Missing coil threads: What to Do Before Relying on Protection

If you cannot feel your coil threads, or they suddenly feel different, contact a contraception clinic or clinician promptly. Use condoms or avoid sex that could cause pregnancy until the device has been checked. Do not rely on the absence of pain as proof that the coil is still in the right place.

Ask about recent sex straight away

Tell the clinic when you last felt the threads, when you last had sex without another reliable method, and whether you have pain or bleeding. Ask promptly whether emergency contraception is needed. Its choice can depend on timing, your current hormones, medicines, and whether the coil is still present.

Do not wait for a missed period to ask. Bleeding may be irregular or absent with a hormonal coil, and a pregnancy test can be negative soon after sex. If a test is recommended, ask when to take it and whether a later repeat is needed.

Understand what missing threads can mean

Sometimes the threads have curled upward while the device remains correctly positioned. Other possibilities include the device having come out, moving through the uterine wall, or pregnancy. You cannot distinguish these possibilities safely by trying to search more deeply yourself.

Do not pull on anything you feel, use an instrument, or attempt to push the coil back. The coil fitting guide explains the information worth keeping from your original appointment.

Know what the clinic may do

A clinician can examine you, assess pregnancy possibility, and arrange ultrasound to locate the device. If ultrasound does not show it inside the uterus, further imaging may be needed rather than simply assuming it has fallen out.

If the coil is correctly positioned and you want to keep it, missing threads do not necessarily mean it must be removed. The clinic should confirm when you can rely on it again and explain how future checks or removal will be handled.

Escalate pain or illness

Seek urgent care for pelvic pain, fever, unusual discharge, very heavy bleeding, or possible pregnancy. Severe abdominal pain with faintness, collapse, or shoulder tip pain needs emergency assessment. See the bleeding after fitting guide for related warning symptoms. A thread problem with symptoms should not be left until a routine replacement appointment.