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!
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Hey I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but the USA is fairly anti-woman’s health, and has been for a long time. This is not surprising.
You can get numbed and sedated? I’ve had two IUD inserted in Canada with no option of numbing or sedation. I understand why some might want it, but it’s not standard practice here, nor would I consider it inhumane to perform it without.
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.
This is the reason they are traveling to Montreal so yes, it appears to be available in Canada. But it absolutely is inhumane when countless women who ask for basic and simple numbing treatment for an IUD insertion/removal are denied and then gaslit into believing that it’s not necessary and they don’t really know their own bodies. Im glad you’ve never experienced it.
Pain management for women, especially women of color, is a sick joke in the States.
The point of offering my perspective is to highlight that even though some places in Canada may offer sedation with insertion or removal, it is not ubiquitous or necessarily free. Many clinics charge extreme prices for what is considered “optional” services like anasthetics in cases where it is not considered medically necessary.
I am not arguing that women’s pain isn’t taken seriously. Nor am I saying that my procedures were painless and pleasant. I’ve spent over 7 years trying to get proper clinical diagnosis of a chronic pain condition and I am well acquainted with medical downplay of symptoms.
Perhaps I can better articulate that while the services are available here, they are often inaccessible to most women, and thus, not something to speak highly of or as an ideal standard of care. Our medical system routinely fails women, people of colour, non-binary people’s and those of minority groups while those with affluence can get better standards of care easily.
I never implied that that were readily available in Canada. That fact that somewhere in North America that offers this at all, is astonishing to me. If it was available in Mexico, I would be equally astonished.
I’m not arguing that women’s pain isn’t taken seriously.
But you did.
nor would I consider it inhumane to perform it without.
Why would you not consider anesthetics medically necessary for a painful procedure? That’s insane to me. It’s given to men who get vasectomies, standard. Why would you not consider that inhumane?
Listen, my point of this post was, that these options are available. Maybe they are available in the States. That would be news to me. I said ‘TIL’d this is a thing. And it’s in Canada.’
I think we can both agree both our countries medical systems are fucked and we should be demanding better care from all our providers.
From some research online, pain experiences are variable and there is no singular approach to IUD insertion. There are some shortcomings in the first study as it doesn’t show pain levels in the days after, but it does a better job of quantifying that most women feel less pain than they expect to receive. Sedation should be available to those who need it, and I think our definitions of what constitutes as inhumane are different and I’m okay with that.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5683140/
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whitecoat/iud-pain-birth-control-1.6480281
I appreciate the links. And yes, I agree there is no singular approach just like there is no singular type of uterus, cervix etc… I should clarify that I do agree sedation is an edge case necessity for some women. But something like a lidocaine paracervical block should be offered just like you would be offered it at the dentist for cavity fillings.
They literally grab your sensitive inside bits with a sharp medieval torture device looking claw that draws blood.
I am Canadian. This is news to me that they give you sedation or numbing. Definitely not my experience.
Often times you have to request it. That’s been my understanding in the states anyway.