One physician, however, is working to change this. Over the past two years, Roshni Kakaiya, a San Diego\u2013based family medicine doctor, has created a training model<\/a> that lets clinicians easily practice paracervical blocks\u2014education she believes should be foundational for anyone in women\u2019s health. The now-patented product has drawn national attention: Since last November, Kakaiya has sold 80 kits and compiled a long list of interested buyers. A kit costs $150 and comes with both a \u201cbeginner\u201d-level silicone cervix to get the basics down, and a more realistic \u201cadvanced\u201d-level cervix.<\/p>\n The hope is that these more highly trained providers<\/a> will be able to offer patients a full range of pain-relief options and that paracervical blocks will become the standard of care for IUD procedures. \u201cIf we can make this experience slightly better for people, or if they feel like they have more agency, I feel like it would make a big difference,\u201d Kakaiya said. \u201cWe can\u2019t give patients their full range of choices if us as providers aren\u2019t even trained.\u201d<\/p>\n To insert an IUD, a clinician opens the vagina using a speculum and grips the cervix with a type of forceps, which can cause a sudden, sharp pain. A tube containing the IUD is then passed through the tiny cervical opening into the uterus, a process that is excruciating for many patients<\/a>. Some experience cramping and discomfort for days after the procedure.<\/p>\n Research on IUD pain management is limited<\/a>, and historically, there hasn\u2019t been much data on cervical blocks. Consequently, the blocks just weren\u2019t \u201cvalued as a procedure that was worth teaching,\u201d said Kakaiya. \u201cYou had a whole generation of people who weren\u2019t trained to do it, and then they can\u2019t train others. And then that just keeps propagating.\u201d<\/p>\n Roshni Kakaiya<\/p>\n Roshni Kakaiya<\/p>\n Today paracervical blocks during IUD insertion in the United States remain rare. One nationwide study<\/a> of Veterans Affairs clinics found near-zero use. Another, based out of the University of California, San Francisco health system, found that less than half of patients receive blocks<\/a>. Instead, the standard recommendation for pain relief during IUD insertion is to take 800\u00a0milligrams of ibuprofen<\/a> an hour beforehand\u2014a method that falls woefully short of addressing the intense discomfort experienced by many patients.<\/p>\n Yet, numerous studies over the past decade have determined that paracervical blocks are highly effective at reducing pain<\/a> during the procedure<\/a>. \u201cI don\u2019t think [clinicians] are as aware of these studies and interventions that can decrease pain during IUD placements,\u201d said Sheila Mody, an OB-GYN and professor at the University of California, San Diego Health, whose 2018 study found that paracervical blocks significantly decrease discomfort during IUD insertion<\/a>.<\/p>\n Although OB-GYNs like Mody are trained in paracervical blocks (they\u2019re used in surgical abortions and miscarriages), many IUDs are placed by advanced practice clinicians\u2014such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners\u2014who often lack training in this technique. To address this issue, Mody trains APCs in paracervical blocks and is currently conducting three studies to further evaluate the procedure\u2019s effectiveness.<\/p>\n Paracervical blocks are so effective that both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists<\/a> and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> support using them during IUD insertion. \u201cThere is an urgent need for health care professionals to have a better understanding of pain-management options and to not underestimate the pain experienced by patients and for patients to have more autonomy over pain-control options,\u201d notes a review of the literature from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, published last year.<\/p>\n That emphasis on patient choice is what motivated Kakaiya to develop a better way to train clinicians to perform paracervical blocks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n Mia Armstrong-L\u00f3pez <\/a><\/p>\n The training process, however, proved more complicated than Kakaiya initially expected. She quickly discovered that available pelvic models have hard plastic shells around the cervix where providers practice injecting; this prevents trainees from getting the necessary tactile feedback to learn where to inject. In response, clinicians have created their own unique prototypes to mimic the cervix, including a tomato attached to a plastic cup, a lemon attached to a PVC pipe, or, in Kakaiya\u2019s case, a dragon fruit attached to a thick silicone tube. But these templates don\u2019t come anywhere close to the real thing, so Kakaiya decided to make an anatomically precise, patented 3D-printed model<\/a>.<\/p>\n The product offers clinicians an easy way to learn without having to practice on patients already undergoing nerve-racking procedures. Since last fall, when Kakaiya began selling the model, clinician interest has mushroomed. \u201cIt has been an overwhelmingly positive response,\u201d she said. The next step is to expand the product\u2019s reach to even more clinicians who perform IUD placements.<\/p>\n![\"Roshni](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1ab9ac81-695b-4714-822f-a1bab27162ef.jpeg\")
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\n Millions of Women Have Them. They\u2019ve Radically Improved. Why Do Many of Us Understand So Shockingly Little About How They Work?
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