{"id":10898,"date":"2024-08-07T12:52:56","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T12:52:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=10898"},"modified":"2024-08-07T13:29:17","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T13:29:17","slug":"health-officials-urge-doctors-to-address-i-u-d-insertion-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=10898","title":{"rendered":"Health Officials Urge Doctors to Address I.U.D. Insertion Pain"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As videos describing the procedure as agonizing spread on social media, new guidelines advise physicians to consider various anesthetics.<\/p>\n

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In recent years, the process of getting an intrauterine device, or IUD, has become infamous on social media. Videos of women writhing and crying while the T-shaped contraceptive device is inserted have become macabre online staples<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless you\u2019re living under a rock, you\u2019re aware of the issue,\u201d said Dr. Beverly Gray, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University.<\/p>\n

Doctors have been accused of ignoring<\/a> the discomfort. For the first time, federal health officials recommended on Tuesday that physicians counsel women about pain management before the procedure.<\/p>\n

This updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may lead clinicians to take the pain more seriously and to consider using anesthetics more often, experts said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWomen\u2019s pain and women\u2019s experiences have been downplayed throughout medicine,\u201d<\/em> Dr. Gray said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really validating that for some people, this can be a really painful experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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As the number of women opting for IUDs has risen, so have calls for physicians to address the discomfort associated with the procedure. Some women have described it as \u201cthe worst pain imaginable\u201d<\/a> or likened it to a \u201chot knife<\/a>\u201d slowly stabbing them.<\/p>\n

Effective strategies for managing that pain exist, though a 2019 survey found that few doctors offered those options.<\/a> Less than 5 percent<\/a> of doctors offered an injection of a local anesthetic during the procedure, many instead prescribing over-the-counter painkillers, which have been shown to be less effective.<\/p>\n

A study in 2015 found that doctors tended to underestimate the pain<\/a> their patients experienced during the procedure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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While the last version of the C.D.C.\u2019s guidance mentioned pain management for IUD insertion, Dr. Eve Espey, chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department at the University of New Mexico, said she thought these updated guidelines put a much stronger emphasis on the patient\u2019s preferences and experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is a significant change,\u201d she said. \u201cThe <\/em>guidance on this topic has gone from a more provider-centered focus to a more patient-centered focus.\u201d Anxiety about pain may <\/strong>dissuade women from considering the contraceptive, which is safe and highly effective, she added.<\/p>\n

Dr. Antoinette Nguyen, a medical officer in the C.D.C.\u2019s division of reproductive health, said the new guidance emphasized that choices about pain management should be based on \u201cshared decision making,\u201d taking into account patient experiences that may heighten feelings of pain, like anxiety and past trauma.<\/p>\n

The new guidelines also broadened the pain-relief options available to women during the procedure, a significant addition since lidocaine shots \u2014 the sole anesthetic option mentioned in the 2016 guidance<\/a> \u2014 may themselves be uncomfortable, Dr. Espey said.<\/p>\n

The choices now include anesthetic gel, creams and sprays. While Dr. Espey said the evidence showing these topical anesthetics are effective was not \u201cfabulous,\u201d the new recommendations still expand the arsenal of tools that doctors have at their disposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good when the public stamps it\u2019s foot sometimes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As videos describing the procedure as agonizing spread on social media, new guidelines advise physicians to consider various anesthetics.In recent years, the process of getting an intrauterine device, or IUD, has become infamous on social media. Videos of women writhing and crying while the T-shaped contraceptive device is inserted have become macabre online staples.\u201cUnless you\u2019re living under a rock, you\u2019re aware of the issue,\u201d said Dr. Beverly Gray, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University.Doctors have been accused of ignoring the discomfort. For the first time, federal health officials recommended on Tuesday that physicians counsel women about pain management before the procedure.This updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may lead clinicians to take the pain more seriously and to consider using anesthetics more often, experts said.\u201cWomen\u2019s pain and women\u2019s experiences have been downplayed throughout medicine,\u201d Dr. Gray said.\u201cThis is really validating that for some people, this can be a really painful experience.\u201dAs the number of women opting for IUDs has risen, so have calls for physicians to address the discomfort associated with the procedure. Some women have described it as \u201cthe worst pain imaginable\u201d or likened it to a \u201chot knife\u201d slowly stabbing them.Effective strategies for managing that pain exist, though a 2019 survey found that few doctors offered those options. Less than 5 percent of doctors offered an injection of a local anesthetic during the procedure, many instead prescribing over-the-counter painkillers, which have been shown to be less effective.A study in 2015 found that doctors tended to underestimate the pain their patients experienced during the procedure.While the last version of the C.D.C.\u2019s guidance mentioned pain management for IUD insertion, Dr. Eve Espey, chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department at the University of New Mexico, said she thought these updated guidelines put a much stronger emphasis on the patient\u2019s preferences and experience.\u201cI think it is a significant change,\u201d she said. \u201cThe guidance on this topic has gone from a more provider-centered focus to a more patient-centered focus.\u201d Anxiety about pain may dissuade women from considering the contraceptive, which is safe and highly effective, she added.Dr. Antoinette Nguyen, a medical officer in the C.D.C.\u2019s division of reproductive health, said the new guidance emphasized that choices about pain management should be based on \u201cshared decision making,\u201d taking into account patient experiences that may heighten feelings of pain, like anxiety and past trauma.The new guidelines also broadened the pain-relief options available to women during the procedure, a significant addition since lidocaine shots \u2014 the sole anesthetic option mentioned in the 2016 guidance \u2014 may themselves be uncomfortable, Dr. Espey said.The choices now include anesthetic gel, creams and sprays. While Dr. Espey said the evidence showing these topical anesthetics are effective was not \u201cfabulous,\u201d the new recommendations still expand the arsenal of tools that doctors have at their disposal.\u201cIt\u2019s good when the public stamps it\u2019s foot sometimes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10900,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10898"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10901,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10898\/revisions\/10901"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}