Essure® hit the United States market after its approval by the FDA in 2004, but, by 2018, the female sterilization device was pulled from the market due to complications. According to the FDA, these complications ranged from pelvic pain and headaches to weight gain and menstrual irregularities.
If you’re among the women who got the short end of the stick when it comes to Essure, we’ve got you covered. Dr. Fernando Otero and the team here at Women’s Clinic of the Rio Grande Valley are leading experts in Essure removal and we’ve helped many of our patients to regain their quality of life.
While you’re in very good hands with us here during your Essure removal procedure, we want to provide you with a few tips to ease your recovery at home.
Removing Essure coils is quite tricky because the coils are very delicate and can break apart during the removal, creating even bigger problems.
If we’re lucky, we can go in through your vagina and remove the coils using a hysteroscope, in which case you have very little downtime.
In most cases, however, we need to go in laparoscopically to remove the coils, and often your fallopian tubes, too, to ensure that the devices come out safely.
Since we’re using minimally invasive surgical techniques, we’ll only be making small incisions, but you should still plan on taking it easy for a few days afterward.
We suggest that you take some time off of work and arrange for people to help you with errands – picking up groceries or the kids, taking out the garbage, etc.
During your recovery, it’s best that you sleep on your back so that you don’t put pressure on your lower abdomen while it heals.
If you’re not a back sleeper, we suggest that you build some pillow walls on either side of you to keep you from rolling over onto your stomach.
Even though we use advanced laparoscopic techniques to remove your Essure coils, it’s still surgery and you should go easy for two weeks, or more. While you can resume most of your day-to-day activities after a week, you should avoid heavy lifting and strenuous activities for another week after that, at least.
If you like to exercise, we suggest a nice walk around the neighborhood instead of a long run and gentle stretching instead of lifting weights at the gym. Use your judgment and stop anytime you feel any discomfort in your lower abdomen.
By taking a few steps to prepare and understanding your limitations, you should sail through your recovery with ease. Of course, before you go home after your Essure removal, we give you complete aftercare instructions that go over everything from incision care to showering.
We’re also available for any questions you may have about your recovery from Essure removal surgery. For more information, please contact one of our offices in McAllen or Edinburg, Texas.
