After Myomectomy, Endometrial Ablation, and Uterine Artery Embolization — Journal of Women’s Health
- Analysis of risk factors for recurrence after laparoscopic myomectomy
Book an assessment
Dr. Yang consults at Belmont (Perth) and Geraldton, WA. HICAPS available on the spot at both clinics.
📚 Related Articles
- Adenomyosis — Different from Endometriosis
- Female Chronic Pelvic Pain — Overlapping Patterns
- Uterine Prolapse — Beyond Pelvic Floor Exercises
About this article
Who: Written by Dr. Valen Yang, AHPRA-registered Chinese Medicine practitioner, Nature’s Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture Clinic, Belmont and Geraldton WA. Registered with the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia.
How: Recurrence figures are drawn from the published gynaecological literature cited above. The pattern framework is drawn from classical pattern-differentiation texts and from presentations observed in clinical practice. Presentations described are composites; no individual patient is identified. Drafting assistance was used for structure and language; all clinical content was reviewed and approved by Dr. Yang before publication.
Why: Written for patient education. This article does not diagnose, does not advise for or against surgery, and is not a substitute for advice from your GP or gynaecologist.
Last reviewed: 20 July 2026 by Dr. Valen Yang