IUD pain relief available at health hubs

A SAFE pain management option for Intra Uterine Device (IUD) insertions and removals can be found at all of Victoria’s women’s sexual and reproductive health hubs.

Penthrox, commonly known as the green whistle, is available for free as part of those procedures.

The rollout followed the release of Victoria’s Inquiry into Women’s Pain.

The hubs include Ballarat Community Health’s centres in Sebastopol, Wendouree and Lucas.

“We know that women’s pain is real,” Wendouree MP Juliana Addison said.

“What we’ve heard through our pain inquiry into women’s health is that when people go for procedures to get IUDs, that often they’re told to take two [paracetemol tablets] and they’ll be right.”

But the pain inquiry, she said, revealed that thousands of women had found these procedures to be more than uncomfortable.

“It can be extremely painful for some women who have this procedure,” she said.

“So, giving women the option of having a green whistle, which is a self-administered pain relief that provides instant pain relief and lasts for 30 minutes, is another way of saying to women you shouldn’t be worried about having procedures.

“You should be able to make choices about your fertility, and the green whistle hopefully will remove a barrier for women wanting to do this.”

Last year more than 11,000 women and girls used the free or low-cost services across the hubs.

Almost 40 per cent of those hub patients were concession card holders, and most lived in the regions.

The hubs offer a range of services including contraception, medical abortion and referrals for surgical abortion, as well as testing, early diagnosis and treatment of STIs.