Complications after medical abortion. Taking a pill vs maintaining pregnancy? How does a medical abortion work? After a medical abortion, the lower abdomen hurts
Termination of pregnancy is a dangerous operation, the consequences for the body are unpredictable: from ordinary thrush to infertility. After an abortion, the patient will inevitably experience abdominal pain. When unpleasant sensations are considered the norm, how to restore health faster, which case would be a reason to consult a doctor - all questions are answered in the article.
Public opinion regarding the abortion procedure is mixed. The operation is prescribed by gynecologists in the presence of fetal pathologies or the mother’s strong desire to terminate the pregnancy. Before the operation, the woman is informed about the possible risks and consequences: sometimes the procedure can cause death. There are three known ways to terminate a pregnancy.
Medical abortion
Prescribed to patients whose pregnancy is from one to four weeks. It is carried out after a complete gynecological examination: examination, ultrasound, tests. A woman takes special pills that can cause an induced miscarriage. The procedure consists of two stages. The first step is an increase in the hormone progesterone, the release of the fertilized egg. The second stage is the relaxation of the uterine muscles, the release of the embryo. A kind of contraction is provoked, pushing the fertilized egg through the reproductive organ.
Medical abortion is accompanied by bleeding for a period of one to five days. Additionally, painkillers and hemostatic medications are prescribed. Normal side effects: nausea, vomiting, dizziness, back pain, abdominal pain, bleeding similar to menstruation.
Vacuum abortion
It is carried out for a period of four to six weeks. The safest type of abortion. The procedure follows the following scheme: a special device sucks out the fertilized egg. The operation is performed under local anesthesia. Vacuum intervention in the body is not carried out if:
- Purulent infections of the genitourinary system.
- Inflammatory processes of the pelvic organs.
- Acute infectious diseases.
After the operation, the woman feels pain in the lower abdomen for several days, caused by contractions of the uterus. Light bleeding is observed for 3-5 days.
Surgical curettage
The most dangerous way to terminate a pregnancy, which increases the risk of complications. It is carried out for periods of six to twelve weeks. The walls of the uterus are expanded with a special device, then the embryo, mucous membrane, and placenta are scraped out. Surgical abortion is a painful undertaking. The patient is given special anesthetic drugs.
Pain for the first time after surgery is normal. The uterus narrows to its previous size. After a medical abortion, the pain is caused solely by muscle contraction; after the other two procedures, it is caused by additional damage to the walls of the reproductive organ. The norm is bleeding, discomfort, and moderate pain for five days. If the symptoms persist, this is a reason to see a specialist.
After surgery, your intestines and stomach may hurt greatly. The complication is caused by contraction of the uterus, affecting the walls of the digestive organ. Unpleasant sensations are accompanied by abnormal bowel movements, bloating, and increased gas production.
If after an abortion the stomach hurts on the left side, this is a symptom associated with an inflammatory process in the intestines. To avoid such complications, you should adhere to a diet before and after the abortion procedure: avoid fried foods, fast carbohydrates (cookies, candies), heavy foods, follow a drinking regime (about two liters of clean water per day, coffee, tea and soups do not count).
Reason to see a doctor
Depending on the type of operation, a certain period of time is allotted for the restoration of the body: several days for medication, a month for surgery. If the recovery period is over, but the woman is suffering from pain and bleeding, it’s worth thinking about it. The list of alarm signals from the body includes:
- Unbearable pain in the lower abdomen, back.
- Pain lasts longer than a week.
- Bleeding for more than a week.
- Blood clots.
- Unpleasant smell of discharge.
- No bleeding.
- Fainting.
If a woman suffers from any of the above symptoms or other unpleasant sensations, it is worth going to see a gynecologist. An abortion may be unsuccessful; the fetus or part of it will be preserved. The safety of the embryo is indicated by symptoms similar to those in the early stages of pregnancy. If after an abortion a woman’s breasts swell and she suffers from nausea in the morning, it’s time to run to the doctor. As a rule, a woman is sent for a second or first (with a medical abortion) curettage.
Complications
The main cause of discomfort is contraction of the muscles of the uterus, minor injuries to the walls. After a medical abortion, the only complication, the symptom of which is pain, is the inability to contract the uterus. During surgical intervention during the procedure, complications of the following type may occur: endometritis (inflammation in the mucous layer of the uterus), adnexitis (inflammatory process in the fallopian tubes), peritonitis (inflammation of the peritoneum), uterine perforation (puncture of the uterine wall), incomplete removal of the fertilized egg, embryo putrefaction and inflammation. The most dangerous complication is a puncture of the uterus, which can affect other organs. Later complications also include hormonal imbalance, infertility, and the occurrence of uterine fibroids. If the monthly cycle is disrupted, painful periods appear, if everything was normal before, you should consult a specialist.
How to cope with pain after an abortion using folk remedies
The only cause of pain after an abortion that is not caused by complications is the contraction of the muscles of the uterus and the release of the remaining fertilized egg. After an abortion, on the first day it is advised to apply a cold heating pad to the lower abdomen - the uterus begins to contract intensively, the fetal residue is removed from the body faster. The method does not eliminate pain in the lower abdomen, but helps speed up the recovery process. A warm cloth, which is also recommended to be applied to the stomach, will help cope with the pain. Folk remedies are used after a repeat ultrasound confirms that there is nothing left in the uterus.
It is possible to stop bleeding, reduce pain, and eliminate the consequences of abortion on your own at home by using special tinctures and decoctions:
- A decoction of orange peel accelerates the release of embryonic residues from the body and returns the uterus to its normal size. For the decoction you will need 6-7 oranges, preferably unripe ones. Pour two liters of water over the orange peels, boil and simmer until half the water remains. Take 4 teaspoons of the decoction three times a day until the bleeding stops.
- Red pepper tincture. Sold in a pharmacy. Take a teaspoon half an hour before meals. Works similarly to orange decoction.
- Viburnum bark helps with bleeding and is considered a preventative against fungal diseases (candidiasis). Pour water over the bark at the rate of 4 tablespoons per liter of water and cook for 30 minutes. Take a tablespoon immediately before meals.
- Wormwood is a miraculous remedy that helps quickly restore the body and protect it from infectious diseases that sometimes accompany abortion: fibroids, herpes, trichomonas, thrush, chlamydia and others. Treatment with wormwood begins after bleeding has stopped. When taking a decoction of the plant, you should not consume alcohol, meat, dairy products, or nicotine. The course lasts a minimum of three weeks. It is permissible to prepare a decoction or consume it dry. To prepare the decoction, pour two tablespoons of 200 milliliters of boiling water and leave for half an hour; take a tablespoon 30 minutes before meals. You don't have to prepare the decoction. Take a tablespoon of crushed wormwood half an hour before meals. Drink with water.
- St. John's wort relieves pain and reduces inflammation. Pour five grams of herb into a glass of boiling water and leave for 15 minutes, drink a quarter glass half an hour before meals, until the pain begins to subside. St. John's wort is one of the most fortified plants and will help quickly restore the immune system.
Medicines for pain after abortion
To relieve pain and speed up contraction of the uterine muscles, patients are additionally prescribed a number of medications.
No-Shpa
Hungarian medicine, the main active ingredient is Drotaverine. Also contains magnesium stearate, povidone, talc, corn starch, lactose. Release form: tablets, injections. A type of medication is No-Shpa forte. The difference from the regular format is the increased content of the active substance. After an abortion, take two tablets three times a day. Injections are administered one capsule three times a day. The course of treatment is no more than two days.
Drotaverine
Domestic antispasmodic. The active substance is similar to the name of the drug. Take one tablet twice a day.
Tranexam
Country of origin: Russia. Available in tablets of 250 milligrams of tranexamic acid. It has an anti-inflammatory effect, helps to cope with bleeding faster. Take a tablet every three hours until bleeding stops.
Pain during a medical abortion occurs due to contraction of the uterus (its muscular layer). Mifepristone (the drug taken at the first stage) has little effect on the tone of the uterus, so any pain usually does not occur while taking it. The main contribution of Misoprostol (Cytotec , taken at the second stage) the abortifacient effect of the complex for medical abortion is the intense stimulation of uterine contractions (uterine contractions). Due to contractions, the fertilized egg is expelled from the uterine cavity. But this effect, of course, has the opposite effect - it is cramping pain. Pain in the lower abdomen appears 0.5-4 hours after taking Misoprostol, and can be of very different intensity, from subjectively subtle to unbearable. The nature of the painful sensations can be: cramping, pulling, pressing. If the pain is sharp, cutting in nature, this may indicate the presence of an ectopic pregnancy and in this case you should urgently seek medical help.The intensity of the pain is directly proportional to the duration of pregnancy and largely depends on the individual pain threshold of the woman. The duration of the pain ranges from several hours to a day, on average about 3-4 hours. A long duration of pain is usually associated with a relatively long pregnancy, since in this situation it is more difficult for the uterus to expel the fertilized egg. After the expulsion of the fertilized egg from the uterine cavity, the pain usually calms down. Penney G. in 2006, during his study, suggested that patients undergoing medical termination of pregnancy , rate your pain on a 10-point scale, where: “1” is mild pain, and “10” is unbearable pain. The obtained statistical data is given below:
- Moderate pain (3-5 points) – 25%;
- Very severe and Severe pain (6-8 points) – 40%;
- Unbearable pain (9-10 points) – 10%.
Abortion is the artificial termination of pregnancy by surgery or medication. Modern techniques make it possible to terminate a pregnancy with the least possible consequences for a woman’s health. Some complications, such as abdominal pain after an abortion, cannot be avoided. Why does my stomach hurt after an abortion? What symptoms after an abortion are normal? If any symptoms develop, you should immediately consult a doctor?
Belly after an abortion: what is normal and what is abnormal?
Patients' feelings after an abortion vary depending on the method of termination of pregnancy. So, currently there are two main methods of abortion:
- A surgical intervention consisting of introducing the necessary instruments into the uterine cavity, rejecting and removing the fertilized egg. In most cases, dilatation (expansion) of the cervical canal is performed to gain access to the uterine cavity. The vacuum aspiration procedure is also in rare cases performed with forced dilatation (in nulliparous women in particular);
- Medical termination of gestation, which consists of sequential administration of drugs that stimulate the rejection of the fetus from the uterine wall and the contractile activity of the uterine muscles to expel the embryo from the cavity.
The abdomen after an abortion performed using one of these methods is painful. The nature of the pain is moderate. Most patients manage without painkillers. The norm is pain of a cramping, aching, pulling nature for 3-5 days after an abortion. Abdominal pain after an abortion is often accompanied by bleeding. The amount of blood will vary. Many patients note discharge of bloody clots and dull moderate pain in the abdomen, which stops 2-3 days after the procedure.
The normal state of a woman is:
- Moderate pain of a pulling, aching, cramping nature for 3-5 days. This condition is explained by the contraction of the uterus to its original size. Rarely, abdominal pain after an abortion radiates to the lumbar region;
- Bloody discharge for 3-5 days after abortion, which is explained by mechanical damage to the walls and cervix, as well as rejection and extraction/expulsion of the embryo from its cavity;
- Slight discomfort in the vagina and lower abdomen after an abortion for 3-5 days.
Deviations from the normal state of a woman after an artificial termination of pregnancy are:
- Prolonged unbearable abdominal pain after an abortion;
- Heavy, continuous bleeding;
- No bleeding after the procedure;
- Vaginal discharge with an unpleasant odor;
- Fever;
- Cardiopalmus;
- Loss of consciousness;
- Signs of developing pregnancy (sensitivity and swelling of the mammary glands, nausea, etc.).
After termination of pregnancy, a woman should be under the supervision of doctors, undergoing timely examinations and conducting additional examinations to avoid the development of complications. If one of these symptoms occurs, the patient should immediately seek medical help.
Stomach hurts after abortion: main causes of pain after surgery
Many women report that their stomach hurts after an abortion. The main causes of pain after an abortion performed by traditional curettage (dilation and curettage) or using a vacuum aspirator are mechanical damage to the inner lining of the uterus and the cervical canal. After an abortion, a wound surface remains on the inner wall of the uterus, favorable for the growth of microbes from the vaginal flora, which in turn provoke the development of the inflammatory process. If pain persists for a long time after an abortion, it is necessary to exclude the development of acute endometritis - infection and inflammation of the uterus. Infections are the most common causes of pain after an abortion.
Another cause of abdominal pain after a surgical abortion is a small amount of blood entering the abdominal cavity. During the procedure, blood splashes not only through the vaginal cavity, but also in reverse through the fallopian tubes, causing abdominal pain and forming an adhesive process that disrupts the patency of the fallopian tubes.
The cause of intense abdominal pain after an abortion can be significant mechanical damage to the uterine wall during the procedure. In rare cases, perforation is possible - rupture of the uterine wall, with subsequent damage to the abdominal organs.
Another cause of abdominal pain after an abortion is early spasm of the cervix and retention of blood and remnants of the fertilized egg in the uterine cavity, which can lead to the development of inflammation or aggravate it. Lack of discharge after an abortion is a potentially dangerous symptom that requires immediate medical attention.
It should be noted that it is not advisable to relieve abdominal pain after an abortion with anesthetics. To accurately determine the cause of pain, important parameters are the intensity and severity of pain and the frequency of its manifestations. If any type of pain occurs, women are advised to consult a doctor.
Pain in the lower abdomen after a medical abortion: causes of pain
Termination of pregnancy carried out by medication is fundamentally different in the mechanism of abortion. Medical abortion is positioned as the safest and optimal method of terminating an unwanted pregnancy. Pain in the lower abdomen after an abortion with medications is stabbing, pulling, cramping in nature. The first pain occurs 2-4 hours after taking a dose of the drug, which provokes fetal death and stimulates myometrial contraction, which leads to termination of pregnancy. 
Over the next 36-48 hours, the woman receives a second dose of a drug containing substances similar to prostaglandins, which stimulate the contractile activity of the uterine muscles and the expulsion of the fetus from the cavity.
Abdominal pain after a medical abortion persists for the next 3-5 days, which is also explained by the contraction of the uterus to its original parameters.
What does intense pain after a pharmaceutical abortion mean? The main cause of severe abdominal pain after a medical abortion is ongoing pregnancy, as well as incomplete abortion.
Up to 5% of medical abortions result in complete preservation of a live pregnancy. In 7% of cases, abortion with medications can result in an interrupted pregnancy without expulsion of the fetus from the uterine cavity, which can provoke the development of inflammation and sepsis.
Pain of any kind after an abortion is an alarming symptom and a reason for an immediate visit to the doctor. A large number of abortions result in chronic endometritis, which is one of the common causes of infertility. Its development can be prevented by timely consultation with a doctor, but its chronic form is extremely difficult to completely cure.
Video from YouTube on the topic of the article:
Preserving a woman’s reproductive health involves gentle performance of all gynecological manipulations. This also applies to termination of pregnancy. It is known that the earlier the procedure is performed, the less dangerous the complications. It is optimal to completely abandon this manipulation, but this is not always possible. Therefore, it is recommended to perform an abortion with the help of medications for a short gestation period.
What is a medication method?
Replacing the surgical instrument and vacuum aspirator with hormonal drugs made it possible to develop a method of pharmacological abortion. This is a non-invasive procedure for getting rid of pregnancy in the early stages, which occurs spontaneously.
Its advantages are associated with the following factors:
- efficiency 98-99%;
- no possibility of injury to the uterus or cervix during surgical procedures;
- low risk of ascending infection;
- there is no danger of getting HIV, hepatitis;
- there are no risks caused by anesthesia;
- can be used in primigravidas, the effect on women's health is minimal;
- low level of stress, does not create a traumatic situation.
The procedure does not require a long hospital stay. After the patient has taken medications that cause a medical abortion, bleeding can be expected at home. But self-administration of medications without a doctor is impossible.
Which is better, vacuum abortion or medical abortion?
This is decided individually. But the complications and degree of interference in the body with vacuum aspiration are much higher.
How is the time for an abortion determined?
The timing for medical abortion is determined by the protocol of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation dated October 14, 21015. They record that it is possible to carry out a gestational disorder up to 63 days, or the 9th week. But in world practice there are differences in how long this manipulation can be done. In developed countries, the period is defined as 49 days, or 7 weeks of pregnancy.
Why is such a period determined for pharmacological interruption?
At the 5th week of pregnancy, the embryo begins to acquire human features, the rudiments of many organs and the umbilical cord appear. At week 6, the placenta begins to form, and internal organs continue to develop. At week 8, the embryo already has a completely human appearance and enters the fetal stage. After this period, the formation of blood vessels in the placenta occurs, so a medical abortion can cause heavy bleeding.
The following drugs for medical abortion are registered and used in Russia:
- Mifepristone 200 mg.
- Misoprostol 200 mcg.
Pharmacological abortion can be used if the gestational age corresponds to that allowed by the protocol. The main condition for the successful completion of the procedure is the day of pregnancy and the presence of an embryo inside the uterus according to ultrasound results. After a caesarean section, the medical method is preferable to.
Preparation for the procedure
When you first visit a gynecologist, you need to conduct a general examination, a bimanual examination on a chair and in mirrors, and swabs are taken from the vagina. Blood pressure, pulse, and respiratory rate are also measured. Next, the woman is sent for an ultrasound to determine the exact day of gestation, the condition of the uterus, and the fertilized egg.
Referrals are given for blood, urine, glucose, and ECG tests. A coagulogram is prescribed if there is a history of problems with the blood coagulation system. Additional examination methods may be needed, the need for which is determined by the doctor.
Execution method
When visiting the obstetrician-gynecologist again, the patient signs consent to perform an induced abortion using pharmacological drugs. How a medical abortion is performed is determined by the clinical protocol.
For gestational age up to 63 days, 200 mg of Mifepristone is used, which the woman drinks with a doctor. A doctor's supervision is required for 1-2 hours, after which you can go home.
If the period is 49 days, 200 mcg of Misoprostol is taken at the next visit after 24-48 hours. During pregnancy 50-63 days, 800 mcg of the drug is used. This medication should be placed under the tongue, behind the cheek, or deep in the vagina. With the last method of administration, you need to lie down for 30 minutes. The patient should be observed for 3-4 hours. During this period, most people begin to bleed. If this does not happen, to achieve the result, take Misoprostol 400 mcg tablet again.
The signs of an abortion are identical to a spontaneous miscarriage. A woman feels a cramping stomach ache and menstrual-like discharge appears.
How long does the bleeding last?
For most women, it lasts 7-9 days. Blood discharge after the procedure is rarely observed until the next menstruation. If the manipulation is carried out for a period of 3-4 weeks, then bleeding is not much different from menstruation. As the period increases, the release of blood increases; sometimes the use of hemostatic therapy may be required.
After 14 days you need to appear for a follow-up examination. This is necessary to confirm that the interruption has occurred. If an unsuccessful medical abortion occurs, aspiration from the uterus is prescribed.
Contraindications
The above medications have serious side effects. Despite the high degree of safety, there are certain contraindications to medical abortion:
- gestation period exceeds 63 days;
- diagnosed;
- large fibroids that change the internal cavity of the uterus;
- infectious diseases of the genital organs in the acute period;
- anemia with hemoglobin less than 100 g/l;
- porphyria is a disease associated with impaired metabolism of the constituent pigment hemoglobin;
- bleeding disorders, as well as taking anticoagulants;
- individual intolerance to one of the drugs;
- adrenal insufficiency or long-term use of glucocorticoids;
- liver and kidney diseases, which are accompanied by acute or chronic failure;
- severe diseases of other organs;
- extreme exhaustion;
- smoking when a woman is over 35 years old;
- arterial hypertension;
- bronchial asthma;
- glaucoma;
- diabetes mellitus and other diseases of the endocrine system;
- hormonally active tumors;
- lactation period;
- pregnancy during or after taking oral contraceptives.
According to WHO recommendations, interruption using Mifepristone is possible up to 22 weeks, but the severity of bleeding increases parallel to the period. In this case, for the duration of the procedure, the patient is hospitalized in a hospital, where there is a large operating room and emergency surgical care can be provided.
Fibroids threaten the development of bleeding, but if the size of the largest node is up to 4 cm and they do not change the uterine cavity, then you can resort to a pharmacological method.
Anemia is also a relative contraindication. The consequences of medical abortion can manifest themselves in a decrease in hemoglobin concentration: bleeding after taking medications exceeds menstrual bleeding in volume and duration.
Disturbances in hemostasis have implications for the volume and duration of blood loss. If shortly before the procedure the woman was treated with anticoagulants, then an increase in blood clotting time will lead to more heavy bleeding. Women over 35 who smoke are at risk of developing thrombosis and cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, to exclude complications, a consultation with a therapist is carried out.
The use of oral contraceptives for a long time before pregnancy also affects the hemostatic system. But this contraindication is relative. If the results of the coagulogram do not reveal pathological abnormalities, then this interruption method can be used.
If pregnancy occurs while an IUD is installed, it is removed before the procedure. Further tactics do not differ from the standards.
Infection of the genital organs is a pathology that requires appropriate therapy, which should not be delayed. Medical abortion does not contribute to the development of ascending infection, and treatment of acute infection can be carried out simultaneously.
Mifepristone and Misoprostol pass into breast milk. If there is a need for interruption during breastfeeding, then you need to express milk for up to 5 days after taking Misoprostol. During this time, the child is transferred to artificial feeding.
Bronchial asthma, high blood pressure and glaucoma are diseases that respond to prostaglandins. Therefore, in these pathologies, taking Misoprostol is contraindicated.
In addition, the contraindications for each drug should be taken into account. For the most part they coincide with those given above. It can only be supplemented with careful use of Misoprostol in patients with epilepsy, cerebral atherosclerosis, and coronary heart disease.
Possible complications
Despite the small number of complications, it is possible to determine why medical abortion is dangerous. In 85% of cases, adverse reactions in the form of abdominal pain and bleeding are moderate and no special treatment is required.
In other cases, manipulation can lead to the following complications:
- severe pain syndrome;
- heavy bleeding;
- temperature;
- incomplete abortion;
- progressive pregnancy.
Pain in the lower abdomen is observed during the period of expulsion of abortion products. Its intensity may vary, but the individual tolerance threshold also matters. Analgin and Drotaverine are used to reduce pain. WHO recommendations indicate Ibuprofen to reduce pain. If your breasts hurt after an abortion, this may be due to high levels, which increase as pregnancy progresses. This symptom goes away on its own.
Bleeding is considered significant if you have to change two pads in an hour, and this condition lasts for at least 2 hours. In this case, vacuum aspiration of the contents of the uterus is indicated in order to stop it. In severe cases, surgical cleaning is performed.
In 2-5% of cases, medical abortion is incomplete. Then it is also necessary to perform vacuum aspiration or curettage of the uterine cavity. Less than 1% of cases result in pregnancy progression. If a woman insists on an abortion, then invasive methods are used. Those who have changed their decision must be informed about the possible teratogenic effect of the drugs on the fetus. But there is not enough data to confirm this fact.
Taking medications may cause a slight increase in temperature, but this lasts no more than 2 hours. If the fever lasts for 4 hours or more or occurs one day after taking Misoprostol, this indicates the development of an infectious process. A woman with these symptoms should consult a doctor.
Infectious complications are not typical for pharmacological abortion. But there is a group of people who have an increased risk of infectious complications:
- , established by smear;
- patients with a sexually transmitted infection up to 12 months ago, but there is no laboratory confirmation of its cure;
- patients diagnosed with;
- women with a large number of sexual partners or low socioeconomic status.
Other complications in the form of dyspeptic symptoms may be a sign of pregnancy itself. For allergic reactions, treatment with antihistamines is necessary.
Recovery period
After taking Mifepristone and Misoprostol, there is no disruption of the menstrual cycle. But when menstruation begins and how long it lasts after a medical abortion is difficult to predict. The timing of the procedure matters; after an earlier interruption, the cycle is restored faster.
The first menstruation may begin in 30-50 days. But medical abortion does not affect the onset, so a new fertilization is possible in the first cycle. To avoid this, immediately after the procedure the doctor prescribes combined oral contraceptives. These may be such means as Yarina, Regulon, Rigevidon, Novinet, Lindnet, Jess. The selection of a medicine occurs individually.
Protects against unwanted pregnancy in 99% of cases. The positive effect is the regulation and restoration of the menstrual cycle. The minimum period for such contraception is 3 months, but you need to wait until the body fully recovers to decide when you can get pregnant. Usually this is a period of at least 6 months.
If pregnancy occurs earlier, this can lead to complications such as:
- threat of interruption;
- ectopic pregnancy;
- anemia in a woman.
Doctors' advice on how to restore the body after a medical abortion is as follows:
- start taking oral contraceptives early;
- avoid overheating and hypothermia in the first month after the procedure;
- do not visit the sauna, swimming pool, or swim in open water;
- do not take a hot bath, take a shower instead;
- take care of your health, during the cold season, avoid crowds of people so as not to get infected;
- nutrition should be balanced, with sufficient protein and vitamins;
- completely give up alcohol, eliminate smoking;
- At first, physical activity should be limited. Those who are intensely involved in sports or fitness should stop going to the gym for a while;
- will limit stressful situations and emotional overstrain.
Sexual activity after a medical abortion is possible after the end of the first menstruation. The uterus after an artificial miscarriage is an extensive wound surface with a breeding ground for microorganisms. Sexual contact always carries a risk of infection. In addition, active frictions can cause discomfort or lead to resumption of bleeding.
Physiotherapy has a positive effect on the recovery process. The choice of a specific method of exposure must be agreed with the attending physician, because This method of treatment also has contraindications.
If the menstrual cycle does not resume within 2 months, you should consult a doctor to conduct an examination and look for the causes of hormonal imbalance. You may also be concerned about discomfort in the mammary glands, which have begun to prepare for lactation. Therefore, in some cases, a consultation with a mammologist is recommended.
Despite numerous positive aspects, medical abortion is not an ideal method. Any interference in the internal environment can lead to unpleasant consequences. To avoid them, it is necessary to approach family planning issues correctly, and not solve the problem after it appears.
In this article, we propose to determine why some women feel pain after medical termination of pregnancy, what their causes are and what prevention is possible. However, first we need to consider the very concept of medical abortion. And so, pharmacological abortion is the artificial termination of pregnancy by taking special medications in the early stages.
The main cause of pain after termination of pregnancy is the contraction of the uterus to its natural size, since during pregnancy the female genital organ stretches in parallel with the enlargement of the fetus. However, often pain may not bother the patient at all. But this factor is individual.
Symptoms of pain after medical abortion
There are situations when pain in the lower abdomen after an abortion is provoked by complications that appeared during the manipulation: various microbes can penetrate into the injured uterine cavity from the outside, causing an infection. Scientifically speaking, the infection provokes endometritis (inflammatory process of the uterine mucosa). In this case, pain is almost inevitable, so going to the doctor cannot be postponed.
Of course, medical abortion is relatively safe, but no one is immune from possible unpleasant consequences in the form of discharge and pain.
Cramping pain after medical termination of pregnancy are often a consequence of a pharmacological method. How can this be explained? The answer is simple: due to the medications, the muscles begin to contract, thereby pushing the fetus out of the vagina. Usually the pain is tolerable and is rather similar to menstrual pain. However, if severe pain is observed after medicinal termination of pregnancy and continues for more than 2 days, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Still, there are characteristic symptoms that an infection could have entered during the expulsion of the fetus. If the patient complains of general weakness, chills, tenderness of the cervix, pain in the back and abdominal region, this indicates the likelihood of infection in the uterus.
They may appear due to the fact that the fertilized egg is not completely released. Yes, this can also happen. Fragments of the fertilized egg prevent normal contractions of the uterus, so pain in the lower back and abdomen, as well as fairly heavy bleeding, usually accompany the patient after a pharmacological abortion.
It should also be noted that the cause of painful sensations in the patient’s lower abdomen after termination of pregnancy may be premature strong physical activity, for example, active sports or early resumption of sexual life.
Diagnosis of a woman’s body after termination of pregnancy
After medical termination of pregnancy, every woman needs to undergo a certain rehabilitation course in order to avoid quite unpleasant and sometimes disastrous consequences, for example, infertility or the development of cancer. Diagnosis of pain and other complications after termination of pregnancy implies:- Ultrasound examination of the genital organs and mammary glands. This allows some changes in the structure of the patient’s uterus, ovaries, mammary glands and, if necessary, prescribe a course of treatment.
- A diagnostic examination - colposcopy - which provides information about the condition of the mucous membrane of the vagina, uterus, and cervix.
- Laparoscopy if there is a suspicion of obstruction of a woman’s fallopian tubes.
Treatment of pain after abortion
If a patient after an abortion develops symptoms of infection: fever, pain in the lower abdomen, low blood pressure, general muscle weakness, etc., it is necessary to immediately consult a doctor; hospitalization is also likely. The doctor prescribes antibiotic therapy and also removes remaining fetal tissue, if any. Therapy lasts until the woman’s condition returns to normal. After bringing the temperature and pressure back to normal, the woman is stopped giving antibiotics.
Prevention of pain after medical termination of pregnancy
As mentioned above, even a medical abortion is dangerous due to its possible consequences, even when the artificial termination of pregnancy was perfect. It is also necessary to focus on what should be done and what recommendations to follow to avoid complications.
First of all, you should not take a hot bath - bathing is only allowed under the shower.
In addition, any physical activity, including sexual activity, is prohibited. You are allowed to return to active life only no less than a month after the procedure.
Also, a woman must strictly follow the rules of hygiene: twice a day, perform hygiene of the external genitalia with warm boiled water or a previously prepared weak solution of potassium permanganate.
To avoid complications, the doctor usually prescribes a course of antibiotics to prevent possible infection; a course of hormonal contraceptives, which is prescribed on the first day after termination of pregnancy.
