The Different Types of Hysterectomies

There are a couple of different kinds of hysterectomies and they’re commonly confused:

First is a total hysterectomy where they take both the uterus and the cervix. Second is a subtotal or supracervical, which leaves the cervix in place.

Now, doctors seem keen to take out other stuff while they’re in there. Things like the ovaries and appendix. This is something I just can’t fathom. There is a very strong history of doctors being told to “first do no harm.” To regard a healthy gland such as the ovaries as something to be discarded in an otherwise healthy woman is just malicious.

I’m not sure where doctors got it into their head to remove healthy ovaries. I’ve started looking around and there’s really no studies to back it up. Statistics say that there will be less ovarian cancer, but that’s about it. I mean, we could remove my thyroid to get rid of my already low risk of getting thyroid cancer and put me on thyroid hormones for the rest of my life, but why would we? They don’t remove a man’s testicles when they do prostate operations.

Why? What led them to believe that this was a good idea?

So, removing the uterus is a hysterectomy. The press gets this confused a lot because doctors seem confused. They say that hysterectomy causes this or that, but in reality it’s removing the ovaries in most cases.

Removing the ovaries is called either oophorectomy or castration. That’s right, removing the gonads in the either sex is castration. I bet if you went to the doctor and he said he’d like to castrate you while he’s there in your abdomen you’d decline his kind offer.

It’s time for women to stop having to defend their ovaries – when a woman goes to the doctor for a hysterectomy she’s asked if she wants her ovaries taken out, or a doctor checks that she is, and if she doesn’t say anything there they go.

Elizabeth M. writes about her hysterectomy recovery at HealthDiaries.com