Painful hysteroscopy? We'd like to hear from you. Help us tackle medical misogyny!

[RhiannonEMumsnet]

Hi there,

Have you had a hysteroscopy?

A new study has analysed thousands of Mumsnet posts from women who have undergone hysteroscopy, a common procedure carried out 71,000 times a year in England.

It found that many women felt unprepared for the pain, struggled to access adequate pain relief, and felt their experiences were dismissed by medical staff.

The findings are being used to push for better care across the NHS. If you have had a hysteroscopy and would be willing to share your experience with journalists covering this story, please reply below, or email [email protected].

Thanks,
MNHQ

I'm glad you're doing this! This torture has to stop. I couple of years ago I was referred on the 2ww following a post-menopausal bleed. I tried to get the GP to flag to gynae that I'd had an outpatient procedure fail because of severe pain/stenosed cervix 10 yrs before (pain worse than childbirth and felt like redhot poker up to my ovaries) but was NOT LISTENED TO/ignored. Therefore had to go for the scan and proposed OPH. I told them one had failed previously but was still asked to try the OPH for a biopsy as "things have changed in 10 years". Again I wasn't LISTENED TO. Needless to say nothing had changed - as soon as it started I was mentally back to the trauma of the previous OPH and I stopped the procedure (as I had agreed as a condition before hand) after a few minutes. I still had to have the hysteroscopy under GA. Such a waste of money when if they'd LISTENED AND ACTED accordingly they would have known what the outcome would be and saved NHS money. This whole charade caused me unnecessary pain, anxiety and delayed the cancer diagnosis. On both occasions of outpatient hysteroscopy the staff were very pleasant and kind - it's like being tortured by nice people and I think this is how they get away with it, along with the fear we might have cancer and therefore don't want a delay.

I had one in June 2024 following on from a period that lasted 6 weeks. I was 53 at the time and this was put down to perimenopause numerous times by GPs etc. I was eventually referred and I can only describe this procedure as barbaric like some victorian procedure. Im not a drama queen I gave birth on 2 paracetamol! This procedure left me traumatised and the room looked like there had been a mass murder. I had a polyp removed there and then and a bit of womb lining also taken. The weird thing is this barbaric procedure saved my life as I was diagnosed with womb and ovarian cancer 3 weeks later. No woman should have to endure this without some form of sedation. Two painkillers as recommended doesn't quite cut it.

I had an horrendous experience about 8 years ago. Unbelievable pain. Passing our in agony. And I was told because I'd given birth 'naturally' i would be fine. Even though I was post menopausal

Diagnosed with womb cancer at 40.
2 failed hycosy both times being urged to calm down and told its not that painful. Haemorrhaged in one
Back on general waiting each time. 7 years from start of the madness to cancer diagnosis.

Just marking my place and will reply later.

I went in for an ultrasound, was referred down the hall, was told I needed this without saying what it actually was, was held down by 4 nurses, was given gas and air which didnt do a bloody thing, couldn't stand to get dressed, was wheeled into a room at the back to recover, was given a paracetamol and couldn't sit up to take it. Was in agony in the bed for around 5 hours until I could muster up the will to get the fuck out of there. I hobbled to my car, it cost me £25 in parking as I had only gone in for 30 mins. I have no recollection of driving home. I crawled into bed and texted my boss that I needed the rest of the day off. I spent the next few days in bed.

So yeah unprepared, minimised, and not listened to is a bit of an understatement.

I had a hysteroscopy several years ago. It was totally unexpected, I thought the appointment was to discuss the results of a scan I’d had to investigate lengthy, heavy periods. The consultant talked to me without looking up from his writing, then stood up, pulled back the screen surrounding a couch in the corner and said along the lines of ‘right, take your bottom clothes off and hop up’. I had to ask him what was going to happen and at that point he TOLD me, didn’t ASK, that he would be doing a hysteroscopy. He said it was similar to a smear test and shouldn’t be a problem.

So, long story short, up I hopped and assumed the position. I was completely unprepared for the pain - there was a nurse holding my hand and trying to talk to me, but I couldn’t concentrate on what she was saying. I was saying it was hurting and asking him to stop, he was telling me to relax and was visibly irritated with me. Eventually the nurse said she thought he ought to stop, and I had the procedure done some weeks later under a general anaesthetic.

Like a PP, to this day I have no idea what he did to me that caused the amount of blood that was on the paper sheet when he finally stopped, and I bled onto the floor when I got up to get dressed. I certainly did not give informed consent for the procedure, I succumbed to it in blind faith that a medical professional would act ethically and that when he said it was similar to a smear, he was being truthful. He was not.

I had one in 2023 and it was the most horrific experience of my life and I’ve given birth twice with very little medication , by the time i realised what was happening it was too late to stop it . I felt totally abused and very unprepared and badly informed of what was happening .
I was told by my doctor, a man , that he was sending me for a scan bearing in mind the last scan I had was when I was pregnant and that was what i expected .
If I’d known what was going to happen i would have refused and asked for a general anaesthetic .
I would be willing to share my experience from start to finish if it would help other women to not experience this . I know others have had far better experiences than me but I feel that our personal pain and feelings are dismissed and that we’re just making a fuss .

It was the most painful and horrifying experience of my life. I felt horrendously violated and was told - by the male consultant - that it "can't be that bad". I wasn't given any pain relief, screamed throughout and was just left bleeding afterwards. I then had to limp back to my car and drive myself home. I had no idea what to expect. They said they were fitting a coil (which I didn't want, but they wouldn't do a hysterectomy until I'd tried one; I had a hysterectomy a year later). but 'while you are there' they would take a sample. He blamed it on me not having given birth naturally and having a tilted uterus. "Most women don't act like this" - so not only was I so upset, in so much pain and so scared, I was also blamed for being a bit pathetic and defective.

I have loaded my experience from Feb 2026 on Care Opinion - not that the health board have bothered to respond. I am currently waiting a response to my formal complaint but I am not holding my breath that anything will change. I hope you are ok having my story from a welsh hospital. I am also waiting for treatment for PTSD following this barbaric procedure.

After having a diagnostic hysteroscopy, I was told that I needed a large fibroid removed and that it could be done with a local anaesthetic. I asked if it would be no more painful than a standard hysteroscopy (which I’ve had twice previously) and I was told the injection would be painful, but the whole thing would be no worse. I was sent an appt for 2 weeks later.
Again during the consent process I was told that most women tolerate it very well so I agreed and signed the form. I told the surgeon I felt very nervous. The procedure itself was horrific, barbaric. It was incredibly painful and no one was with me, unlike two weeks earlier where a nurse stayed with me the whole time. I was crying at the end of it. I have never experienced anything like it in my life and left me traumatised and it’s not an exaggeration to say I felt violated. .
When I was crying as they led me out of the theatre, the nurse said it was just the emotion of it. I’d already told her when they sat me up when I was clearly so shocked and upset that there must be a better way and she said nothing. I was then led out of the theatre, back through the mixed sex waiting room, wearing the gown and my dressing gown on top and a small pad. I had no idea if I was bleeding or leaving a trail behind me. The two weeks previous at the last procedure, when they let me back in the room to change all this water and blood poured out of me and I was terrified it would happen again, in front of the waiting room. I was still sobbing. They sat me in another area around the corner, on my own. I was made a cup of tea and told I could go when ready. I was still crying. No one came to check on me the whole time.
I desperately wanted my husband so made my way back to the changing room on my own to get my phone from the locker as this had been locked away some hours earlier when they told me to change. I then went to the ladies bathroom and it was clear I was bleeding a fair bit. I got dressed, my husband came for me and I was given discharge papers which basically told me to speak to my gp if I had any issues. That was it.
The lack of support and care was and still is , truly shocking. I had no idea that the procedure would be anything like it was, if I had, I would not have consented and would have chosen to have it done under a general anaesthetic. Maybe that’s what they want so they can get though us faster. I’d been told to take paracetamol an hour before attending, which I did, but I was taken to theatre 4 hours later. Too late for that pain relief, what little it does.
I queried it with a nurse and she told me that the surgeon was very fast, so it would be ok. Honestly. Two ladies went to theatre for a gyne procedure before me that afternoon. One collapsed in the waiting area afterwards and the other was so upset she was put in a separate room and the consultant was called to come and speak to her. Clearly, this procedure is not what we are led to believe. It is an experience that will stay with me for a very long time and has made me very apprehensive about any further treatment. I have to wait now for histology results which again wasn’t explained to me before hand. I am saddened that I was made to feel so very vulnerable and alone. Women should not be made to feel this way during what are very intimate and personal medical procedures

I had an attempted one with just gas and air. I have raised the concern before that I am not good with any gynaecological procedures due to post traumatic stress and have been given 4 mg of diazepam. I don’t feel like that did anything at all! Because it was a suspected cancer investigation, I wanted to have it over and done with as soon as possible or it was unable to continue with the pain levels. To be fair, the doctor did stop as soon as it was evident I was too distressed but I can’t understand how anyone is able to have this procedure whilst awake. There must be tougher than I am! Went back a few weeks later to have it under general anaesthetic.

The way women are treated in relation to obs/gynae procedures here is nothing short of barbaric. We are told we're "being silly" and "making a fuss about nothing" while being subjected to painful, intrusive examinations and procedures.

It's like we're subhuman. Our feelings don't count. Our pain is dismissed and ignored.

I don't want to share my horrific experiences. Suffice to say the trauma runs deep and affected me in ways I cannot bear to repeat. There is one particular anaesthetist I remember that should have been in jail.

I am having a hysteroscopy with biopsy in just over two weeks. It will be with GA as for an unknown reason my vaginal walls have fused together so that my vagina is only 2cm and they couldn’t examine my cervix even with a transvaginal ultrasound (couldn’t insert it at all).

I will come back and post afterwards as to how it was.

I am quite nervous about it. I have been warned they may not complete it if I bleed too much.

I had an hysteroscopy 23/09/2024 it is one of the most horrific things I’ve ever been through in my life. I don’t think I’ll get over it, I’ve suffered so much pain in my life in the past, why do we have to suffer medically as well.
I couldn’t take in enough air, I couldn’t move from where I was of course, the pain was excruciating, then what felt like 10 minutes in she asks me would I like her to stop, I said no because I knew I’d have to come back at a later date and go through it all again so she carries on, she then stops and uses some device that she needed to find where she was going after soaking the uterus. I gripped onto the metal handles so tight I thought they might break off, I was screaming out in pain, literally screaming and the nurse then asked me stupid questions about my pets. I wanted to rip those handles off I was gripping so tight. The doctor said would you like some local anaesthetic? Unbeknownst to me it was an injection directly into the cervix which didn’t stop the pain at all for me in the uterus so I held on already shaking like an idiot my legs uncontrollably tremble, I thought my womb might pop while the tears streamed down my face. Sweat poured off me. I honestly thought I would pass out with dizziness and spew all over my top. Then the biopsy came and I felt like I was being cut from the inside out. The whole thing took about half an hour maybe more. I am so traumatised by the whole thing. 😢 How can this be allowed to happen on the NHS?

I work in fertility and some places still do egg retrieval (puncturing of womb and ovaries - often scores of times) with no sedation other than gas and air.

one lady was screaming so much the nurse turned the radio up so that they didn’t disturb the next room.

Just appalling.

Exeter BTW.

They refuse to pay an anaesthetist.

Worst IVF results in the country…

I had a hysteroscopy a couple of months ago and found it a breeze. It felt like a smear test. However, I know people who passed out during theirs. It's a barbaric lottery.

Women's health is an absolute shambles in this country. I've bled nearly every day for a year, haemorrhaged twice and am in daily, crippling pain which is ruining my life. If they suggest paracetamol once more...

I had one a few years ago and it was horrific. I was told to take a couple of paracetemol beforehand (which I forgot to do) but was totally ignorant of the procedure). I have never experienced pain like it - i have no children so havent gone through childbirth. I dont like to make a fuss so didnt say anything at first but had to finally say i was in agony. When it was over I went into some kind of shock and had to be put in another room to lie down for a while. I would never ever have it done again, unless with general anaesthetic. I dont really remember what the doctors/nurses were like as I have blanked out a lot of the experience due to it being so bad. I've never had issues with smears or colposcopies so was completely taken off guard with how horrendous it was.

I was told to be quiet and that it was my fault that she was finding it difficult because I was fat. She was like a battering ram with that fucking piece of equipment to get through my cervix. I was virtually hanging upside down, screaming and crying and clutching onto a nurse. She was supposed to get a Mirena coil in too, but couldn’t manage it. She kept telling me it was my fault, because I was fat. I was never offered pain relief. This was at Guys hospital.

I had another one the next year. I was offered a GA or a local anaesthetic in my cervix. I opted for the local anaesthetic. It took about fifteen minutes to do the biopsy and get the coil in. I was told repeatedly that she would stop if I wanted her to, and it could be done by GA. I asked her if it was true, what the other doctor said, that she had found it difficult to do because I was fat. She told me that I had a high cervix, but plenty of women did, and it shouldn’t be an issue - and it obviously wasn’t for her. The two experiences were like chalk and cheese.

I was put forward for one of these eighteen months ago I had been on HRT for three months and had started bleeding I hadnt had a period for years until the HRT but it was impossible to tell whether that had been because of the menopause or the mini pill. I was fifty one at the time. I refused the procedure I had read about how painful it could be and as my dad had just died me trying to relax during the procedure would have been a problem. I stopped the HRT after three months and two weeks and will not take it again because of the risk of being sent for one of these. No more bleeding since i stopped it oh just to add i was told it was just a scan but they then admitted something may have been done while i was there.

I had a hysteroscopy last week and I was completely unprepared for the pain. It's quite an invasive procedure which didn't help. The consultant tried to be reassuring but the pain was awful. He didn't use the speculum at first, then couldn't find my cervix, used the speculum, gave me a local anaesthetic and back in he went. I had taken naproxen that morning for painful knee joint and it didn't touch the sides.
Still bleeding and painful cramping 5 days on....horrible procedure

I’ve seen enough horrific posts on here about it that if I ever need one it won’t be without a GA
usually “mild discomfort” seems to be code for “you’ll want knocking out for this”

This was the worse pain of my life. I had this done privately as I struggled to conceive. On first try the consultant couldn't do it due to me having a bicornuate uterus. The second method he used was a balloon and clamp which slipped and tore my cervix so he had to stop the procedure to control the bleeding.

I had a blocked tube which caused excruciating pain. The nurse held me down for over 20 minutes as he tried again and again. I felt like I was going to pass out, shaking uncontrollably, crying, asking them to stop and then was sick. They wouldn't stop.

I had to leave the door of the cubicle open as I was getting changed afterwards so the nurse could monitor me in case I fainted. She then walked me out to my car where my mum was waiting and told her to get me a cup of tea and a biscuit for shock.

The only pain relief I had was the 2 paracetamol and 2 Ibuprofen I was told to take before.

I eventually did get pregnant and throughout had a fear that I would be trapped/ held down on my back again, as that to me felt like I had no control. Giving birth I made it clear what happened that day to the midwife.

In July 2024 I had a hysteroscopy to remove uterine polyps and insert a Mirena coil at the same time.

At the diagnostic appointment I was offered a general anaesthetic by the (female) consultant who said how a GA would take up my whole day and be a hassle over something that would "only take 10 minutes and feels like period pain".

I believed her and agreed to have it done while awake with no anaesthetic. I have given birth three times and assumed the discomfort would be nothing compared to that. Big mistake.

It was horrendous and painful. I nearly passed out afterwards. The male gynaecologist was very kind and I'm sure very skilled, but did comment there's no way he would have this done if he were a woman! I am scared of having gynaecological checks now. I feel sick every time I think about what happened and can hardly bear to read other people's experiences. I cannot contemplate having my coil removed and am dreading it even though it's 3 or 4 years away.

I had sedation for mine but that wasn't offered initially. I was told by my GP to go back to them and request it because there was no way she would ever have one without. I just wanted to add this to make the point that these medical professionals know exactly what they're doing - which is to cause barbaric levels of pain to female patients for their own convenience.

So is there a comparable procedure a man has that has zero pain because arrangements are made that men dont suffer where they dont do the same for women other wise how is it misogynist

Or is there another way misogyny comes into it?