Six early signs of ovarian cancer to watch out for

Just like other cancers, ovarian cancer is when abnormal cells in the ovary begin to multiply out of control and form a tumour. Ovaries are the female reproductive organs in which ova, or eggs, are produced.

When unnoticed and unattended to, ovarian cancer may spread to the rest of the body. Currently, there are three types of ovarian cancer namely: Epithelial (tumors develop in the layer of tissue on the outside of the ovaries), Stromal (tumors grow in hormone-producing cells) and Germ cell (tumors develop in egg-producing cells).

Treating ovarian cancer in its early stages prevents it from affecting other parts of your body. This means you should diagnose and start early treatment.

There are several signs that suggest you may have tumour in your ovaries including:

Prolonged pelvic area pain

As the growth of a tumour for ovarian cancer takes place in the pelvic area, you might experience pain that doesn’t go away after normal treatment. This constant pain could be from the affected organs themselves or from surrounding areas that have been prodded to create space for the growing tumour.

Bloating

Although bloating can be caused by varying reasons including the food you eat, persistent bloating hat won’t go away could be a warning sign. When accompanied by additional symptoms such as sharp abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting, frequent urination, or constipation, bloating could be as a result of developing cancer cells growth.

Menstrual changes

Irregular bleeding in most women is always a red flag that goes unnoticed for many women. This could be excessive bleeding, bleeding in between the usual periods, bleeding after menopause among others are all possible indications of a growth in the ovaries. Abnormal cramping should also not be ignored especially if the pain is constant and refuses to go away after a while.

Back pain

A most ignored early symptom, back pain caused by tension created in your pelvic area by tumour growth is a sign you should attend to. When cancerous cells grow into tumours, they cause your abdomen to grow bigger hence pushing against surrounding organs. This also puts a strain on your back causing a dull pain that will not go away but increase as the tumour grows.

Feeling full sooner

Another early sign is quick satiety whenever you want to eat. You will notice that now you can no longer finish half of servings you used to eat on a normal day. Lack of appetite and constant constipation may also accompany the fullness and you might feel like skipping meals without even feeling hungry.

Urgent need to pee

Many women who were diagnosed with ovarian cancer say they had an urge to visit the washrooms quite frequently to pee. While this could be as a result of a Urinary Tract Infection, urinary symptoms are new to you and last more than several days should not be ignored.

Feeling pressure or pain in the bladder that accompanies sudden urgent need to pee and frequent urge that keeps you from doing your normal tasks well could be a warning for ovarian cancer.