The world of birth control can be confusing given all the options, but you already know which boxes you need checked — you want long-lasting protection, but the ability to quickly reverse this protection when you’re ready to have children.
Well, there’s a name for what you’re looking for — long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), which is used by more than 1 in 10 American women between the ages of 15 and 49.
Here at Women’s Clinic of the Rio Grande Valley, Dr. Fernando Otero and the team pride ourselves on offering comprehensive family planning services that cater to every need and goal. And this includes the two mainstays in the field of LARCs, which we review below.
First up in the LARC category are intrauterine devices (IUDs), which are small T-shaped devices that we place inside your uterus during an office visit. There are two types of IUDs, including:
This IUD, once we place it, can offer up to 10 years of protection against pregnancy. This IUD works by repelling sperm (they don’t like copper) and by thickening your cervix to prevent sperm from passing through.
There are also hormonal IUDs that slowly deliver hormones into your system that control ovulation to prevent pregnancy. Brand names include Mirena®, Lilletta®, Kyleena®, and Skyla®, which last 7, 6, 5, and 3 years respectively.
No matter which type of IUD you choose, reversing the pregnancy protection is incredibly simple — you come to our office and we remove the device in just minutes. After that, your fertility should come back online fairly quickly.
The other device that prevents pregnancy over the long run is a birth control implant. With this technique, we place a small, matchstick-sized implant just under your skin in your upper arm. Once in position, the implant slowly releases progestin into your body to prevent pregnancy, and each implant can last up to three years.
Reversing this protection is as easy as the implantation — you return to our office and, after applying a local anesthetic, we make a tiny incision and remove the implant. Once we remove the device, your fertility should be restored after the extra hormones leave your system.
As you can see, these two options are ideal for women who want a birth control option that they don’t have to think about on a daily basis, that provides long-lasting protection, and that can be reversed easily. Done and done with IUDs and birth control implants.
If you’d like to learn more about long-lasting reversible birth controls, or any other family planning options, we invite you to contact one of our offices in McAllen or Edinburg, Texas, to set up an appointment.
