Expert: Pat G - 3/14/2011

Question
Hi,

I am 27 and I had a d&c a year ago after a missed miscarriage. No problems before that. 3 months later I tried have sex. It hurts about 3 hours after sex, not during. The pain lasts from several hours to a day or 2.I went to a fertility doctor, I had a pelvic ultrasound, checked out for infection, even had HSG, it all shows I am ok, but the pain worsened.
I am really depressed and don't know what to do next and what would cause it. Please advice.

Answer
Hello, Julia,

Unfortunately, they can introduce infection with a D&C. I know the idea is to prevent infection from what is left over. I don't know which is more likely to cause infection. However, sometimes infection can be silent. For example, pelvic inflammatory disease can be caused by such an infection. However, at some point, a woman may start to experience pain. Normally, PID is caused by bacteria. There are some alternative remedies that may be effective, such as Nutrasilver, but generally speaking, you would need medical attention. Unfortunately, in Canada, that's not easy to get. But go to a doctor who is willing to get to the bottom of this for you. If he gives you an antibiotic (something I think may not be sufficient), you should also get a pro-biotic to restore normal intestinal flora. If you simply cannot get the medical attention you need, consider coming to the United States for treatment. There may well be other causes, but this is the one that seems most obvious to me. The mere fact they didn't find an infection doesn't mean there isn't one. Another possibility would be adhesions. This is when tissue that's not meant to be attached to "each other" becomes attached. This is something that sometimes happens after surgery (D&C). This can cause pain. This might show up on an ultrasound, and it might not. Again, the remedy is to get a doctor to diagnose and treat it. Most likely, the adhesions will have to be detached, and you hope they don't grow back together. I can't tell you why the pain would be delayed; only someone who can examine you personally would be able to do that. But sex moves all those organs and tissues around, so that would explain why you would experience pain afterward.

Good luck. Please let me know what you find out. Take care.