The Impact of IUDs on Your Uterus: What Every Woman Should Know
Womb Health Mini Series
Part One: How Your Uterus’s Position Affects Hormone Balance & Women’s Health
Part Two: Natural Relief for Painful Periods: The Role of Uterine Position
Part Three: Optimizing Uterine Position for Better Fertility and Conception
Part Four: The Impact of IUDs on Your Uterus: What Every Woman Should Know 
Do you have painful IUD symptoms, like sharp cramps, heavy bleeding, recurring infections, or constant pelvic discomfort? When you inserted your IUD, your doctor probably told you to expect some initial cramping. But months or years later, you're still dealing with symptoms that affect your daily life.
As a pelvic floor physical therapist, I see many patients whose IUD symptoms extend beyond the initial adjustment period. The presence of an IUD can cause chronic inflammation in your uterus. Since it's a foreign object, your body may respond with increased tension, and/or inflammation, making your uterus heavier. The extra weight from the inflammation and the pelvic imbalances that are caused by the tension, can pull your uterus into a low position, leading to a feeling of pressure or heaviness. The ongoing low-grade inflammation will lower your immune response, increasing your risk of yeast and bacterial infections. I often see women who are reacting to heir IUD struggle with a cycle of bacterial and yeast infections, painful muscle spasms, and persistent bloating.
Some women are able to use IUDs without any issues. Some women they affect poorly. Listen to your body and trust your experience. The key is paying attention to how your body responds. If you start noticing recurring infections, constant cramping, or that heavy sensation in your pelvis, it might be time to explore other options.
I often hear from women who want to remove their IUD but hesitate because they fear returning to painful periods. While this concern is valid, continuing to use an IUD that causes chronic inflammation can create long-term pelvic health issues that become harder to resolve over time. There are other (very effective) options to treat your painful periods besides an IUD!
The Real Cause of Your Period Pain
Let's look at why you're experiencing painful periods and hormonal symptoms in the first place. Many doctors and practitioners focus solely on hormone levels and miss a key factor: the position of your uterus.
Your uterus needs proper blood flow and lymphatic drainage to function optimally. When your uterus sits too low in your pelvis or tilts in the wrong direction, it disrupts this essential circulation. Poor circulation leads to inflammation, which directly impacts your hormone regulation and creates those painful period symptoms you're dealing with. Add a foreign object (IUD) to this equation, and you have a recipe for all sorts of frustrating, painful and strange symptoms.
Many of my clients who had an IUD for painful periods, and started seeing me for the pelvic symptoms they were having since the IUD was inserted, became symptom-free after lifting and centering their uterus. Then when they took the IUD out, they continued to have pain-free periods.
Why use such an invasive and risky intervention (IUD insertion) that has side effects, when you could solve the problem at the root with an intervention that has zero risk, is completely non-invasive, and can will improve other areas of your health as well?
Sometimes women simply get an IUD to prevent pregnancy. In this case, making sure to also implement other preventative interventions that will ensure your uterus stays lifted and centered despite the IUD, will be important.
The position of your uterus affects more than just your period symptoms. When your uterus is in her optimal position, you'll likely notice improvements in other areas, like less bloating, less low back pain, improved bladder and bowel function, improved cognition and mood, and fewer digestive issues throughout your cycle.
Signs Your Uterus Is Out of Position
Your uterus affects everything in your pelvis from how you feel, how you move, and even how your clothes fit. Most women don't know that their uterus can shift around, tilting backward, forward, or sideways. When this happens, it creates so many frustrating symptoms that doctors often dismiss as "just part of being a woman."
Do any of these sound familiar?
Your Period:
- Your cramps are so bad you need to cancel plans
- Your bleeding is super heavy, with lots of clots
- You're worried about fertility or have been diagnosed with endometriosis
- Your menopause symptoms feel overwhelming
Sex Life:
- Sex feels painful or uncomfortable
- You're not getting naturally lubricated like you used to
- Orgasms are harder to achieve, less intense, or impossible
Daily Discomfort:
- That annoying low belly pooch won't go away no matter what you do
- Your waist feels thick and distended
- You're always bloated
- There's a constant heavy feeling in your pelvis
- Your low back kills you by the end of the day
- Your hips ache for no reason
- Your tailbone hurts when you sit too long
- Your posture feels off but you can't fix it
Bathroom Issues:
- You're always running to find a bathroom
- Constipation is a constant battle
- Hemorrhoids keep coming back
- You feel pressure down there that wasn't there before
When your uterus isn't sitting in her best position, everything else in your pelvis (and body) is out of balance. Think about it - if an organ is shifted out of place, it can't get the blood flow and drainage it needs. This leads to inflammation, hormone problems, and all those uncomfortable symptoms I just listed. Your uterus is attached to all of your internal organs (bladder, bowel, intestines), your sacrum and your spine. If she is low and tilted, all that she is attached too will also be shifted out of position and start being impacted as well. Thats why a misaligned uterus can cause constipation, leaking, bloating, and low back or hip pain.
You don't have to live with these symptoms forever. Learn all the specific techniques you need to know to help your uterus return to her proper position, and train your core muscles to keep her there, inside The Core Recovery Method®. Instead of just managing your symptoms, we can actually fix what's causing them.
How the Core Recovery Method® Can Help
The foundation of The Core Recovery Method® is lifting and centering your uterus. The entire protocol, every single technique and exercise, has the purpose and effect of lifting and centering your uterus. It trains your nervous system, muscular system and fascial system to lift and center your uterus with every breath you take.
When your uterus sits properly in your pelvis, she receives the blood flow, oxygen, lymphatic drainage, and nerve signals needed to regulate your hormones naturally. So all the painful, frustrating and strange symptoms disappear too.
I'll share a story from one of my clients that shows exactly how this works:
"I had the pleasure of finding Angie's Core Recovery Method in July 2024. I was amazed by the information I found on her website and I signed up for her program within 5 minutes.
I have struggled with menstrual pain since I was a teenager and a couple of years ago I had inserted a hormonal IUD to help me with the pain. Instead of menstrual pain, I would feel piercing pain from the IUD into the side of my uterus, followed by bleeding. Especially if I was wearing tight jeans or simply sitting on a chair.
I started Angie's protocol with massage and exercises. Within the first week I could feel a profound difference and shortly after I could also see how my belly was lifted. As I was stroking my lower belly I could feel something hard over my uterus. This hard area is gone and my lower belly is now soft. I no longer have pain or bleeding from the IUD, I can also wear jeans again. I still have a lot to learn about glute strengthening and hypopressives, but I am pain free and happy as I continue this process. Once I had my IUD removed, my periods were pain-free and easier since I have created more space for my uterus to function properly.
With all of my heart I recommend Core Recovery Method® and I am so excited to continue my healing with this protocol."
— Benedicte, Mother of 2, Pilot, Sweden
Like Benedicte, you can experience relief from IUD pain, menstrual issues, and pelvic discomfort. Want to learn the exact techniques that helped her find relief? Sign up for The Core Recovery Method®, and start repositioning your uterus today!
Supporting Your Body With or Without an IUD
If you decide to keep your IUD, The Core Recovery Method® can still make a significant difference in how you feel. The protocol teaches you specific techniques, like hypopressive exercises and abdominal massage, that help minimize the effects of the IUD on your pelvic health.
These techniques support your uterus by:
- Reducing the chronic inflammation that sits in your uterus as long as the IUD is there
- Improving blood flow to your reproductive organs, bladder, bowel, pelvic floor and gut
- Maintaining optimal position of your uterus
- Strengthening your core muscles to lift and center your uterus with every breath you take.
Ultimately, the choice to keep or get rid of your IUD is personal. What matters most is giving your body the support she needs, regardless of which birth control method you choose. The Core Recovery Method® provides you with practical, effective tools to feel your best - with or without an IUD.
