Doctor, doctor

Dr Rosemary Leonard MBE is a GP with many years’ experience working in London’s top teaching hospitals

My GP recommends I have a hormone coil fitted as I’m hopeless at taking pills, allergic to patches and the implant gave me erratic bleeding. I’ve never been pregnant, so won’t this be really painful?

There are smaller hormone coils which can be easier to insert. The process can be uncomfortable, but applying a local anaesthetic to the neck of the womb can help, so ask your doctor if this is available. If not, ask to be referred to a specialist clinic.

Contact Dr Leonard at S Magazine, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AP, or email dr.leonard@ express.co.uk. Dr Leonard regrets that she cannot reply personally to letters. Read her column every Tuesday in the Daily Express