Are there any side effects to women wearing contraceptive rings?

The contraceptive ring is an item that many women are familiar with, especially for many women who have given birth, almost all of them have had a contraceptive ring inserted. I remember when I was very young, my mother told me that right after my younger brother was born, the family planning personnel came and asked my mother to get an IUD inserted. If she didn't, she would face a huge fine, so almost all the female friends got an IUD inserted. We all know that the purpose of using an IUD is to prevent pregnancy. Especially with the development of society, various contraceptive methods have emerged one after another. People are worried that the IUD will bring harm to their bodies, so they don’t use it. So today let’s talk about whether there are any side effects of using an IUD for women?

The IUD has been used clinically for more than 30 years, and a large amount of evidence has proven that it is an effective contraceptive tool. However, the IUD is a foreign body and will produce certain side effects after being inserted into the uterus, such as bleeding, pain, and increased vaginal discharge.

⑴ General reactions: Within 1 week after the placement of the IUD, there may be a small amount of bloody vaginal discharge or accompanied by lower abdominal distension, incontinence, and lower back pain, etc. Generally, no treatment is required and it can heal on its own. Occasionally, red discharge or small amounts of bleeding may occur, which can be treated with general hemostatic drugs.

⑵ Cardiocerebral comprehensive reaction during operation: A very small number of patients may experience cardiocerebral comprehensive reaction due to mental tension or excessive local stimulation (such as cervical dilation) during the operation, which manifests as pale complexion, dizziness, chest tightness, nausea, vomiting, and even profuse sweating, decreased blood pressure, accompanied by bradycardia, heart rate disorders and other manifestations of vagal hyperexcitability. In severe cases, fainting or even convulsions may occur. Although this complex reaction rarely occurs clinically, it cannot be ignored. Generally, slow intravenous injection of 0.5 mg of atropine will produce improvement after 5 minutes. If there is no improvement after about 1 hour of observation, the IUD should be removed.

⑶ Menstrual abnormalities: This is the most common side effect of IUD placement, which can manifest as excessive menstrual flow, prolonged menstrual period, irregular menstrual bleeding, and in some cases, a shortened menstrual cycle. Its incidence is about 15% to 20%, and it is often the reason for termination of IUD placement. This side effect often occurs within six months of IUD placement, and the condition will improve as the placement time increases. The cause of bleeding is not yet fully understood, but it may be related to the following factors: the endometrium is squeezed and worn by the IUD, causing interstitial bleeding and increased permeability of the surrounding vascular walls; the concentration of plasminogen activator in the endometrium increases, enhancing fibrinolytic activity; and prostaglandin synthesis and release increase. The above reasons cause blood vessels to dilate, blood flow to increase, and inhibit the coagulation of platelets and fibrin, thus increasing menstrual volume. Those with mild symptoms do not need treatment. If the menstrual volume is more than twice that before surgery, the menstrual cycle is shortened to 20 days or the menstrual period is extended to more than 9 days, symptomatic treatment can be used, such as hemostatics, antifibrinolytics or anti-prostaglandin drugs. If medication and observation do not work after 3 to 6 months, you may consider removing or replacing the IUD. The amount of bleeding with an inert IUD is generally less than that with a copper IUD or an IUD with hemostatic drugs (such as indomethacin), and increased menstrual flow is rare.

Are there any side effects for women to use contraceptive rings? Looking at the introduction above, we have learned that after a long period of research, it has been shown that women still have certain side effects when using contraceptive rings, which will increase the risk of women developing gynecological diseases. Therefore, faced with such a situation, female friends should make a choice that is beneficial to their bodies as to whether to use an IUD, and hope that the technology of contraceptive rings will become better and better.