Is it Safe to Remove Your Own IUD (Intrauterine Device)?
It may seem simple to remove your own IUD when it has reached its expiration date. You may have even seen YouTube videos on it. But for your own safety, only a doctor should remove your IUD. After years of medical training, and experience in doing pelvic exams, understanding the effects of an acutely retroverted (tilted posteriorly) uterus (or a retroflexed, or anteverted uterus), and removing other IUD’s, a doctor has the skill to know when there could be a potential problem, and therefore when to stop pulling on the IUD.
If the IUD has attached to the uterine wall, or if one of the arms of the IUD is not bending back like it should, a doctor will sense the pressure and may decide to use a second method of removing the IUD. The second method is called a hysteroscopy which involves inserting a hysteroscope (a telescope) through the cervix so that the IUD can be removed while the doctor is looking at it. This procedure may take up to an hour to complete.
Note: Information on this website is intended to supplement, not substitute for the knowledge of your doctor, or other health care provider.