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Can Ovaries Dried Up And Disappear?
I am 72 yrs. old and the last time I went for my pap test and exam about 1 yr ago the Dr. told me that my ovaries dried up and disappeared. I have never heard of this before. Could this be true? I went through minapause at 42 with no problems at all but now I am having hot flashes.
Wed, 26 Mar 2014
hi and welcome to HCM,
Your query is very relevant.
The ovaries do start to become atrophic [ smaller and non functional] after menopause. It is almost 30 years after menopause in your case. By now the ovaries are usually very small and may not be palpable to the hand on examination. Sometimes they are so atrophic that they look like small streaks of tissue even on ultrasound. So this is normal phenomenon and nothing to be worried about. It happens to every woman.
The hot flashes usually appear during the perimenopausal period though they may appear at any time depending upon when the estrogen levels become low.
So this is not unusual.
Kindly consult your doctor for short term hormone replacement therapy.
Do not worry. These are temporary and go away after some time.
Hope this satisfies your query.
Thanks for using HCM.
Feel free to ask any more questions that you may have.
Dr Madhuri Bagde
Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist
Your query is very relevant.
The ovaries do start to become atrophic [ smaller and non functional] after menopause. It is almost 30 years after menopause in your case. By now the ovaries are usually very small and may not be palpable to the hand on examination. Sometimes they are so atrophic that they look like small streaks of tissue even on ultrasound. So this is normal phenomenon and nothing to be worried about. It happens to every woman.
The hot flashes usually appear during the perimenopausal period though they may appear at any time depending upon when the estrogen levels become low.
So this is not unusual.
Kindly consult your doctor for short term hormone replacement therapy.
Do not worry. These are temporary and go away after some time.
Hope this satisfies your query.
Thanks for using HCM.
Feel free to ask any more questions that you may have.
Dr Madhuri Bagde
Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist
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