Home » News Stream » Medical »

A Permanent Birth Control Option

By WKRG Staff

Published: Tue, June 19, 2007 - 12:06 am

For years, the only choices for permanent birth control were tubal ligation for women or vasectomy for men. A few years ago, the F.D.A. approved another option, but Essure has been slow to catch on. The Pfeiffers enjoy their family time, but didn't want to leave their family planning to chance. "We were very happy with you know two healthy children and we basically just wanted to go about the right option," Lara Pfeiffer says.

A permanent option her doctor suggested was the non-surgical Essure procedure. Lara says, "I just had a c-section ten weeks prior so another incision was just not exactly the top of my list."

With Essure, there is not cutting. Doctors access the fallopian tubes through the body's natural pathways. Dr. Larry Glazerman explains, "We put tiny, little metal coils into the fallopian tubes that over a period of a couple of month allow scar tissue to grow in and block off both fallopian tubes."

It takes about three months for the scar tissue to build up. A special x-ray will confirm the tubes are blocked.

Dr. Glazerman says the results are impressive. "The statistics show that around the world all the patients who've had the x-ray that showed that the tubes to be blocked, and that's over 100,000 patients at this point, there's never been a single documented pregnancy."

So why hasn't it caught on- Doctor Glazerman thinks Essure levels the contraceptive playing field. "The vasectomy is much simpler than the female, did not involve a hospital stay, not involve general anesthesia and the men were back to work in a day or two. What this has done is it's put female sterilization on the same plane."

The Essure procedure is permanent and not reversible. To learn more or find a physician near you, go to www.essure.com