
An x-ray of a unique type, HSG, or hysterosalpingogram exam is conducted by doctors across the world to assess and monitor female fertility. The outpatient procedure wouldn’t need more than 30 minutes to complete and includes putting an iodine-based dye into the cervix for x-rays. Doctors can learn if your fallopian tubes are blocked and your uterus shape through this x-ray. When undergoing the HSG test for the first time, a lot of patients encounter the trauma and confusion of whether it shall be painful.
For everybody out there who has a lot of queries regarding the HSG test procedure, here is what to expect when undergoing it.
Prepping up Yourself Before the HSG Test
The ideal time when you are prescribed for the HSG test is before your ovulation and after you have completed your monthly menstruation. This is counted as the ideal time for the test as you have minimum chances of risk when you are expecting. You will be asked to book your appointment for the test at the clinic on the first day of your period. The test is conducted while you are fully awake and not by administering any general anaesthesia. You are not even required to keep any fasting the day before the test.
On the day of the test, your IVF doctors in Hyderabad might prescribe you take a strong painkiller just before the exam to help you deal with the pain better.
Step by Step HSG Procedure to Know
You will be made to lie down on a table along with stirrups as the first step of the HSG test, and for clinics that aren’t equipped with stirrups, you might have to bend your knees while holding your legs apart with your hands and placing the feet flat.
Pelvic Tests
The doctors will conduct a quick pelvic test where everybody, including doctors, nurses along with the trained technicians, would be putting a speculum, the same equipment that doctors use to examine your gynae parts during your annual gynaecological test, inside your vagina.
Preparing for the X-Ray
During the x-ray for the HSG test, the machine designed to take x-rays will come down near your abdomen thereafter which the doctors and technicians would put a swab inside your cervix to clean it, only to minimise the chances of infection. Following this, the doctors would be putting inside your cervical opening a cannula or a plastic catheter.
Administering the Dye Injection through the Catheter
The doctors, after inserting a cannula into your cervical opening, would administer an iodine-based dye through the catheter. Patients undergoing the test might encounter a warming sensation once they are injected with the dye, which, after going through the uterus and making their way into the fallopian tubes, would finally drain out in your pelvic cavity.
Determining Your Results with Taken X-rays
Once you have been injected with the iodine-based dye, during the HSG test, your doctors will gather the x-rays, and for every x-ray, you will be asked to hold your breath for some time. You might have to make changes in your position. Once your x-rays pictures are considered satisfactory, the doctors and technicians will lift the x-ray machine and remove the speculum.
While it is normal to feel nervous and just before your HSG treatment, you should make an effort to keep yourself calm during the entire procedure. Also, during the test, never hesitate to share your pain or level of discomfort with the nurses, as it might lead them to help you with it and overcome the fear. Overall, the HSG test doesn’t only get over quickly, but for a lot of people, it is painless as well. Even if you experience some kind of pain, it doesn’t stay for long. Talk to your doctors now to know about the test in detail and HSG test cost in India.