April 3, 2008

Side Effects of Norplant

Posted in Category : Women's Health

Norplant is a birth controlling technique which is widely gaining popularity among the women. It is a new technique; surgical operation is required to implant the Norplants in the woman body. These are implanted in the arms; its USP is its ability to prevent pregnancy for complete 5 years.

It consists of six small sized sticks; these sticks contain the hormone progestin which when released in the blood prevents pregnancy. For the first one and a half years the release is heavy, later the level of release decreases. The hormone progestin is the same progesterone. Implanting of Norplant is very simple-it takes 15 minutes. Your elbow is made numb and the six sticks are inserted inside in the shape of a fan.

There are certain side effects associated with it; sore breasts, headache, acne, weight gain, hair loss, rashes are some of the problems of concern. The bleeding and spotting may become irregular and infact in some cases there won’t be any bleeding.

You can take it out whenever you feel so i.e. before 5 years too. The process of taking out is simple- normally it takes about 30 minutes. The spot is cleaned thoroughly and numbed; a small portion where the implant was originally done is cut and the implant is removed. It rarely causes any pain. You are free to insert more Norplants if you feel so. The only constraint is the cost factor; as it requires surgical operation it is costlier than the other methods.

It is always better to take the advice of your doctor before going for the implant and after the implant if you feel any complications then immediately inform your doctor. This new technique keeps you mentally free for almost five entire years; moreover whenever you feel like having a baby you can just get it removed.