Experiences of outpatient hysteroscopy and whether to have it without anaesthetic

Mine was agony - going from zero to what felt like full-blown labour pains. I was shouting with pain, so they had to move very quickly to get the biopsy done and get out. I had gas & air but it didn't touch the sides. I was fine afterwards (well, not fine, exactly, as I'd seen something very obviously cancerous on the camera), but if I ever needed another I would ask for GA. Luckily, as I have no cervix or uterus anymore, that won't be an issue.

It’s so strange to me that we are all accepting the horror that was back street abortion but we just accept that women are still asked to go through procedures like this where they routinely pass out.

I passed out twice from Mirena insertions and had a GA for my hysteroscopy. But I had to argue very strongly for it!

I had one done last year biopsy, polyps removal and merina and had it under GA privately as covered on DHs insurance and the private hospital only did them under GA...which I thought was interesting as I was on an NHS waiting list and that wasn't mentioned there

I had uterine polyp removal under local a few years ago. I mean it was pretty grim - sedation would made it more bearable. Thank goodness dh came to take me home as I was a bit shaken afterwards and def wasn’t up to driving.
The actually hysteroscopy to diagnose the polyps was really painful. The nurse said ‘we sometimes take out the polyp at this point but I can see you won’t be able to tolerate that’. No shit!

I had one recently, with a biopsy. It wasn’t agony, more uncomfortable and I found the whole thing a bit overwhelming. I think if I were to have one again I’d look for sedation

When I had a hysteroscopy around 20 years ago, no pain relief was offered. I had it in a private hospital (on the NHS), too. It wasn't unbearably painful but it was deeply unpleasant. The dilating of the cervix caused by body to go into some kind of panic and it couldn't decide whether it wanted to pass out or vomit. They tilted the bed back so the blood rushed to my head. They said it wasn't uncommon for people to pass out. I've had quite few cervical procedures (biopsies, a large LLETZ, silver nitrate treatment, dozens of smears including with a intra-cervical brush). Many were more painful but none were as unpleasant as that hysteroscopy. I genuinely can't believe I was told that numbing or sedation are unnecessary - looking back I'm genuinely astounded that women were put through it with no pain relief or sedation.

Things are different now - they've realised they underestimated the pain involved in the newer, slimmer tools brought in in the 2000s. If I was given gas and air and a local anaesthetic (especially now I've had two kids), I think I'd avoid the GA. I wouldn't do it without gas and air, though. For me it wasn't the pain - I'd need to be high as all hell to risk feeling that faint, sick and vulnerable again - I've never felt worse

Speaking as someone who finds smears agony (tilted uterus, stage 4 endometriosis) I wasn’t overjoyed when my GP couldn’t retrieve my Mirena, snapped the strings and after rummaging around for some time, admitted defeat and said I’d need to go to a local clinic to have it retrieved via hysteroscopy. The doctor who did it was a specialist and apparently very good but my god I was nervous. No GA was ever mentioned; iirc I’d been told to take the usual paracetamol but that was it, other than a nurse’s hand to hold.

I have to say, the doctor really was good - just as it was starting to feel very slightly painful, she managed to get hold of the elusive coil, and I could watch it happening on the monitor. If it had gone on any longer, though, I suspect I’d be reporting a different and much worse experience.

However, I’m a firm believer in medical procedures being as painless as possible, and tbh I still can’t quite get my head around the way women generally are expected to put up with frankly astonishing levels of agony as routine (that’s something you definitely encounter attempting to get a diagnosis of endometriosis, sadly).

I've had two in the last 6 weeks. I took my painkillers before hand for the first but found it so painful the doctor had to give me a local anaesthetic, which made it bearable. The second was last week after the results of the biopsy from no 1 came back. I had to have several polyps removed, the lining of the womb removed and a mirena coil inserted to help prevent future problems. I insisted on a local anaesthetic at the outset. I still found it painful - giving birth to my 10lb+ child with only gas and air was less painful, but it was better. The cramping afterwards was unbelievable. I was advised to take the rest of the week off to rest and recover. I still have slight cramps but it is bearable now. If you have the option of a ga, I'd go for it, I didn't have the choice as I was on a 2week referral and the wait for ga is about 6 weeks here. I found it absolutely barbaric.

Edited for typo

I had one earlier this year, I’m already on cocodamol for chronic pain so I took that beforehand and I was absolutely fine without even a local. I had some gas and air but that really helped more with my back pain from the position I was in. I had multiple polyps removed, biopsies and a mirena inserted with mine. I had quite a lot of bleeding afterwards but I was having that anyway, hence why I was having it done.

I honestly wish every woman could have an experience like mine, I was petrified going in to it as I’d heard of so many women suffering horribly with them. 😢

I had 10mg diazepam of my own and then gas and air. I can't remember much apart from a tiny bit of uncomfortableness. I'm so grateful to mumsnet threads as there is no way I'd have agreed to it with just the suggested paracetamol. It can be awful.

I had this under local twice and each time had polyps removed and biopsies .
I found the procedure fine if a bit undignified, there was some pain when they numbed it but nothing awful.
I was fine afterwards both times and the second time I went back to work straight from the procedure. I had mild bleeding and cramping.
I wad really worried about having it done but I had a really positive experience

I had one just to examine me, not to do any treatment through it.

I was terrified before it, had to get anti-diarrhoea tablets. During was bearable. I never got the option of a GA anyway.

Afterwards I had a stiff bum for 3 months!

I will really avoid having this test again, but I'm not reliant on the NHS so they can't penalise me for not undergoing a certain test/procedure, which I presume they can in the NHS.

I had 3 hysteroscopies last year. The first one as an outpatient with paracetemol/ibuprofen was painful but tolerable. The second was horrendous and was eventually stopped after 15 minutes of what I would describe as torture. The third was done with GA. If I were to have to have another I'd only do it under GA. Based on my experience I would say that the level of pain depends on where the problem is in the uterus and also on the technique and skill of the person doing the procedure. But there doesn't seem to be any evidence published to support any theory. I hope all goes well.

After trying without any pain relief I had to stop as it was unbearable. At hospital I
asked anaesthetist on day of procedure for sedation rather than GA. Was fantastic. Completely out of it unaware. Came round very quickly afterwards and went home much sooner than the others who all had GA.

I had one a few months ago. I opted for a local anaesthetic to numb the cervix which I think helped put my mind at ease more than anything. Gas& air were available, though I didn’t feel I needed it (and having used it in labour, in find it makes me very dizzy!)

I’m not great with pain (I have passed pit when having a piercing and when I had my first blood test!) but found it a manageable procedure. There was certainly some cramping, very similar to period pain or early labour pains. But only a very short burst of any kind of ‘sharp’ pain.

The nurses/doctors talked me through everything and said I could stop at any point. I took my husband with me and he stayed by me throughout the procedure, which I found reassuring.

The cramping lasted a few hours after and I was glad I had taken the day off work so I could just rest (I’m a teacher so would have been going back to full on lessons with 30children with no way to rest.)

I had one n mid 50s to remove polyps. I thought I would die from the pain. Get the GA!

I had an outpatient hysteroscopy a couple of years ago and it was truly horrendous. It was undoubtedly the worst experience of my life. Definitely go for the GA.

I've had all of mine without.
All ok except the last one really hurt but that was because she was in and out multiple times removing lots of small polyps and taking a biopsy. (Which she said couldn't possibly be causing my symptoms and almost refused to remove, except now my symptoms have gone 🤔). Sometimes the little ones cause the most bother, I had a 40 minute one to remove a huge fibroid and that was fine in comparison.

I'm a bit scared of GA's, they're not risk free and I'd rather not have one unless absolutely necessary.
I've had light sedation for other procedures and that was great! Felt nothing.

I had two in my late 40s. Both times they took a biopsy. Really didn't have much pain, and was back at work within an hour both times. I don't do well with GAs and so really didn't want one. No pain relief was offered and I forgot to take the recommended ibuprofen beforehand.

Apparently about 70% of women find them ok, and 30% find them very painful. The problem is that you can't tell in advance which group you're going to fall into.

I'm 61 and have had two in the last 12 months. First was polyp removal and biopsy. For me, they were both fine, virtually painless just slight discomfort.
The staff were lovely, and driving home afterwards was not a problem. Smear tests at this age have been another story!
Reading others experiences, it seems impossible to predict.

Mine was surpsingly painless considering I've never given birth or had a coil etc, and am a wimp. I think I took paracetamol before, and had a local anaesthetic in vagina before the procedure, which included removing a polyp and a biopsy. It really helped that the staff were lovely and said at any point I could ask to stop, and they'd book me in for a GA.....so in future I would only have one if this was the case.

everyone’s experience is really different as you can see from these responses… but knowing how awful it COULD be for some, do you want to risk it?

FYI… I had one recently with GA. For me, even with GA, the pain after the procedure was so mind blowingly sore that they had to give me OxyContin in the hospital just to handle the hours afterwards. I was in agony! And that was just the pain on waking from the procedure. I truly can’t imagine having been awake during it. I did have a biopsy done.

I had it done recently. In short - ask for the anaesthetic. Preferably general or sedation, local does nothing.

I’ve had a couple both without GA, just with the local injected into the site that’s the worst part to be honest for me and then I concentrated on some yoga breathing! I had polyps removed and a biopsy on the first and another biopsy on the second. I also take some painkillers before I go. It’s not a pleasant experience but for me I know I can be in and out and on with my day after! I also completely trust the staff and know I can ask them to stop at any time, and will do so if needed.