Wow, I never knew that was a thing. They put in the couple I've had with no pain medicine or anything. It doesn't feel good, but I didn't think it was overly painful. I'm interested to see others responses.

Yes! The Penn Medicine PEACE clinic provide local anesthetic (lidocaine) upon request, and were extremely kind to me during insertion, after a previously very painful experience. If you look them up there is a phone number— if that sends you to general Penn Med, just ask to speak with the PEACE clinic. I was able to get an appt last March within ~2 weeks.

I would bet that rittenhouse women's wellness does, but you'd have to double check.

I go to Jefferson OBGYN (at their nice and free ample parking Navy Yard office) and have had a cervical block (lidocaine injection to cervix) before my most recent mirena was placed last summer. I think they only have a few docs that do it though so you’d have to specify that when making an appointment, the NP I usually see could not do it herself. I (45 yr old, nulliparous) had a previous iud put in with no block/gel and it literally was the most painful pain I have ever felt in my life and I have decent pain tolerance at baseline. So even tho lidocaine injection sounds painful or scary it reduced my insertion pain by about 1 million percent.

I would check with Irma Yehuda at Penn’s 800 Walnut location. She is one of the kindest, most knowledgeable providers that I’ve been a patient of in 15+ years. Any requests I’ve had regarding pain or concerns were accommodated.

Penn OB

That is so helpful to know they offer that injection. I had one placed at Jefferson in 2017, and my OB/GYN just told me to take a few Motrin beforehand, then laughed and said "that's what a contraction feels like!" while I'm white as a ghost and almost puking after her 3rd attempt to place it....I definitely want more than Motrin next time.

Life cycle women in Bryn Mawr will give you laughing gas I believe if you can make it out that far!

I don’t have an answer to your original question, but have you considered the arm implant instead of an iud? I had an atrociously painful experience getting an iud placed (and clearly I’m not alone!), and I ultimately switched to the arm implant. I was given a local anesthetic for it and felt nothing.

I got the IUD and got it removed and went back to the pill because of hormonal acne. The IUD insertion was hell but it made me feel fine mentally. The pill hasn’t been great for my mental health. For some reason the arm implant scares me! Was the local anesthetic a cream? Has the implant moved at all, and how has it been on your mental health and skin? I know every woman is different

It wasn’t a cream, it was a shot of lidocaine. Not the most pleasant thing, but an absolute walk in the park compared to the iud insertion. The implant doesn’t move at all. It can be a little weird to be able to feel it, and I have a small mark where it was inserted, but that was it. I did not have any issues with mental health like I did with the pill, and it didn’t make my skin any worse (I’ve always had stubborn acne, sadly).

I’ve heard from about 3/4 of the people that have them that insertion was one of the most painful things they’ve experienced. My doctor even told me it’s almost more normal to pass out than not to. I’m not sure why so many places do it without.

The current place I go to is Philadelphia Women’s Health and Wellness center. They told me they could do the lidocaine injection but do not usually recommend it because of how painful it is. I had an IUD inserted before and it was the worst pain I’ve ever felt, other than my appendix about to rupture. Thank you for sharing that because I was afraid of the injection after the provider told me how painful it was.

I just called them and they said they don’t offer anything.

Also, the provider I go to said she would give me a Xanax if I had a ride home that day

Huh that's surprising...and stupid that they don't.

I'm on my 2nd implant. I like it, but it does affect my acne (has made it worse). I haven't had it shift in my arm.

Right?! I don’t get why we need to fight for our pain management

I don’t want to crap on anyone’s choices, but I would add to research the side effects of implants compared to the ones for IUDs before making your decision. (Ideally find a gyno you can trust who will be able to explain pros and cons too.) I currently have a copper IUD and despite the insertion pain and some heavy periods for the first six months (I know, bummer), I’ve been really happy with it. No weird hormonal side effects, no effects on sex drive.

At a fucking women's wellness clinic at that

I have had the total IUDs since 2011-first one I got the lidocaine-they just did it, like it was routine, I didn’t know it was a thing to get the lidocaine, that insertion went ok. It was the second one they did with no lidocaine and that was the one I almost threw up, and was bawling crying. There was no way i was going to get this last one without that lidocaine. And yes I heard the same bullshit of “oh that lidocaine injection hurts more than the procedure”, that is a line of shit if I ever heard one. Maybe it’s bc I’ve never birthed a baby that it’s that painful for me, I’m just glad this is my last IUD bc I’m old lol.

Maybe check out Karen Tang. She might only be doing surgeries now but she has a social media presence where she advocates for better care and pain prevention.

Definitely agree with researching side effects and talking to your gyno! I had no issues but that’s obviously not the case for everyone.

That helps me out a lot. Thank you so much. I really appreciate your comment. The pill has been making me feel so sad and it isn’t been a good switch like I thought I would be. I got it out after four years because of hormonal acne, but I still break out on the pill. Grant it, it has only been a month. I regret getting the iud out because the insertion pain was the worst, but if the injection made it easier for you, I trust that.

Thank you!

Not exactly the answer to your question by Dr Auerbach in the NE at Jeanne’s does NOT do it. I learned the hard way.

So like, the lidocaine injection hurts more than the IUD insertion... because you don't feel the IUD insertion as much after the lidocaine injection! So yes, the lidocaine injection will be the most painful part of the procedure, but that means it's working!!

Anyway, I've had a cervical lidocaine injection and yeah, it hurt. Not a huge amount, though, and it was way better than the alternative.

Have you considered Nuvaring?

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Honestly no.

Do you have her socials?

I’m sorry to hear that.

Thank you so much for this. How was your experiment with the lidocaine? Also, where is the location of this clinic?

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Might be worth asking about. Otherwise the recommendation for Penn’s PEACE clinic is good for what you’re seeking.

Thank you for that. Have you experienced the lidocaine injection for an iud insertion?

This happened to me exactly the same. First attempt was one of the most painful experiences of my life. It popped out and I refused to let them try again. I nearly fainted from pain and threw up. Came back a week later and they did a cervical block. Yes it was a little pinch and burn but nothing like the first attempt. Would never do that again without a block.

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I think they also have a south Philly office. Both are staffed by midwives and provide excellent care.

I almost fainted during mine. I’m dreading getting it removed now but hoping it’s not as bad. It’s a really barbaric way to treat patients, imo.

I had the implant first, I had a period for 3 straight months, couple days off here and there. It was a nightmare.

I have a pretty high pain tolerance, I can see why numbing would be beneficial.

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If you're trying to solve hormonal acne, I think you should try out the pill for a few more months. I have PCOS and suffered from horrible hormonal acne. It started when I was ~11 and I had terrible, early teen level acne for the next 15 years. IUD didn't do much but the pill pretty much completely got rid of all my acne--it just took ~4-6 months to really clear up my face and then another ~6-8 months for all my deep scarring and hyperpigmentation to fade. With skincare and hormone, 1 month just isn't enough time to make a decision--your body is still getting used to the hormones.

On the other hand, if you feel terrible on it consistently, the acne may be worth it to switch back to the IUD. I also felt terrible on the pill so honestly I made the switch back after years of sacrificing my mental health for clear skin. The pill saved my life though because ~2 years on it stabilized my skin enough that my skin looks nowhere near as bad as it used to. I still get more pimples on the IUD but it's nowhere near what it used to be.

My doctor told me it was going to be the most painful experience of my life but it was also going to be just a few seconds and she was right lol. They didn’t give me medicine or anything, after that I went shopping and walked around a lot without any issues

Besides parking issues, are the other Jefferson OBGYN locations nice too? I might make an appointment but see mixed reviews

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Thank you for sharing your experience. Do you know if they gave you any numbing gel for the shot?

Thank you!

Every woman is different I suppose. I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t given birth, and that’s why it was so painful or what

Yeah after the insertion I had no issues, just the insertion itself hurt so much

The removal is nothing like the insertion! It does hurt but it’s nothing compared to the insertion and lasts like two seconds

She provided things for pain with the IUD insertion?

She did when I was under her care. I checked her Penn profile and BC planning and care is still listed. Penn Provider Profile

Thank you so, so much.

No gel, just injections.

>Life cycle women in Bryn Mawr

Thank you! I am happy to see they are down here. I needed a recommendation <3

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I started out going to the center city office at 833 chestnut, 1st floor/lower level. That was totally fine too. Navy yard is just nicer, newer, quieter.

I LOVE Dr. Isabel Eisner at Temple Episcopal! She put in my Mirena about six months ago with a cervical block. I still had quite a bit of pain, but it was definitely better than when I've had IUDs inserted with no numbing. Dr. Eisner is seriously the only doctor I ever get excited to see-- she's sweet, funny, patient, and so good at her job