What Should I Expect After A Hysteroscopy
You will be offered a hot drink after the procedure and will be fine to drive home yourself when you feel up to it, usually after 30 minutes.You might continue to have some crampy pains for a few hours afterwards and you might need another dose of pain-killers six hours after the first. This discomfort has generally passed in one to two days. Any spotting should settle within a few days.If you experience heavy bleeding, increasing abdominal pain, a raised temperature or a vaginal discharge please contact the clinic or your GP immediately. You can get back to normal activities and sexual intercourse when any bleeding has stopped and you feel up to it.You will receive the results from any biopsy taken within two weeks and you will be seen back in clinic thereafter to discuss further management.You can book an appointment with Mr Baxter via his Top Doctors profile here for any of your gynaecological needs.
When Do You Call Your Healthcare Provider If You Suspect Heavy Period Bleeding
You should call your provider if you’re experiencing the symptoms of heavy menstrual bleeding or anemia, or if your period bleeding has become abnormal. Tracking your periods using a calendar or app can help you identify if your periods are heavier and longer-lasting than usual. Share these notes with your provider.
You should also schedule an appointment if you notice that you’re having to double-up on menstrual products or if you’re skipping activities you enjoy because of heavy bleeding.
Can heavy menstrual bleeding be life-threatening?
Heavy periods arent usually life-threatening, but they can be if you lose too much blood. Bleeding through two or more tampons or pads each hour for two hours in a row is a sign that you should see your provider or seek emergency care immediately.
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Just because heavy periods are common doesn’t mean that you have to learn to live with the discomfort they cause. If managing your blood flow is getting in the way of your emotional and physical well-being, speak with your provider. They can provide a care path that will provide relief.
On The Day Of Your Hysteroscopy
If you’re having a general anaesthetic, you’ll need to avoid eating or drinking for a few hours before the procedure. Your appointment letter will mention whether this applies to you.
If you’re having no anaesthetic or just a local anaesthetic, you can eat and drink as normal.
It’s a good idea to wear loose, comfortable clothes when you arrive for your appointment, as you’ll be asked to remove any clothes from below your waist and change into a hospital gown for the procedure.
You can bring a friend or relative with you for support, although they may not be allowed in the room during your hysteroscopy.
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What Is Heavy Menstrual Bleeding
Heavy menstrual bleeding is when your periods are extremely heavy or prolonged. “Heavy” means that your period lasts longer than seven days or that you lose more blood than is typical during menstruation. You may bleed so much that you have to change your tampon or pad every hour for several hours back-to-back. You may pass blood clots the size of a quarter or even larger.
Menstrual bleeding that’s so heavy that it interferes with your daily life is never normal. Your provider can recommend treatments to manage heavy blood flow.
What Happens After A Hysteroscopy
Your recovery will vary based on the type of anesthesia you have. If your provider used general anesthesia or a sedative, he or she will track your blood pressure, pulse, and breathing until they are stable and you are alert. When stable, you will be discharged to your home. Hysteroscopy is most often done on an outpatient basis.
Otherwise, you wonât need any special care after a hysteroscopy.
You may have cramping and vaginal bleeding for a day or two after the procedure. Report fever, severe abdominal pain, or heavy vaginal bleeding or discharge.
You may have gas in the digestive tract and pains from the gas given during the procedure. This can last for about 24 hours. You may also feel pain in your upper belly and shoulder.
Take a pain reliever for soreness as advised by your healthcare provider. Aspirin or certain other pain medicines may increase the chance of bleeding. Be sure to take only recommended medicines.
Don’t douche or have sex for 2 weeks after the procedure, or as advised by your healthcare provider.
You can go back to normal activity and diet unless your healthcare provider tells you otherwise.
Your healthcare provider may give you other instructions based on your situation.
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What Are The Risks Associated With This Procedure
- A local or regional anesthetic may not numb the area quite enough and you may feel some minor discomfort. Also, in rare cases, you may have an allergic reaction to the drug used in this type of anesthesia. In most cases, local or regional anesthesia is considered safer than general anesthesia.
- You may have infection or bleeding.
- Rarely, the uterus could be punctured and need surgery to repair it.
- Rarely, the bowel or bladder may be injured.
- You may have an allergic reaction to the fluid used during the procedure.
You should ask your doctor how these risks apply to you.
When Is Operative Hysteroscopy Used
Your doctor may perform hysteroscopy to correct the following uterine conditions:
- Polyps and fibroids: Hysteroscopy is used to remove these non-cancerous growths found in the uterus.
- Adhesions: Also known as Ashermans Syndrome, uterine adhesions are bands of scar tissue that can form in the uterus and may lead to changes in menstrual flow as well as infertility. Hysteroscopy can help your doctor locate and remove the adhesions.
- Hysteroscopy can help determine whether you have a uterine septum, a malformation of the uterus that is present from birth.
- Abnormal bleeding: Hysteroscopy can help identify the cause of heavy or lengthy menstrual flow, as well as bleeding between periods or after menopause. Endometrial ablation is one procedure in which the hysteroscope, along with other instruments, is used to destroy the uterine lining in order to treat some causes of heavy bleeding.
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How To Choose The Right Feminine Care Product To Wear In The Water
So to be safe, you’ll likely want to wear some sort of feminine care product. When it comes to the best one to use when swimming, it really comes down to personal preference. Two recommended by experts are tampons and menstrual cups.
“It is perfectly safe to swim with a tampon in,” says Jennifer Meyers, CNM, a certified nurse-midwife at the Mayo Clinic Health System. “When a tampon is inserted, it sits very high in the vagina to collect any menstrual flow. The rest of the vagina stays fairly closed during swimming, so there’s not a lot of exchange of fluid between what’s in the vagina and the water outside of it.”
While any type of tampon should work, you may benefit from a high absorbency or one designed for women who do sports. But you should change it once you’re done swimming.
“A tampon will absorb the water from the lake, pool, or ocean while you are swimming, so it is important to change the tampon when you get out of the water,” says Ho. “Otherwise, the tampon will be saturated and will not absorb the blood from your period.”
And if you’re not a fan of tampons, menstrual cups work just as well. “The cup should stay well-placed during swimming, and provide a barrier between the menstrual flow and the water,” says Meyers.
Preparing For A Hysteroscopy
In the days and weeks before a hysteroscopy, you may be advised to:
- have tests to check whether you can have the procedure, such as blood tests and a pregnancy test these may be done at an appointment about a week before your hysteroscopy
- use contraception a hysteroscopy can’t be carried out if you’re pregnant
- stop smoking if you’re due to have a general anaesthetic and you smoke, stopping smoking in the lead up to the procedure can help reduce your risk of complications from the anaesthetic
If you’re going to have fibroids removed, you may be given medicine to help shrink them beforehand.
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What Can I Expect After A Hysteroscopy
If you have general anaesthetic, you will need to rest until the effects of the anaesthetic have passed. You will need to arrange for someone to drive you home. You should try to have a friend or relative stay with you for the first 24 hours.
If you have a local anaesthetic, you will usually be able to go home after a short rest. You should feel well enough to walk, travel by bus or train – or to drive home, providing you haven’t been given a sedative.
You may experience some period-like cramps and mild bleeding. The bleeding is usually mild and should settle within seven days. To reduce the risk of infection whilst you are bleeding you should:
- Use sanitary towels rather than tampons.
- Not have vaginal sex for one week after and until you stop bleeding.
- Take it easy for the first one or two days and take painkillers as needed.
How To Prepare For Hysteroscopy
You should fast for at least 6 hours before your procedure. Your doctor will be able to advise you if you should have your regular medicines or not on the day of your procedure. You may be asked to take painkillers an hour before the procedure.
And you should ask questions, both before agreeing to have the surgery and before the surgery itself.
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What Tests Are Used To Help Diagnose Abnormal Menstrual Bleeding
This list of tests does not include blood tests that you might take, and is specifically referring to physical exam, imaging, radiology, and biopsies. If you have a known bleeding disorder, it is important to tell your doctor so that you may take the proper preparations to ensure that bleeding resulting from a test will be well controlled particularly in the case of biopsy.
Pelvic exam
A pelvic exam allows your doctor to examine your pelvic organs. The position and size of your uterus, ovaries and cervix can also be assessed. After visually inspecting your vulva, vagina, and cervix, your doctor will insert one or two gloved fingers inside your vagina, while using the other hand to press on your lower belly. The doctor will be able to find and feel your uterus and your ovaries. Any unusual growths or painful spots can be identified.
Rectal-vaginal exam
A recto-vaginal exam can be used to feel your ovaries and the ligaments of your uterus. The doctor will insert one finger in your rectum and one in your vagina, in order to feel the tissues deep in your pelvis. This allows the doctor to feel for abnormalities behind the uterus, and on the lower walls of the vagina.
Pelvic ultrasound
Transvaginal ultrasound
Hysteroscopy
Hysterosalpingogram
Sonohysterography
MRI
Pap smear
Endometrial biopsy
Dilatation and curettage
Colonoscopy
Cystoscopy
How Is Hysteroscopy Performed
Prior to the procedure, your doctor may prescribe a sedative to help you relax. You will then be prepared for anesthesia. The procedure itself takes place in the following order:
- The doctor will dilate your cervix to allow the hysteroscope to be inserted.
- The hysteroscope is inserted through your vagina and cervix into the uterus.
- Carbon dioxide gas or a liquid solution is then inserted into the uterus, through the hysteroscope, to expand it and to clear away any blood or mucus.
- Next, a light shone through the hysteroscope allows your doctor to see your uterus and the openings of the fallopian tubes into the uterine cavity.
- Finally, if surgery needs to be performed, small instruments are inserted into the uterus through the hysteroscope.
The time it takes to perform hysteroscopy can range from less than five minutes to more than an hour. The length of the procedure depends on whether it is diagnostic or operative and whether an additional procedure, such as laparoscopy, is done at the same time. In general, however, diagnostic hysteroscopy takes less time than operative.
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What Is Hysteroscopy
A hysteroscope is a thin, lighted telescope-like device. It is inserted through your vagina into your uterus. The hysteroscope transmits the image of your uterus onto a screen. This allows your health care provider to see the inside of the uterus during the procedure.
Hysteroscopy can be used to diagnose or treat a problem. Other instruments are used along with the hysteroscope for treatment. Some conditions can be treated right away.
What Is It Used For
A hysteroscopy is most often used to:
- Diagnose the cause of abnormal bleeding
- Help find the cause of infertility, the inability to get pregnant after at least a year of trying
- Find the cause of repeated miscarriages
- Find and remove fibroids and polyps. These are types of abnormal growths in the uterus. They are usually not cancerous.
- Remove scar tissue from the uterus
- Remove an intrauterine device , a small, plastic device placed inside the uterus to prevent pregnancy
- Perform a biopsy. A biopsy is a procedure that removes a small sample of tissue for testing.
- Implant a permanent birth control device into the fallopian tubes. Fallopian tubes carry eggs from the ovaries into the uterus during ovulation .
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What Happens After A D& c And Hysteroscopy
Most women who have a D& C and hysteroscopy will be able to go home the same day, although someone else will need to accompany and drive them. In the next few days, women may experience mild cramping or slight bleeding due to the procedure and the recovery that follows.
If you have a D& C and hysteroscopy, your doctor or other healthcare practitioner should:
- Tell you what to expect and plan for ahead of time
- Give you a list of care instructions
- Alert you to any signs to watch for that indicating you need to be seen by a doctor, such as a high temperature or heavy bleeding.
Women who have a D& C may wonder if and when they will be able to become pregnant. Most women who have a D& C will not have any problems becoming pregnant, though this is something to be discussed with your doctor. Many practitioners suggest women wait until they have experience one normal menstrual period before they begin trying to become pregnant.
What To Expect
Hysteroscopy can be done in a health care providers office or at the hospital. It will be scheduled when you are not having your menstrual period. To make the procedure easier, your cervix may be dilated before your hysteroscopy. You may be given medication that is inserted into the cervix, or special dilators may be used.
Before the procedure begins, you may be given a medication to help you relax, or a general or local anesthetic may be used to block the pain. If you have general anesthesia, you will not be awake during the procedure.
A speculum is first inserted into the vagina. The hysteroscope then is inserted and gently moved through the cervix into your uterus. Carbon dioxide gas or a fluid, such as saline , will be put through the hysteroscope into your uterus to expand it. The gas or fluid helps your health care provider to see the lining more clearly. The amount of fluid used is carefully checked throughout the procedure. Your health care provider can see the lining of your uterus and the openings of the fallopian tubes by looking through the hysteroscope. If a biopsy or other procedure is done, your health care provider will use small tools passed through the hysteroscope, such as small scissors or a wire loop.
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