Size of the uterus

A normal uterus in a woman who has not yet had children is usually about 7 cm long and has approximately the shape of a pear. If several births have already taken place, a length of 8 cm is still considered normal. Of course, the uterus can expand considerably during pregnancy and increase in size to accommodate one (or more) child(ren).

This is also physiological. Some women have an extremely large uterus for no apparent reason; this is more common in older women. In addition, there are also some gynaecological clinical pictures that are associated with an enlargement of the uterus. Any kind of tumor (in the sense of swelling, i.e. not only malignant tumors, but also, for example, myomas or cysts) can lead to a mostly local, but sometimes generalized enlargement of the uterus. The size of the uterus plays a decisive role when a surgical procedure is to be performed, as different access routes are preferred depending on its size.In addition, a greatly enlarged uterus can cause discomfort by displacing and/or constricting neighboring tissue or organs.

Uterus enlarged

An enlarged uterus can have various causes. On the one hand, the pear-shaped hollow muscle organ, which is otherwise approx. 7 cm long, can increase considerably in size and mass during pregnancy if it expands – adapted to the growth of the unborn child.

However, some women may also have a larger uterus from birth than others, or it may increase insignificantly with age. However, all three variants are physiological uterine enlargements and have no disease value. In contrast, however, there are also changes in the uterus which are not physiological on the one hand and which can lead to complaints or problems on the other.

These include enlargement due to cysts (fluid-filled cavities), benign tumors (myomas) or malignant tumors. If these tissue changes occur sporadically, the uterus can only be enlarged locally, they occur multiple times, but they can also increase in size as a whole (e.g. in a uterus myomatosus). From a certain size increase onwards, various symptoms can then be added, such as abnormal menstrual periods, difficulties in getting pregnant as well as problems urinating, constipation, low back pain and circulatory problems due to the increased pressure on the surrounding organs (bladder, ureters, intestines, nerves and vessels).