When you have already decided that your life and that of your partner are ready to conceive a baby, a range of possibilities opens up in which, or you suddenly become pregnant and when you least expect it, or the road starts to look a little long when time passes and nothing happens.
When I told you about the ovulation tests and my experience with them I told you that my case was the second and that, although it finally happened naturally, I did get to practice some fertility analysis. One of them was the hysterosalpingography, so unknown and that generates so much fear that I think it can be useful to tell my experience and how the practice of this analysis works in Spain.
What is hysterosalpingography?
It is an analysis that is included in the fertility tests performed on women who are looking to get pregnant and for which X-rays are used. This allows you to check the state and level of permeability of the fallopian tubes and uterus to rule out anomalies in the fertilization process.
The procedure is relatively simple and fast: first a speculum is introduced through the vagina to clean the area and then a small tube is passed to fill the uterus and tubes of a fluid called contrast medium. Thanks to that the x-rays can show if there is any blockage in the canal or some type of malformation in the uterine cavity.
What are the conditions to practice it?
The main condition is that you should not be pregnant (which is obvious, but that is included in the consent you must sign before practicing). As for the preparation, you should take antibiotics to avoid infections and analgesics before the test. Additionally, the Spanish social security procedure establishes that you must take a valium the night before and another on the same day as the test.
In theory (I will explain why I say "theory"), the test must be performed within the seventh and tenth day after the rule begins because this also decreases the chances of getting an infection and because this is the reliable proof that You are not pregnant.
Does hysterosalpingography cause pain?
In my case, yes. The most normal thing is that they feel discomfort (very similar to menstrual cramps), but it is a bearable pain. Of course, this can remain for a couple of hours after having practiced the analysis and despite having taken the previously recommended medications.
What subsequent effects can it cause?
In addition to pain, it is normal to have some vaginal bleeding (I suppose it is more because of the speculum process than the analysis), malaise, dizziness, nausea and infections (hence the importance of taking previous medications). Serious complications such as perforations may also occur, although it is very unlikely.
Is the analysis definitive before a fertilization procedure?
Unfortunately not, but it is one of the most important, so it can be discovered through it. A curious thing is that the gynecologist recommends having sex after of practicing hysterosalpingography (not immediately, of course), because there may be some adhesion in the tubes that may prevent the passage of sperm and that the entrance of the fluid separates (I had already read it before, but I checked in my own flesh that in effect , is one of the recommendations they make).
Does Social Security cover this analysis?
Yes, this is included in the fertility program. However, it is important to keep in mind that there are usually waiting lists for months, so between the moment they give you the order to practice it and the moment of carrying it out, it can take a long time.
How can you suspect a woman who has an irregular cycle may have problems, since it is an appointment that they give well in advance, and if the date they have given you does not match the date on which you must make it, you must change it. Then I realized that if it's only a couple of days, you can take a pregnancy test, do it right there and present it so there is no need to change the date.
The recommendation that I would give to someone who has to practice it is to try to be very calm on the day of the test, to be accompanied and to be able to organize your schedule so that you can rest a little after doing it. If it is for social security, consider the issue of appointments and take a pregnancy test because they can ask for it.
