Life Insurance With Uterine Fibroids
Fibroids are among the commonest findings on a pelvic scan, and for many women they are an incidental discovery that needs nothing.
For others they are the reason behind years of heavy bleeding, and the treatment can go as far as major surgery.
The distance between those two situations is why the treatment, rather than the diagnosis, is what an application is after.
The short answer
Fibroids are non-cancerous growths in the muscle of the womb, and a large proportion of women have them without knowing. Where they cause heavy bleeding or pressure symptoms, treatment ranges from medication through procedures such as uterine artery embolisation to surgery including myomectomy and hysterectomy. Whichever of those applies is the substantive entry.
What it is
Fibroids are benign growths of the muscular wall of the uterus. They vary from a few millimetres to very large, and their position matters more than their size for symptoms: those distorting the cavity cause bleeding, while large ones can press on the bladder or bowel.
They are usually found on ultrasound. Management ranges from no treatment through medication to control bleeding, hormonal treatment, uterine artery embolisation, surgical removal of individual fibroids known as myomectomy, and hysterectomy. They commonly shrink after menopause.
Why it comes up on an application
- Incidental, symptom-free fibroids are a scan finding and a brief entry.
- Heavy bleeding from fibroids frequently causes iron deficiency anaemia, which is a measured diagnosis with treatment and is worth declaring in its own right.
- Uterine artery embolisation is a radiological procedure, not an operation, and worth naming precisely.
- Myomectomy and hysterectomy are major operations with dates and recovery periods, and should be stated as surgery.
- Fibroids are monitored with repeat scans in some women, which is a continuing medical relationship rather than a one-off.
- Where fibroids have been relevant to fertility or pregnancy, that is a separate history worth mentioning.
What we would ask you
- When they were found, and how
- Whether they cause symptoms, and which
- Whether you have been anaemic because of bleeding
- What treatment you have had: medication, embolisation, myomectomy or hysterectomy
- Whether you are being monitored with repeat scans
- Whether you are currently off work or working reduced hours because of an accident, injury or illness
- Whether you are waiting on any medical tests, appointments or treatment
- Whether you have been diagnosed with or treated for cancer in the last five years
- Whether a parent, brother or sister was diagnosed with cancer, heart disease or a stroke before 65
- Any medication you take
- Whether you smoke, and your date of birth
Name The Procedure Precisely
Fibroid treatment has several distinct options and they are not interchangeable on a form.
Uterine artery embolisation is performed by a radiologist through a catheter, blocking the blood supply to the fibroids. Myomectomy is surgery to remove individual fibroids while keeping the uterus. Hysterectomy removes the uterus altogether and is major surgery. Endometrial ablation treats the lining rather than the fibroids.
Each has a different scale and a different recovery, so say which you had and roughly when. "Treated for fibroids" could mean a tablet or it could mean an abdominal hysterectomy, and the difference is considerable.
Do Not Forget The Anaemia
This is the entry most often omitted, because it feels like a consequence rather than a condition.
Fibroids that cause heavy bleeding deplete iron, and iron deficiency anaemia is a diagnosis with a blood test, a ferritin level and usually treatment behind it. Some women have had iron infusions, which means a hospital attendance.
On an application that is objective, dated information and it belongs on the form. Our page on iron deficiency and anaemia covers it in full, and declaring both the fibroids and the anaemia is more complete than either alone.
Which cover is relevant
The usual starting point. An incidental finding is a brief entry; major surgery and any anaemia sit more prominently in the picture.
Genuinely relevant. Hysterectomy and myomectomy involve weeks of recovery, and heavy bleeding causes recurring absence for some women.
Pays on diagnosis of a listed serious condition, and fibroids are not one, though some policies cover specified surgery. Read the definitions rather than assume.
Common questions
Do I need to declare fibroids if they cause no symptoms?+
If you are asked about diagnosed conditions or investigations, yes, and it is a brief entry. They were found on a scan, so there is an investigation in your record, and saying they are symptom-free is useful in itself.
I had a hysterectomy. How should I describe it?+
As major surgery, with roughly when and the reason. It is a substantial operation with weeks of recovery, and it should not be summarised as treatment for fibroids.
What is uterine artery embolisation?+
A procedure performed by a radiologist through a catheter to block the blood supply to the fibroids. It is worth naming precisely, because it is a different scale of intervention from surgery or from medication.
Should I mention being anaemic?+
Yes, and it is the entry most often left off. Anaemia from heavy bleeding is a measured diagnosis with a blood test and usually treatment, and if you had iron infusions that was a hospital attendance.
I am being scanned every year. Does that matter?+
It is worth saying. Monitoring with repeat scans is a continuing medical relationship rather than a one-off finding, and it is a fair answer to a question about ongoing investigations.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this one.