7 things to know before getting your IUD removed

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The removal is typically manner less uncomfortable than insertion.
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Talk to people who have had an IUD inserted and you lot'll hear a range of experiences. While many honey living with the reliability and convenience of this birth command method — first, it has to be placed.

Some IUD insertions are moderately uncomfortable — and some are debilitatingly painful during and/or afterward the process. The one clarification I've heard that has stuck with me is that it feels like someone opened an umbrella in your uterus — for me, that'southward exactly how information technology felt.

Hearing and reading other peoples' stories — and living through your own — tin be enough to make y'all very nervous about what happens when yous go an IUD removed.

Knowledge is definitely power, and so hither are some primal reasons why you shouldn't be worried.

When and why you might desire it removed

Information technology's never likewise late to alter your mind.
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Your IUD can remain effective for anywhere from iii to 12 years, depending on the specific unit of measurement chosen .

Hormonal IUDs — in the US, that means Mirena, Kyleena, Liletta, and Skyla — can final anywhere from three to six years . ParaGard is the but non-hormonal IUD currently on the US market place — and information technology tin can last for up to twelve years.

Still, if any IUD doesn't work out for you — or you lot've decided that you want to go pregnant — information technology'due south possible to call your OB-GYN and have information technology removed sooner.

Removing an IUD is usually non as uncomfortable as insertion.

And it's usually not as painful.
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Here's some good news for every woman with an IUD — even if you lot had a rough time with insertion, removal volition probably non be as bad.

In fact, you might already have experienced a like feeling in the past — with your period.

"The level of discomfort I experienced was comparable to the sensation of taking a tampon out, but for about two seconds, followed past an all-encompassing wave of blissful relief," is how writer Georgia Hampton described her IUD removal experience for Bedsider.

Too, just because your IUD insertion experience may have been unbelievably painful doesn't mean removal will be difficult every bit well — thankfully.

"I had my IUD in for about a year before I decided it was time to have it removed. For me, the insertion process was then, so painful — seriously, I idea I was going dice. Naturally, I thought the removal process would be the same, only it actually wasn't too bad.  Nothing compared to having it put in. Within seconds my md had it dangling from her fingers! Information technology basically felt like a pap smear with a very slight pinch.

"Over the next couple of days I had some cramping and spotting merely that was almost it, again nothing compared to when information technology was put in.  I guess the thing I wish I had known was how painless the process was. It would've saved me a lot of worrying and stress," a woman named Samantha shared with INSIDER.

This is what to expect at your removal appointment.

You can also ask your doctor to talk you through the process.
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The Planned Parenthood guide features the following reassuring passage about the procedure:

"Getting your IUD taken out is pretty quick and simple," information technology reads "A wellness care provider gently pulls on the string, and the IUD's arms fold upward and it slips out. Y'all may feel cramping for a minute as it comes out."

This makes sense if you lot've ever spent any time looking at the way an IUD works — and also helps explain why information technology's often an uncomfortable sensation when those little arms open upward within your uterus after insertion.

However, complications can sometimes ascend.

There's a pocket-sized take chances the IUD removal will exist tough.
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If yous're similar me — and you practically enquiry yourself into a coma before undergoing any medical procedure  — you may already know that occasionally an IUD tin move out of place afterwards insertion .

Knowing this, information technology'south reasonable to assume that at that place are also times when IUD removal doesn't go perfectly smoothly. Here'due south the Planned Parenthood guide once again:

"There'south a small chance that your IUD won't come out easily. If this happens, your nurse or doctor may use special instruments to remove it. Very rarely, surgery may be needed."

Your medical provider should always remove your IUD — this is no fourth dimension for DIY.

Information technology should be removed by a medical professional.
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Hearing that it's like pulling out a tampon — and knowing that IUDs have little tampon-like strings attached — can brand some people think they should literally take matters into their ain hands.

That's a terrible thought. You could seriously injure yourself — specially if there are any complications arising from how your IUD is currently placed inside your uterus.

Your OB-GYN is a skilled and trained professional who knows a lot most the particulars of your uterus — and more importantly, what to practise if things don't go smoothly.

Also, it's a great time to ask all those burning questions you probably have about your future plans. Barring complications, you may be able to accept another IUD inserted during the same appointment every bit removal of an expired one.

Or yous might be switching to another course of birth control, or trying to become pregnant — these are all bully things to discuss with your healthcare provider at your IUD removal.

Some spotting or bleeding afterwards is completely normal.

The removal is typically mode less uncomfortable than insertion.
Sarahmirk/Wikimedia

If you notice anything strange — such as abnormally heavy bleeding — definitely contact your healthcare provider to brand certain everything is okay.

Also, Planned Parenthood advises that if you had a hormonal IUD removed, your period will go back to how information technology was pre-IUD unless yous start a new form of hormonal nascence control postal service-removal.

If yous desire to go significant, there'southward no waiting period after removal.

If y'all desire, y'all tin endeavor to become pregnant equally soon as your IUD is out.
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Your fertility should go right dorsum to normal as presently as your IUD is removed — no matter what kind you had, co-ordinate to Planned Parenthood.

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