Hysteroscopy: has anyone had this procedure?

[olderwhynotwiser]

I am due to have a hysteroscopy and, needless to say, I am not exactly looking forward to this procedure. The letter sent from my local nhs hospital talks of 'pain and discomfort'. Localised pain killer injection into the cervix. I am assured that 'the procedure can be stopped at any time'. Please can anyone tell me of their experiences of this procedure? Please don't sugar coat it if it wasn't very pleasant. I would much rather hear the truth so I can be prepared. Thank you.

I am a bit surprised that the options for this procedure seem to be either full sedation through GA or no sedation. I had a colonoscopy recently with mild sedation; still awake but half out of it and no pain felt at all. I would have thought that this would be on offer for a hysteroscopy. None of the ill effects of a full GA and home after a short rest and a cup of tea. Surely offering this would avoid the need for GA.

@olderwhynotwiser

I am a bit surprised that the options for this procedure seem to be either full sedation through GA or no sedation. I had a colonoscopy recently with mild sedation; still awake but half out of it and no pain felt at all. I would have thought that this would be on offer for a hysteroscopy. None of the ill effects of a full GA and home after a short rest and a cup of tea. Surely offering this would avoid the need for GA.

I've puzzled over this since - why not offer local anaesthetic to the cervix, at the very least?

Dentists seem more clued up about pain relief during procedures than gynaecologists!

(Though I note that others upthread were offered the intermediate option of a local.)

I know what you mean CaraDuneRedux as a probe which has to get into the womb does seem more invasive than a colonoscopy. Of course only women have this procedure. Can't help wondering if that is a factor; an expectation that women are more likely to put up with pain.

I had mine under a GA. I never liked smears and wanted the consultant to be able to get on with it. It was so quick. I only lost an hour IIRC.

There is a group on Twitter, Hysteroscopy Action I think, who campaign for women to be able to choose more pain relief or a GA.

I've had two, both involving biopsies. A bit worse than a smear test but not much.

I was back at my desk straightaway after both of them and dont remember taking any pain killers later.

One thing I was surprised about, well, I was surprised its probably obvious, but woke up from GA with sanitary pad in place. Slightly mortified but put it on the not to think about too much shelf

Now you mention it OP, it's hard to imagine men having any similar procedure without anaesthesia!

I've had two done under GA and three without . Both times the two that were done without ended up not getting enough tissue and I had to then go through a GA at a later date.
The third one without I am awaiting at the moment to see if they have enough tissue, it's ongoing!
I have a tilted back womb which makes it more difficult and let me tell you it was horrendous for me I thought I was going to go through the roof with the pain, I've had four children without pain relief only gas and air and childbirth was less painful.
This of course is my experience and although it hasn't been said a tilted womb probably makes this more painful.

I had one along with a polypectomy at the same time, so about 15/20 mins. No ga/local. It was uncomfortable and yes painful at times but I had 2 female gynaecologists and 2 female nurses who were brilliant. Previous attempt by male gnae did not go so well . Pretty low on the pain scale compared to say labour or gallstone attack, and fairly short lived.

KissMe my womb is tilted too & they can never find my cervix for smear tests so maybe it’s positional. I wasn’t offered an anaesthetic the gynaecologist just went for it!

@LizziesTwin

KissMe my womb is tilted too & they can never find my cervix for smear tests so maybe it’s positional. I wasn’t offered an anaesthetic the gynaecologist just went for it!

Me too.

It's a bastard post menopause as everything goes a bit floppy in addition to being tilted in the wrong direction, so finding my cervix is like Livingstone looking for the source of the Nile!

The scope on the end is about 3mm wide and is probably smaller than an IUD (coil) and a Mirena coil, for comparison. They don't use GAs for insertion of those (usually.)

I've puzzled over this since - why not offer local anaesthetic to the cervix, at the very least?

Because a needle in your cervix is possibly worse than the insertion of the actual scope.

@JinglingHellsBells

The scope on the end is about 3mm wide and is probably smaller than an IUD (coil) and a Mirena coil, for comparison. They don't use GAs for insertion of those (usually.)

Given difficulty in access during my procedure and the fact I had a endometrial biopsy and polyp removal as well as hysteroscopy examination I was thrilled to have a GA. There should definitely be a choice offered.

Everyone is different @tortoiseshell1985

I could have had whatever I wanted as it was private and I was given the choice.

In principle I'd avoid GAs whenever possible.

I'd had an endo biopsy already in the dr's surgery and it was fine- took a few seconds and all over.

The hysto and 2nd biopsy was a year or so later.

It's good to read all your experiences. I'm due one at the end of Nov, hopefully it'll go ahead. I am a bit worried about pain. I had some polyps removed a few years ago under ga as when they tried with me awake it hurt too much.
I had a coil fitted last year and the moment the gp went through my cervix it was a very weird sharp pain what made me gasp. I'm not looking forward to that again.
Mine is to see if I'm suitable for an ablation, I don't think they will do that at this appointment.
Have all of you had female drs doing the procedure?

I had it done privately and wasn’t given any option than GA (which actually turned out to be a pain in the arse as they wouldn’t let me go home alone), so actual procedure was fine and they sent me home with a truck load of painkillers that I didn’t touch. I didn’t have any pain relief after I came round the procedure, just mild period pain type symptoms and a bit of bleeding (had some polyp removed).

@longtompot No, my gynaecologist is a man.
He's one of the best in the UK (not a stealth boast) and I'd known him for years before the procedure. He did find it hard to gain access- it took 30 mins compared to the usual 10 minutes, but he was patient and I can honestly say it didn't hurt. Afterwards I had a bit of a 'reaction' and felt quite faint but the procedure itself was painless.

I think a lot depends on the skill of the dr doing it. Mine trains other drs.

It's the reaction afterwards that slightly worries me. Because of lockdown, friends having Covid, and my husband having an operation under general anaesthetic the day before, there's nobody who can take me to mine. I have to drive myself. Because I'm under the 14-day pathway it's all been arranged very quickly, which is great.

Originally I thought I could sit in the hospital cafe if I felt woozy. Presumably, from Thursday, they're closed?

Might have to be biscuits and flask of coffee in the car.

@JinglingHellsBells

Everyone is different *@tortoiseshell1985*

I could have had whatever I wanted as it was private and I was given the choice.

In principle I'd avoid GAs whenever possible.

I'd had an endo biopsy already in the dr's surgery and it was fine- took a few seconds and all over.

The hysto and 2nd biopsy was a year or so later.

You're braver than me I do have really bad hospital phobia, honestly, just going for well check at GP sends me into orbit so guess awake surgery was always going to be an impossibility for me.

I had 4, before I had a hysterectomy.

1. No anaesthetic at all. It was ok.

1. Local anaesthetic, quick scratch, basically painless.

3 and 4. General anaesthetic, right faff with time off work, recovery, feeling crap from GA. However led to offer of hysterectomy, which is what I needed.

Good luck

That's good to hear, Jamie.

@tortoiseshell1985 I think I'm a control freak- like to see what's going on!

To be fair, the deal was try with nothing, use local if too painful, abandon that if necessary and reschedule for a GA.
All those options made it more relaxing.

Just reporting back because I had my hysteroscopy and biopsy this morning. I took two OTC co-codamal beforehand and was fine. I have a very tilted uterus but the lovely gynaecologist managed very well. She did say that having had another one done seven weeks earlier along with a D&C (under a general) might have made it easier to get through the cervix.

Nobody could drive me up for various complicated reasons but I was perfectly ok.

Now have to wait hopefully less than two weeks for biopsy result. There's a slight chance I might avoid the need for surgery.

So if anyone is very apprehensive, I wanted to say that it might be better than you feared. I took some Naproxen when I got home, left over from the last one, for period-like cramps.

That's good, I bet you're glad it's done! Have a rest now.