Updated 10 October 2026
At a glance
- The NHS says an ultrasound scan can show whether fibroids are present, how many there are, where they are and how big they are.
- A 2026 FIGO series summary describes fibroid phenotype as defined by size, number and tumor location, with imaging used to categorize fibroids.
- A table of the location words, a report log, a word list, four steps and a one-page summary follow below.
- Uterine Fibroids Journey keeps scan dates, bleeding weeks, pain and pressure notes in one dated history, and its Doctor Report exports that history as a one-page summary.
A scan report on fibroids is usually short, and its vocabulary can feel like another language. Words such as submucosal, intramural and subserosal describe where a fibroid sits, and they are easy to forget by the time of the next appointment.
This guide sets out what NICHD, a women's health office, MedlinePlus, the NHS and a 2026 FIGO paper say about fibroid location, then offers a table, a report log, a word list, four steps and a one-page summary for a visit. What any report means for you is a matter for your clinician.
What NICHD, a women's health office, MedlinePlus, the NHS and a FIGO paper say about where fibroids grow
The Office on Women's Health gives the general rule: "Most fibroids grow in the wall of the uterus." It also notes a variation: "Some fibroids grow on stalks that grow out from the surface of the uterus or into the cavity of the uterus." The NICHD adds a point about change over time: "Fibroids can grow, shrink, or remain a constant size over time."
The MedlinePlus encyclopedia says: "Although it is possible for just one fibroid to develop, most often there is more than one." It also notes how small they can be: "Fibroids can be so tiny that you need a microscope to see them." On imaging it says: "MRI uses powerful magnets and radio waves to create a picture of the uterus."
The NHS describes what a scan is used for: "This can show if you have fibroids, how many there are, where they are and how big they are."
A 2026 FIGO series summary ties the words to a classification: "Currently, leiomyoma phenotype is defined by size, number, and tumor location, with imaging used to categorize fibroids according to the FIGO classification system, which provides a framework for research, education, and clinical care."
Across the five sources, three facts recur: how many, how big and where. All three can change between scans, and a report from last year may not match a report from this year. A short dated line for each fact keeps the sequence readable, and the clinician explains what any shift means in your case.
None of the sources links a location word to a particular symptom for every person, and a diary cannot do that either. What a diary can do is show which weeks were heavy, which evenings brought pressure and which words appeared on the report from the same period, so the clinician sees both halves of the picture in one place.
Pressure and bleeding marks for the weeks around a scan can be entered in the Daily check-in of Uterine Fibroids Journey (by Health Journey Labs), so the report has symptoms to sit alongside.
A table of fibroid location words and what each one describes on a report
The same few words appear on most reports. This table puts them in plain terms, using the descriptions from the sources above.
Location words table, by Uterine Fibroids Journey
| Word on the report | Plain description from the sources | Your note from the report |
|---|---|---|
| Submucosal | Under the lining of the uterus, growing toward the cavity | Number and size, as printed |
| Intramural | Within the muscle wall of the uterus | Number and size, as printed |
| Subserosal | Under the outer surface of the uterus, growing outward | Number and size, as printed |
| Pedunculated | On a stalk, outward from the surface or into the cavity | Which direction, as printed |
| Size and count | Millimeters or centimeters and a number, per the report | Copy the units exactly |
| Location, FIGO | The category used when imaging is classified | The category as printed, if any |
Reports vary, and some use only a few of these words. If a word is missing, the cell stays empty, and the clinician can say whether it was assessed. Where a report gives a location word for one fibroid and says nothing for the others, copy exactly what is printed and avoid filling the gaps from memory. The guide to starting to track uterine fibroids without overwhelm covers the broader record, while this table covers one vocabulary list.
Each scan date, with its printed location words, can be filed in My Labs of Uterine Fibroids Journey, with the same-month bleeding and pressure marks close by.
Fibroid location, size and count from each report, in one row
This log puts the three facts from each report on a single line, so the next report can be read against the last. These sample rows only illustrate the layout.
Report measurements table, by Uterine Fibroids Journey
| Scan date | Type of scan | Count | Largest size as printed | Location words as printed | Bleeding and pressure in the prior month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Feb | Ultrasound | Several | Value and unit from the report | Intramural, subserosal | Heavy days twice, pressure most evenings |
| 3 Aug | Ultrasound | Several | Value and unit from the report | Intramural, subserosal | Heavy days once, pressure on some evenings |
| 20 Nov | MRI | One reported | Value and unit from the report | Submucosal | Heavy days twice, pressure rare |
Copy the count, size and words exactly as printed, and include the unit. Some reports give one measurement per fibroid and some give only the largest, so write which one it is. The monthly column holds your own wording about bleeding and pressure, and it is the part the report cannot supply.
Where two scan types are involved, list them in separate rows. A new row is also worth adding when the scan was done at a different clinic, since each clinic may measure and describe fibroids in its own way and the clinician will want to know which report the numbers came from. A comparison between an ultrasound and an MRI is a task for the clinician, who knows how the two differ. The guide to anxiety before a fibroid visit or scan is a useful companion for the days before a result arrives.
Rows like these can become dated entries in the Daily Journal of Uterine Fibroids Journey, with the printed words copied as they appear.
Plain words for describing fibroid symptoms and report terms to a clinician
A limited vocabulary keeps entries comparable from month to month. Use these words or substitute your own.
Words for symptoms and reports
Uterine Fibroids Journey lists symptom and report words for reading the report.
- Place words: low in the belly, left side, right side, central, lower back.
- Feeling words: fullness, heaviness, pressure, pulling, pain with movement.
- Bleeding words: heavy day, clots, flooding, between periods, lighter than usual.
- Report words: copied as printed, explained in person, waiting for the letter, repeat requested.
- Question words: which fibroid, which location, same or different from the last scan.
A line such as "fullness low in the belly, heavy day twice, report says intramural, explained at the visit" records events and the report wording, and it leaves the meaning to the clinician. The words give no verdict about the fibroids. Reusing the same few terms month after month makes it simple to count how many heavy days or pressure evenings a period of time held, which is the kind of number a clinician can read at a glance. When bleeding soaks through quickly, or pain arrives suddenly with faintness, local emergency care comes before any notes.
Wording from these lists suits the Flare Tracker of Uterine Fibroids Journey whenever a day is clearly worse than a usual week.
Four steps to prepare for a gynecology clinician visit about a fibroid report
A gynecology visit about a scan may be short, and the report only helps when the symptoms travel with it. Four steps keep them together.
Report visit steps, by Uterine Fibroids Journey
- Copy the scan date, the count, the size and the location words.
- Write a line on bleeding and pressure for the weeks around the scan.
- Mark any change from the previous report, or write unknown.
- Write two or three questions about what the report means for you.
From Uterine Fibroids Journey, we recommend putting the page together the evening before (Uterine Fibroids Journey checklist), so that nothing has to be searched for in the waiting room. Plain questions work well: which fibroid the clinician is most focused on, whether the words changed since the last report, and what the next step is. The guide to explaining uterine fibroids to family who cannot see it may help if someone is coming along.
During the visit, write each answer beside its question, with the date of the next contact. If the scan was done at an outside imaging center, note which one, so a copy can be requested later. It also helps to write the name of the person who explained the report, since that name tells you whom to ask when a word needs another explanation.
A question list kept in My Care Team of Uterine Fibroids Journey stays attached to the clinician who will answer it.
A one-page clinician summary: scan words, symptom weeks and questions
One page lets the clinician see the report wording and your symptom weeks together, and the full folder stays with you.
Clinician summary list, by Uterine Fibroids Journey
- Dates of scans, type of scan and the printed count and size.
- The printed location words, copied as shown.
- Bleeding and pressure notes for the weeks around each scan.
- Changes from the previous report, or unknown.
- Questions for this visit.
Offer the page as the visit begins, and suggest reading it row by row or placing it in the chart. Write each reply with its date. If a new scan is booked, add its date to the page so the next version starts from it. Bring a spare copy if the visit might involve more than one person, so everyone reads the same rows at the same time.
The page copies what you recorded. How the report is read and what follows from it belong to your clinician, and no page or app decides that.
Once the entries exist, Uterine Fibroids Journey builds this page from its Doctor Report on request.
How Uterine Fibroids Journey can help
A printed location word, a size and a month of symptoms make a fibroid report readable later. If you want them held together, the best uterine fibroids apps guide compares the options.
Uterine Fibroids Journey is a personal uterine-fibroids tracker from Health Journey Labs on the App Store and Google Play. Scan wording and symptom weeks on a single history let a clinician read them together. What a report means for any person is decided by the gynecology team that examines them, and a tidy record lets them begin from facts. Below is what you can use and how each part helps.
- Period Tracker — Logs start and stop dates, flow, how heavy or light bleeding felt.
- Daily check-in — Logs physical symptoms, emotional state, nutrition, sleep, exercise, meds, external factors; app-specific items: pelvic pain or pressure, bleeding heaviness, fatigue, bloating, what work or plans you limited; read together with the rest of the logged history.
- Daily Journal — Logs free-text notes, voice entry; app-specific items: pad or tampon changes, bathroom trips at work, partner lines, visit debriefs, leftover fear after a flood day, a look-fine mismatch line; read together with scores and other logged history (adds context).
- Flare Tracker — Logs flag a day clearly worse than the usual hard week; app-specific items: flooding, clot clusters, pain that jumps above baseline, a day you had to leave work early; read together with history across weeks (one-off spike vs repeating pattern).
- Weekly Goals — Logs one small aim, whether it held; read together with real check-ins.
- My Meds — Logs medicine names, timing, dose; app-specific items: iron, hormonal options, pain relief, other treatments you already take as directed; read together with bleeding weeks, pain, energy, the rest of the tracked history.
- My Care Team — Logs clinicians, short visit notes; app-specific items: tends to ask mainly about period length rather than work missed or clot size; read together with logged history; used for: visit prep (what to ask and bring); notes during the visit; review afterward.
- Doctor Report — Logs one-page summary exported from logged history; app-specific items: cycle dates, heaviness, pain, energy, work limits, meds; read together with the history already logged; visit type: gyn.
- My Labs — Logs result dates; app-specific items: hemoglobin, ferritin, ultrasound, MRI, other fibroid-related tests; read together with bleeding, pain, function.
- Learn — Logs short education topics, prompts; app-specific items: heavy bleeding, pain, iron fatigue, visit prep, why work limits still belong in the log; read together with your own logged weeks.
- AI companions — Logs Clara (general chat), specialist companions; app-specific items: knowledge, fitness, nutrition, relationships; read together with your logged history (companions already see it); used for: visit wording; a calm work or partner script; a listening ear after a flooding day.
- My Assessments — Logs structured check-ins beyond daily scores, onboarding life and social context; read together with ongoing history.
- Food Tracker — Logs meal or drink lines, nutrition; read together with energy, iron care, bleeding.
- Weight Tracker — Logs scale or body notes; read together with the rest of the logged history.
Everything you log builds one history, and insights get stronger as it grows. Custom symptoms let you add your own labels.
We make Uterine Fibroids Journey at Health Journey Labs. This guide is educational and does not replace medical advice. Diagnosis, medication decisions, and urgent care decisions belong with your treating clinicians.
Sources
- NICHD (US National Institutes of Health): uterine fibroids condition information
- Office on Women's Health (US HHS): uterine fibroids
- MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: uterine fibroids
- NHS (UK): fibroids
- 2026 FIGO series summary on leiomyoma phenotype (PubMed 42590871)
FAQ
The answers below draw on the sources cited in this guide, and the app they mention is Uterine Fibroids Journey (by Health Journey Labs).
What do submucosal, intramural and subserosal mean?
These words describe where a fibroid sits in the uterus. MedlinePlus lists the muscle wall, just under the uterine lining and just under the outer lining as places they can grow. Your clinician explains which word applies to yours.
Printed location words copied into My Labs of Uterine Fibroids Journey beside the scan date mean you can look up the term later without trying to recall which word was on which report.
Can fibroids change between scans?
The NICHD says fibroids can grow, shrink or remain a constant size over time, so two reports can differ. Your clinician explains what any difference means for you, and a dated record shows when each value was measured.
Dated rows for each scan in Uterine Fibroids Journey, with the units copied exactly, make a difference between two reports easy to see without redoing any arithmetic. Each row keeps the date beside the value, so nothing depends on which report happens to be in the folder.
Is it common to have more than one fibroid?
MedlinePlus says that most often there is more than one, although a single fibroid is possible. The count on your report is a fact for the clinician to explain, and the log keeps the number from each scan.
A count column in the report log of Uterine Fibroids Journey shows at a glance whether the number has stayed the same between scans, which is a quick question for the clinician. A single number from each date is enough, and the clinician can ask for more detail.
What does pedunculated mean?
Fibroids that grow on stalks, outward from the surface of the uterus or into the cavity, are described by the Office on Women's Health. Whether that applies to you, and what it means, are questions for your clinician.
Copying the word as printed into Uterine Fibroids Journey, together with the date, lets you ask the clinician about it at the visit without trying to remember how it was spelled. Keeping the exact spelling also helps if the clinic asks which word was used.
What can a scan show about fibroids?
A scan, says the NHS, can show whether there are fibroids, how many there are, where they are and how big they are. The clinician explains what the findings mean for your situation and whether anything else is needed.
Having these four facts on one row for each scan in Uterine Fibroids Journey turns the report into a short table, so a comparison between two dates is quick. That is a useful structure when several reports from different years have to be read in a hurry.
How is MRI different from ultrasound?
MedlinePlus says ultrasound uses sound waves and MRI uses powerful magnets and radio waves, both to create a picture of the uterus. Which test suits you is a decision for your clinician, and each result belongs in its own row.
Two scan types in two rows of the log in Uterine Fibroids Journey avoid mixing their numbers, and the clinician can compare them with the right context in mind. Writing the scan type on every row also helps when a report arrives from a different clinic.
What is the FIGO classification?
A 2026 FIGO series summary says imaging is used to categorize fibroids according to the FIGO system, a framework for research, education and clinical care. If your report uses it, the clinician can explain the category.
A FIGO category written into Uterine Fibroids Journey exactly as printed lets you bring the term to the next visit, where the clinician can explain what the category means for you. This keeps the technical term and the date together, so the question is ready before the appointment.
Do symptoms depend on location?
The sources describe locations and symptoms separately, and they leave out a rule for any one person. The clinician considers where the fibroids are alongside how you feel, and a log supplies the second half.
Bleeding and pressure marks entered in Uterine Fibroids Journey across several weeks give the clinician the symptom half of that discussion, in dated lines they can read quickly. That pairing is usually quicker to read than a long paragraph written from memory the night before.
What if the report uses words that this guide leaves out?
Copy them exactly as printed and ask the clinician to explain them. Reports differ between clinics, and the sources here describe only common terms, so any extra word is worth a question at the visit.
A quoted phrase saved in Uterine Fibroids Journey with its date can be read aloud at the visit, which avoids trying to describe it from memory in the exam room. Short quoted phrases are quicker for the clinician to place in the chart as well.
Can a report from another clinic be added?
Yes, as its own row with the clinic named. Different clinics may use different wording, and the clinician can say how to compare them. Ask the outside clinic for a copy of the printed report if you lack one.
Naming the clinic on each row in Uterine Fibroids Journey makes it easier to ask the right office for a copy, and shows which report used which words. The page then shows two clinics side by side with their own dates and words, ready for a single glance.
Can an AI chat explain my fibroid report?
Your own clinician, who has your history and has done an examination, is the one to interpret it. An AI chat can help organize notes and word questions, and heavy bleeding with faintness calls for urgent care first.
After entries are filed in Uterine Fibroids Journey, a companion can help shape questions from them, while the meaning of the report stays with your gynecology clinician. That way the numbers and the notes stay in your own history for the next appointment.
How far back should the log go?
Begin with the earliest scan you can date with confidence. The sources set no look-back period, so the clinic decides, and approximate dates marked with a question mark are acceptable to record.
Rough dates let older scans be entered in Uterine Fibroids Journey, which gives a clinician more to compare than a gap where an earlier report should be. Rough dates are enough for a first pass, and exact dates can be added once the clinic sends a copy.
What should I bring to the visit?
Take along the log, the one-page summary, the printed reports and two or three questions. One page reads faster than a whole folder, and the originals can stay available for copying if the clinic asks.
Before you leave home, Uterine Fibroids Journey can assemble the page, with each scan and symptom week already in date order and ready to hand over. Having it ready saves the first minutes of the appointment for the questions that matter most to you.
How do I keep privacy in check with my health log?
Bleeding amounts, pad counts and notes on anemia or sex are private details. Protect the log with a passcode, keep it off family tablets, and print only the cycle summary for the gynecology visit.
Entries in Uterine Fibroids Journey belong to you as health notes. Its privacy policy describes how data is stored and handled; check it before you decide what to record. Nothing here is medical advice.