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How Not to Get Pregnant: Hysterectomy as a Birth Control Method

How Not to Get Pregnant: Radical and Total Hysterectomy

Hysterectomy is an abdominal surgery; a doctor removes your entire uterus, or, if you have a subtotal hysterectomy, only part of your womb. It is one of the very rare how not to get pregnant methods that are absolutely 100% safe. At least, radical hysterectomy and total hysterectomy are safe, unlike subtotal hysterectomy. Both radical and total hysterectomy means that you have your womb removed, so a fetus will not have a place to grow in your body. It is a how not to get pregnant method that will last for the rest of your life. It is irreversible. There is one option of having a child without having a womb: in case your doctor has left your ovaries intact, you can produce an egg and a surrogate mother can bear your biological child. For medical and legal reasons, this alternative is not very feasible, so think twice before you decide to get this abdominal surgery. First of all, consider the possible disadvantages. Gynecologists usually do not recommend hysterectomy as a how not to get pregnant method – they perform this kind of abdominal surgery to cure serious conditions or, at least, problems like excessive bleeding.

Hysterectomy as a how not to get pregnant method is quite rare and unusual. It is a major abdominal surgery that has its risks.

On the other hand, women who have had hysterectomy are less likely to suffer from ovarian cancer, even if their ovaries were spared.

Types of Hysterectomy

Your uterus can be removed through your vagina or through your abdomen, and there exist laparoscopy-assisted hysterectomy.

If you undergo radical hysterectomy, your doctor will remove your ovaries, too. Many doctors are reluctant to remove them. Ovaries produce hormones that contribute to bone density and your general health and well-being in your old age. If you do not have your ovaries anymore, you might be prone to osteoporosis, fragile bones in old age. You can suffer other unpleasant hormonal changes, from migraines to fatigue or dizziness, and you can reach menopause much earlier. You can undergo hormone therapy to cease these symptoms.

Total hysterectomy means that a doctor removes your entire uterus but leaves your ovaries intact. Your ovaries still can produce hormones, which is beneficial for your sexual health.

Subtotal hysterectomy means that only a part of your uterus will be removed. One still can conceive a child after a subtotal hysterectomy.

Once you get your womb removed, you will not have your period anymore. There can be some bleeding, however, it will be considerably lighter and more convenient than your period.

Possible Disadvantages

Doctors avoid this abdominal surgery, they say it is not a how not to get pregnant method. There are a couple of disadvantages of this abdominal surgery. Some of the patients who have undergone a hysterectomy reported that they had pelvic pain afterward. There is a higher risk of urinary incontinency and vaginal prolapse many years after the surgery. It means that when you have your womb removed, you might not have these unpleasant symptoms right after the surgery, but you might have problems ten or twenty years later. After a hysterectomy, some patients have health issues like adhesions (forming of fibrous bands between tissues) and bowel obstruction.

 

Diseases that can affect ovaries

Unfortunately women can develop different diseases in their ovaries and besides the physical pain that these diseases bring in some cases they even lead to infertility.

Ovarian cancer is very rare disease and it certainly appears much less than cervical cancer. It is very difficult to detect ovarian cancer and if it is detected early there are fairly good chances for successful treatment. This type of cancer often occurs in women after menopause, in women who have not yet given birth, women that have close relatives suffering from this disease or some similar diseases like uterine cancer, breast cancer and cancer of the end of the colon as well as women who are suffering from obesity. Having all these things in mind, we can conclude that taking birth control pills and breastfeeding significantly reduces the risk of ovarian cancer. This type of cancer can affect one or both ovaries. There are some distinctive symptoms that accompany this disease but they occur very late. Some of those symptoms include – pain in the abdomen, vaginal bleeding, stomach problems, bloating and abdominal tumescence. If the gynecologist during medical examination finds thickenings it is very likely that he will perform laparotomy or/and laparoscopy. Ovarian cancer that is detected at an early stage can be treated with surgical removal of the ovary/ovaries (oophorectomy) and at a later stage with surgical removal of the uterus (hysterectomy).

Another disease that is more common in ovaries is ovarian cysts. They usually occur because of certain irregularities in the release of the oocytes from the follicle. If the follicle is not torn, it can result in a cyst. The vast majority of cysts are benign and some of them increase size, get harder and can cause irregular menstrual cycle, pain and discomfort in the stomach area. Sometimes the pain can occur during sexual intercourse. Gynecologists can discover cysts very easy during medical examination as he explores the area around the uterus and the ovaries. After that he will perform an ultrasound or laparoscopy. Cysts may disappear on their own but some of them need to be removed. In rare cases when the cyst is very large, a surgery may be necessary.

Women usually detect that they are suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome when they find out that they cannot conceive. In this case we are talking about disturbance in the process of secretion of pituitary hormones, which trigger the process of developing eggs in the ovary. Some of the most common symptoms of polycystic ovaries are – irregular menstrual cycles, acne, oily skin, excessive body hair and excessive weight. This disease can be treated with medications that provide normal hormonal balance.

Another thing that must be mentioned when we talk about ovary diseases is oophorectomy. This term is used to describe surgical removal of one or both ovaries. This procedure is usually performed in cases of certain types of cancer, large cysts or as part of hysterectomy. Doctors will try every method before they decide that the removal of the second ovary is necessary.

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