They have to be put in once, and it stays in for five years (the mirena does anyway). They just check to make sure it's in place (by locating the strings) during your annual gyno visit. Other than that, there isn't anything you have to do on a regular basis. it's just... there :)
an IUD will thin the lining in your uterus and thicken your cervical mucus as well as give out a low dose of hormones. It basically makes your uterus inhospitable for any would-be babies.
I had really light periods before I got one (~3-4 days long), and they gradually got lighter and lighter and now I only get them every so often. sometimes I just get some normal discharge and that's it.
for me it was the right choice and I don't regret it. If we decided to have kids tomorrow I would just have to make an appointment to get it taken out. The insertion/extraction is kind of a bitch though (they have to dilate you a couple of centimeters), but one day of discomfort/pain is worth it for 5 or so years of not having to worry about whether or not I'm accidentally pregnant.
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Date: 2009-02-13 04:54 pm (UTC)an IUD will thin the lining in your uterus and thicken your cervical mucus as well as give out a low dose of hormones. It basically makes your uterus inhospitable for any would-be babies.
I had really light periods before I got one (~3-4 days long), and they gradually got lighter and lighter and now I only get them every so often. sometimes I just get some normal discharge and that's it.
for me it was the right choice and I don't regret it. If we decided to have kids tomorrow I would just have to make an appointment to get it taken out. The insertion/extraction is kind of a bitch though (they have to dilate you a couple of centimeters), but one day of discomfort/pain is worth it for 5 or so years of not having to worry about whether or not I'm accidentally pregnant.