# Intra Uterine Devices and other non-hormonal birth control methods **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intra-uterine-devices-and-other-non-hormonal-birth-control-methods/551343 "2010-08-24T23:17:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intra-uterine-devices-and-other-non-hormonal-birth-control-methods/551343/21 "2010-08-26T12:59:14Z")
Yeah, are non-reversible procedures an option? My GYN recommended Mirena plus endometrial ablation (I’ve been calling the latter “scorched earth”) to deal with bleeding issues. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intra-uterine-devices-and-other-non-hormonal-birth-control-methods/551343/22 "2010-08-26T13:39:03Z")
Sequential Threads: Thread 1)\* Intra Uterine Devices and other non-hormonal birth control methods Reload this Page Reply to Thread \* Thread 2) _What vacuum to buy?_ Coincidence? You decide 😃 ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intra-uterine-devices-and-other-non-hormonal-birth-control-methods/551343/23 "2010-08-26T13:55:24Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Yeah, are non-reversible procedures an option? Not yet, I think. Realistically, I doubt we could handle having another child any time soon, financially or logistically, and I won’t be fertile forever, but my husband was an only child and didn’t like being one. He’s said before that he’d want to have two kids if he had any. Plus, he’s head-over-heels in love with our son and very much enjoying being a father – to his surprise. He keeps saying “I had no idea being a parent was going to be _fun_,” with this adorable, amazed look on his face. Can you tell he had kind of a lousy childhood? If he has a tragic flaw, it’s the inability to face major decisions (he’s kinda Hamletty that way) so I doubt he’d be happy with anything permanent at this point. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intra-uterine-devices-and-other-non-hormonal-birth-control-methods/551343/24 "2010-08-26T14:48:22Z")
Yabbut … some of us lurkers don’t want kids, so if anyone else out there wants to chime in about “scorched earth” 🙂 I’m happy to hear everyone’s horror and/or love stories. (Any docs out there performed it? Nurses - assisted at one?) I was totally gung-ho about the _idea_ of an ablation, the theory of it, until I went to the Wikipedia page and read the facts and details on precisely how they do it. I mean, I know it’s surgery and all, but … ack! They burn your insides! :eek: What’s the worst-case scenario with an ablation? (OK, death, I guess. What’s one step back from that?) ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intra-uterine-devices-and-other-non-hormonal-birth-control-methods/551343/25 "2010-08-26T14:53:51Z")
I haven’t had it yet obviously, but a couple issues that my doc mentioned were that you would probably still have some bleeding going on monthly or however often (ugh), and that I’d still have to have a Mirena or something similar because I’d still be ovulating. Supposedly I’d only have to stay home 3 days with the method she wanted to use, called Novasure. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intra-uterine-devices-and-other-non-hormonal-birth-control-methods/551343/26 "2010-08-26T19:50:50Z")
Can I hijack slightly with a question about the endometrial ablation procedure? How come your doc says you still need Mirena, and the Wiki page for the [procedure](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endometrial_ablation)says, “It is still possible to become pregnant after having this procedure. Some type of birth control method must be used after having endometrial ablation.” If the uterus lining is destroyed to the point that it doesn’t slough off and re-generate … how in the name of hell can an embryo implant? Hypothetically … what would happen if I got an EA and then _didn’t_ go on Mirena, or if the Mirena failed? What then? ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intra-uterine-devices-and-other-non-hormonal-birth-control-methods/551343/27 "2010-08-27T18:06:36Z")
> [@ENugent](#): > > I love my copper IUD, and I didn’t even have the amount of pain that **zwiesamkeit** describes, let alone the nightmare that **Elysian** describes, on insertion. I would say that it hurt as much and as long as stubbing my toe. I had two or three rather uncomfortable periods after it was inserted, and now I am back to totally normal - 3-4 day period, maybe mild cramps on one day or maybe none. Same here. Totally worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intra-uterine-devices-and-other-non-hormonal-birth-control-methods/551343/28 "2010-08-29T18:12:32Z")
I just wanted to let you guys know that I did finally get in to see my doctor about Mirena and just got the insurance letter in the mail - I was thinking I’d have to set aside part of my bonus for it, because my insurance company is a pack of morons, right? Obviously it’s to their benefit, but so are a lot of things they don’t like to pay for. I’ll have to pony up a whole big 30 bucks. 🙂 Sweet!!! September 13. Not non-hormonal, but not entirely non-germane to the thread, right? ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intra-uterine-devices-and-other-non-hormonal-birth-control-methods/551343/29 "2010-08-29T20:42:08Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Can I hijack slightly with a question about the endometrial ablation procedure? How come your doc says you still need Mirena, and the Wiki page for the [procedure](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endometrial_ablation)says, “It is still possible to become pregnant after having this procedure. Some type of birth control method must be used after having endometrial ablation.” > > If the uterus lining is destroyed to the point that it doesn’t slough off and re-generate … how in the name of hell can an embryo implant? Hypothetically … what would happen if I got an EA and then _didn’t_ go on Mirena, or if the Mirena failed? What then? My understanding, which may not be entirely correct, is that it can eventually heal and go back to normal, at which point you’re completely unprotected against pregnancy if you’re not using some other form of birth control. Chronically regenerating is, after all, what the endometrium _does._ Endometrial tissue is some tough, persistent shit–ask anybody who’s ever had endometriosis. My poor sister-in-law has had that crap scraped out of her fallopian tubes twice already, and if she doesn’t give in and have a hysterectomy in the next few years, they’ll probably have to do it again. One of my friends had EA recommended to her for medical issues, and she refused because it _might_ make her infertile. Not would, _might_. I’ve heard of people having it done more than once. Neither of those things exactly screams to me “This is permanent, irreversible, and fool-proof,” ya know? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intra-uterine-devices-and-other-non-hormonal-birth-control-methods/551343.md?page=1)