Taking pains to do what’s right PRUDENCE WADE ASKS WHY AREN’T ALL WOMEN OFFERED AN ANAESTHETIC WHEN
NAGA MUNCHETTY is the latest celebrity to speak out about the “excruciating” pain she endured when getting the coil fitted.
The presenter told BBC Radio 5 Live she fainted twice while having the contraceptive device inserted, and wasn’t at any point offered anaesthetic. She said the procedure was “one of the most traumatic physical experiences I have had”.
She explains: “I have friends who have had very similar experiences and, of course, I have friends who had had no problem at all.
“What this is about is not the coil itself; we know it’s safe and effective. What this is about is how we look at all women’s health and pain.”
Naga was inspired to speak about her experiences after reading an article by writer Caitlin Moran, where she discussed being offered a Lucozade after having an intrauterine device (IUD) inserted – but not anaesthetic. She wrote: “We just need basic pain relief. I want to ask for it, now – on behalf of the team.” Dr Melanie Davis-Hall, medical director at contraception review platform The Lowdown, says: “There are essentially two different types of coil that are available for contraception: there is the hormonal coil, which contains the hormone progestogen, and there is the copper coil – which essentially contains copper. “They both are very good for preventing pregnancy, both 99% effective.”
In a recent survey done by The Lowdown, 23% of women said their coil fitting experience was either ‘poor’ or ‘terrible’, with 54% saying it was ‘very good’.
“For most women, the experience of having an IUD fitted is unpleasant, crampy, but generally tolerable,” Dr Davis-Hall explains, “but for some reasons we don’t really know, some people find it excruciatingly painful.” Whether a person will experience extreme pain or not is “hard to study, because it’s so unpredictable”.
During a standard appointment,
Dr Davis-Hall says: “You’ll normally be advised to take over the counter pain relief before you go in, normal paracetamol or ibuprofen about 20 minutes/an hour before.
“There isn’t much evidence that prophylactic taking really does have any benefit – what we really want to see as standard is local anaesthetic gel or injections, or sprays that go onto the cervix – which is the neck of the womb” – through which the coil is inserted. Dr Davis-Hall suggests anaesthetic “should be fairly standard, but anecdotally we’ve heard that it’s not always offered”.
So why isn’t anaesthetic offered at every appointment? “Probably because the majority of women do find the procedure so OK,” says Dr Davis-Hall, while admitting: “I’m not really sure why.” Regardless, she would “definitely like to see it offered as standard, just because it’s so unpredictable [whether] you will be someone who experiences more pain than someone else”.
She also wants more information provided before an appointment. “There’s lots of evidence that counselling and discussing the true benefits and risks of the procedure, lowers anxiety” she says, which could be beneficial as some believe “more anxiety before the procedure [can] increase perceived pain”.