Contraceptive injections are injected into the female body through the muscle to inhibit ovulation, change the endometrium, make it difficult for the fertilized egg to implant, and increase the viscosity of cervical secretions, making it difficult for sperm to pass through the mucus and enter the uterine cavity.
Contraceptive injections are divided into two types: single hormone and mixed hormone. Most women use single hormone contraceptive injections, which are effective for up to three months. Although the contraceptive effectiveness of mixed hormone contraceptive injections is similar to that of single hormone contraceptive injections, mixed hormone contraceptive injections need to be injected every month.
Single hormone contraceptive injections
Q: What are the ingredients of single hormone contraceptive injections? How long is the effective period?
A: The most commonly used contraceptive injection (Depo-provera) by the Family Planning Association contains a single hormone. Each injection is effective for three months.
Q: How effective is the single hormone contraceptive injection?
A: According to research data, the chance of accidental pregnancy for women using this contraceptive method in the first year is 0.2-6%.
Q: When is the best time to inject the contraceptive injection? Is the contraceptive effect immediately after the injection?
A: Before receiving the injection, women must be evaluated by medical staff and proven to be suitable for this contraceptive method before they can be injected. Basically, as long as the patient is confirmed not to be pregnant, the first injection can be made within the first seven days of the patient's menstrual cycle. The contraceptive effect is immediately after the injection.
Q: What are the advantages of the single hormone contraceptive injection?
A: The biggest advantage of this method is that it has high contraceptive efficiency and eliminates the trouble of taking medicine every day or wearing it every time. It also does not affect women's postpartum breastfeeding. Many medical studies have found that the health of children breastfed by women who have taken birth control injections is not significantly different from that of ordinary children; and the quality of breast milk of breastfeeding women will not be different after using birth control injections.
In addition, since single-hormone birth control injections do not contain estrogen, they are a better choice for women who are not suitable for taking estrogen-containing hormones. In addition, women will have less menstrual flow after taking birth control injections, which will also reduce the loss of body iron caused by periodic blood loss. At the same time, many medical studies have also found that women who take birth control injections have lower rates of pelvic inflammation and endometrial cancer.
Q: Who is not suitable for single-hormone contraceptive injections?
A: Women who find out they are pregnant, have breast cancer or reproductive organ cancer, have serious medical diseases, or have abnormal uterine bleeding are not suitable for contraceptive injections.
Q: What are the side effects of single-hormone contraceptive injections?
A: Users may experience weight gain, headaches and dizziness, breast tenderness, etc. in the early stages, but these symptoms usually disappear in a short time. During the injection period, women may experience side effects such as irregular menstruation, decreased menstrual flow, or amenorrhea due to hormonal changes in the body. If the increase in menstrual blood volume and prolonged menstruation persist, you should consult a doctor. Women who use contraceptive injections may not be able to regain fertility until some time after stopping the injection, usually within one year of the last injection. Therefore, if a woman plans to have a baby in the near future, she should not use this contraceptive method.
Q: Do users need to take regular injections?
A: When the injection expires, please remember to continue the injection on schedule and do not interrupt. If a woman fails to see a doctor when the injection expires, she can arrange to return to the clinic for injection within seven days before the deadline to avoid delay.
Q: Do women who use contraceptive injections need regular physical examinations?
A: In fact, all women of childbearing age, whether they use contraceptive methods or not, and no matter which contraceptive method they are using, should undergo regular physical examinations to understand their health status and assess whether they need to switch to other more suitable contraceptive methods due to age, illness or changes in habits.
Q: Will single-hormone contraceptive injections increase the chance of developing breast cancer or other gynecological cancers?
A: According to research data, women who use single-hormone contraceptive injections are not more likely to develop breast cancer or other gynecological cancers than non-users. On the contrary, women who inject single-hormone contraceptive injections are less likely to develop endometrial cancer, and this effect will continue even after women stop injecting.
Q: Will injecting contraceptives cause weight gain?
A: In the first year of receiving contraceptive injections, the average woman will gain about 1.5 to 2 kilograms. However, this situation varies from person to person. But if the weight gain exceeds 5 kilograms in the first year of injecting contraceptives, you should consult a doctor.
Q: Will the contraceptive injection cause osteoporosis?
A: According to local and foreign studies, women who use contraceptive injections for a long time have lower bone density than other women. Therefore, we recommend that women who use contraceptive injections should absorb enough calcium and sunlight, and do weight-bearing exercises every day. If women have other high-risk factors for osteoporosis, such as fractures, alcoholism, smoking, short stature, insufficient calcium absorption, family members with a history of osteoporosis, endocrine diseases such as thyroid disease, parathyroid disease, or need to take steroids for a long time, they should discuss with their doctors whether it is suitable to use a single hormone contraceptive injection.
Mixed Hormone Contraceptive Injection
Q: What are the ingredients of mixed hormone contraceptive injection? How long is the validity period?
A: It mainly contains two artificial hormones, estrogen and progesterone, and the validity period is generally one month.
Q: How high is the contraceptive efficiency of mixed hormone contraceptive injection?
A: According to research data, the chance of accidental pregnancy of women after using this contraceptive method in the first year is 0.2-6%.
Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages of mixed hormone contraceptive injection?
A: The mixed hormone contraceptive injection injected once a month can regularize the menstrual period. However, because it contains estrogen, it is not suitable for every woman.
Q: What are the side effects of the combined hormonal contraceptive injection?
A: The side effects of using the combined injection include (but are not limited to): menstrual disorders, nausea, vomiting, headache, dizziness, breast pain, edema and mood changes. The serious side effects caused by the combined hormonal contraceptive injection are similar to those of the combined hormonal oral contraceptive pill.
