A friend of my told me he and his girlfriend are traveling to Montreal for an IUD because they offer numbing and sedation. I was FLOORED. I’m furious that they feel they had to do this. I’m happy they have the means to. I’m furious again that this isn’t standard, at least in the States. Why is this so hard for the OBGYN medical community to wrap their heads around? We should be pointing our fingers at Canada and demand the same!
I’m glad you didn’t find it very painful, but a lot of women find it absolutely excruciating and doctors still insist that it is a relatively painless procedure. Many US doctors will outright refuse numbing or sedation, even if the woman tells them that her last insertion was horrific.
My partner was in excruciating pain for two days followed by another two days of moderate pain before one could class it as “discomfort”. Even the nurse was surprised by how much pain my partner was in at the time. It’s appalling how dreadful people in the medical profession are at percentages and probability.
11-17% of people experience severe pain during IUD insertion. And for people who haven’t given birth before, 60% will be in a lot of pain for at least a day. 30% up to three days. 20% a whole week. Source.
Counter to what one of the above sources calls “small proportions”, 1 in 10 to almost 1 in 5 people is absolutely not “small proportions”. People freaked out over myocarditis risk due to COVID vaccines which, for comparison, was only in 0.001% of recipients or 1 in 1000 - that’s what I would call “small proportions”.
Not to mention the rarer complications like nausea, light headedness, fainting / passing out, and perforation.
Numbing and sedation absolutely should be an option for people getting an IUD.
Those statistics are really meaningful. Would you mind linking your source for some further research?
Thank you for highlighting that I didn’t cite my comment. I’ll go back and add links now!
I find that really disenheartening, and I’m sorry American people have to go through that. I’m not certain if sedation is available to those who ask for it in most clinics, but I’m glad your friend found a clinic who could help them.