Contents:
- Medical Video: Patient Education Video: Intrauterine Device (IUD)
- How do I check the position of the IUD thread?
- How often do I check IUD threads?
- What is the sign that the IUD thread is sliding?
- How often do you have to go to the doctor to check the condition of the IUD?
Medical Video: Patient Education Video: Intrauterine Device (IUD)
The problem that likes to appear in IUD users is the position that can shift. Therefore, it is necessary to check the IUD thread to determine the position of your IUD is correct or not. However, how do you check whether the IUD thread is still in its position or has it shifted? Come on, see the information about the IUD below.
How do I check the position of the IUD thread?
The IUD has a very small shape, shaped like the letter T, and is usually coated with cuprum or contains the hormone progestin.
When the doctor inserts an IUD into the vagina, the plastic thread part of this IUD will hang around the cervix.
Well, if you want to check the position of the IUD, you can do it by feeling the plastic thread from the IUD that hangs near the cervix.
- First, wash your hands thoroughly using soap before inserting your fingers into the vagina.
- Next, sit or squat like a squat position. Then enter the clean middle finger into the vagina to touch the cervix (cervix).
- When you insert a finger, it feels hard but springy, like the tip of your nose.
- If your finger feels like a thin string, then your IUD is still in position and should still function.
- If the thread feels shorter than the last time you examined it, or is hard to find, your IUD may have moved from its position.
Remember, only the IUD thread feels, not the whole IUD device. If what is felt is an IUD device, then there might be a change in position.
How often do I check IUD threads?
We recommend that you check the position of your IUD thread once a month, and ideally do it immediately after your menstruation is complete. Do this regularly every month.
Especially when you are just using an IUD, you should check the position of the IUD thread several times a week after the contraception is inserted. Newly installed IUDs, it is easier to shift or move position so it needs to be checked more often.
What is the sign that the IUD thread is sliding?
There are not many signs that the position of the IUD shifts in plain view. The position of this IUD thread is the most reliable. If it is difficult to reach with a finger in the vagina, this may actually shift the sign.
If you use an IUD such as Mirena, Liletta, Kyleena or Skyla, then your menstruation becomes shorter or changes, consult your doctor. This change might occur because the position of the IUD moved from where it should be.
Other symptoms can also indicate a problem in your IUD, are:
- Severe cramping in the abdomen is prolonged
- Fever and chills
- Smelly blood and fluid come out of the vagina
How often do you have to go to the doctor to check the condition of the IUD?
In addition to carrying out self-examinations, you also need to go to the obstetrician regularly. Ideally, IUD contraceptives should be checked for conditions 6 weeks after installation, then after that can be done every month at the end of your period.
However, if you don't have a problem and you can still feel your IUD thread, then you don't have to do it.
If you have one of the following problems, see your doctor immediately:
- You don't feel the IUD thread even checking it every month
- You feel unwell, accompanied by fever a few weeks after the installation of an IUD
- You experience unusual lower abdominal pain
- You have not menstruated for one month
- You should have vaginal bleeding between your menstrual schedules
- The vagina feels uncomfortable
