When Women Are Denied Pain Relief During Invasive Procedures
Illustration by Owain Anderson If your doctor told you to take over-the-counter painkillers before coming in for a small medical procedure, what would you expect? As I went in for my first hysteroscopy-a procedure that examines the inside of the uterus with a small camera to explore heavy or unexpected bleeding, pelvic pain, fibroids, polyps, fertility issues, or diagnose uterine cancer-I figured it might be like a smear test, or maybe an IUD fitting.