Introduction
Having cervical cancer can be very scary for any female, young and old. Cervical cancer symptoms can mimic other issues that include back pain, pelvic pain, and pain in the legs, pain in the shoulders and pain in the abdomen that a female could confuse with having their menstrual cycle. If these symptoms continue over time or get worse, it may be time to go see the doctor. If cervical cancer is detected, many measures can be taken to help cure the cancer.
History
The most common cause of cervical cancer is the human papilloma virus or HPV. It is spread from skin-to-skin contact and sexual intercourse. The HPV infection can also cause a condition called condyloma, which is non-cancerous. Usually the body will clear out the infection but if the virus persists, it can cause cancer. Symptoms of cervical cancer are often not noticed and can be contributed to other things. The cervical cancer symptoms include pain after intercourse, unusual bleeding in between periods and more. Women often ignore these symptoms because they happen at other times of the month and think it is all related. There are different stages of cervical cancer and the doctor will have to do tests to see which stage you may have. A cervical cancer’s stage is based on the following: the size of the cancer, how deeply the cancer has gone into tissue around the cervix, if there are signs of the cancer in the vagina, pelvis or lymph nodes or if it has spread to nearby organs. Once your doctor can determine the stage of the cervical cancer symptoms, the faster treatment can be started.
Features
For early stage cervical cancer symptoms, one of the most common treatments is a radical hysterectomy which is the removal of the cervix and uterus. Depending on your age and the stage of the cancer, your doctor might want to try radiation therapy that is also combined with chemotherapy. The high radiation from the radiation therapy stops the growth of the cancer cells. The radiation therapy can be done two ways: Brach therapy or external beam therapy. With external beam therapy, it is done outside the body and can help lessen the chance that good tissue gets ruined with radiation. There are some side effects from radiation that include feeling tired, frequent urge to urinate, pain when urinating and having loose bowels. Most of these side effects will go away after stopping the treatment. Unfortunately, most women going through cervical cancer symptoms and treatments will not be able to have children afterwards. This is something that you will want to discuss with your doctor before you go into treatment. Of course, not having treatment will cause the cancer to advance.
Tips and comments
The best advice that you will ever find is to use condoms if you are going to be sexually active. However, these are only going to protect you from sexual transmitted diseases and will not stop you from getting HPV. You need to be careful of who you sleep with. Safe sex is your best practice.
